Uncles - the good, the bad, and the ugly

As an uncle to 3 niblings, I do my best to be the "cool uncle". But the question is, who are the role models and who are the cautionary tales? Fortunately, contemporary media is full of them.

So, who do we have? First the evil uncles, in order of increasing badness.

Uncle Vernon:

Harry Potter's guardians were particularly mean to him. I always felt there were a few extenuiating circumstances here though. He's told that his sister-in-law was murdered by Wizard Hitler. And he's gone, and probably dead, but who knows. Oh, and wizard Hitler was extremely powerful and is most likely going to be gunning for Harry if it turns outhe's not actually dead. Anyway, look after him please Vernon. I can sort of see how they might be justified in hiding him away, and wanting as little to do wityh the magical world as possible. Still, they really could have been a little bit nicver to Harry and let him have an actual room.

The Uncles in Stardust

They're actually not the big bad, and they're more unscrupulous and opportunistic than pure evil. Most of their nastiness is directed at each other, and that was pretty much how succession here works.

Nizam - Prince Of Persia

He's scheming and wants to erase his nephew from existence. Although only as collatoral damage. He is willing to start a war on a flimsy pretext for his own ends though.

Scar - The Lion  King

Very close competition with Nizam. They're both unscrupulous, both want to kill their brother to take over the kingdom. Both want to manipulate their nephew. I think Scar gains points for putting the blame for Mufasa's death on Simba, and exiuling him. Also for being suiccessful in usurping his brother. And for making a real pigs ear of running the kingdom.

Uncle Frank - Home Alone

Okay, he doesn't have the murderous streak of some of the other uncles here, but I still think he's the worst!

"Look what you did, you little jerk!". Yeah, Kevin can be a bit of a handful, but he's an 8 year old. Nobody should talk to a small child like that. Later on, when Kevin's parents realise they left him behind, Frank sympathises- he forgot his reading glasses. But the reason I really hate Uncle Frank is that nothing happens to him. Buzz is nastry to Kevin as well, but that's normal teenage brother stuff, and his room gets trashed as punishment. Frank though, gets off scott free.

So who are the uncles I should emulate?

Uncle Owen - Star Wars

He's not a perfect uncle. He's a bit overbearing, but it's understandable that he's going to be a bit protective. And unlike Harry Potter's uncle, he does treat Luke as a son. Luke also gets a pretty decent life where he learrns some useful life skills, like piloting, maintenance of robots and vehicles, and how to haggle with scoundrels (although Obi Wan cuts him off here).

Uncle Ben - Spiderman

Poor uncle Ben. His entire purpose is to die to provide motivation for Peter Parker. While he left Peter with some wise words. While i 'm sure he was a very good father figure, I do think he loses points here because dying is not a trait to be emulated.

Uncle Monty - A Series of Unfortunate Events

Alas, another uncle that doesn't last long - that is the nature of the books after all. This is a shame. He's attentive, intelligent and all in all a good uncle.

Uncle Buck

The titular character of the movie. He's a bit of a doofus. He's not all that good at being an adult and probably not a good role model for his niblings. However, he does gain points for being fiercely protective. Granted, some of the protectiveness is from situations he put them in.

Uncle Jonathan - The House with a Clock In It's Walls

Jack Black seems to play irresponsible reluctant, but generally good parental figures. Probably not the safest of homes, but he does step up and take in his nephew, and does his best to make him feel at home. His nephew also learns to become a powerful mage, so there's that. Again - teaching life skills is essential.

Uncle Iroh - Avatar: The Last Airbender

Truly the greatest uncle ever. One of the greatest characters to aspire to. Always calm. Loves tea. Extremely easygoing and friendly, but also extremelyt intelligent and a cunning strategist.

Uncle Iroh is willing to stay with Zuko through thck and thin. Despite his peaceful natrure, if he has to he can be fierce, but that is always a last resort. All he really wants is for Zuko to have his redemption, but also knows that this cannot be foreced, and Zuko must find his own way.

So that's the good and the bad uncles. Now for the  ugly:

Uncle Fester - the Addams family.