
Note: This A.V. To Z originally ran on Mother’s Day 2015.
What makes a mom? Is it just a biological qualifier, or is it more? Can someone be a mom to a log? And beyond that, what makes a good mom—one that we’d not only want to have, but might even model our own parenting styles after? Is Lucille Bluth a good mom, or a whirling hellscape encapsulated in one maternal figure?
In honor of Mother’s Day, The A.V. Club set upon picking the best fictional moms, trudging through hundreds if not thousands of matriarchs from books, TV, movies, and games. While some choices were easy (Tami Taylor, duh), others inspired debate about what makes a good mom, or whose fictional birth canal we’d want to be pushed out of. Some tough love was required, but like these moms, we knew it would only help this story, our metaphorical offspring, grow big and strong in the long run.