Over the course of six seasons of Gossip Girl, we were introduced to a variety of characters. Two of the most persistent were Rufus Humphrey and Cyrus Rose. Rufus was the father of Dan and Jenny, while Cyrus married Blair’s mother and ended up adopting her and spending more time with her than her real dad.
Unlike much of the rest of the cast, these two prominent father figures were shown as two of the only consistently kind characters without ulterior motives.
RUFUS WAS THE BEST: He Was One Of The Few Consistently Nice Characters
There are a lot of characters in Gossip Girl, and somehow pretty much all of them manage to prove that they can be rather cruel, manipulative and unkind at certain times. Rufus was one of the only characters who seemed to be genuinely kind-hearted. Sure, he had his moments, but in general, Rufus was living his life to provide for his children.
CYRUS WAS THE BEST: But So Was Cyrus
No matter how kind Rufus was, it could be convincingly argued that Cyrus was even kinder. He was first introduced in season two with a smile on his face, and even though Blair wasn’t keen on him at first, he was able to prove himself worthy to be her father-figure. Throughout the entire show, he pretty much didn’t slip up. He brought nothing but joy to Eleanor and was well-liked by everyone else in the show.
RUFUS WAS THE BEST: He Persisted With Jenny And Supported Dan
At the start of Gossip Girl, Dan was a pretty normal guy (if you ignore the fact that he was secretly operating a highly-illegal, morally-bankrupt stalking site that preyed on every single person he was close to), and Jenny was rather innocent.
Dan then began trying to become a serious writer, and Jenny went down a rebellious path. This entire time Rufus showed nothing but support for Dan throughout his attempts at becoming a writer, and persisted with his own attempts to bring Jenny back. Very fatherly stuff.
CYRUS WAS THE BEST: He Looked After Blair
When her real father wasn’t around and her mother was busy with her fashion label, Cyrus was often on hand to support Blair. When she and Chuck were going through one of their tumultuous periods (such as when she told Chuck she loved him), Cyrus was always on hand for some words of comforting wisdom, and, of course, a hug.
RUFUS WAS THE BEST: But Was Stern Enough With His Kids
As Cyrus wasn’t Blair’s real father, he probably didn’t feel like it was his place to be anything but kind and supportive with her. Rufus, however, had true fatherly duties to attend to. This meant he would come down hard on Jenny when he had to, and would often make Dan aware of his disapproval.
CYRUS WAS THE BEST: He Helped Blair With Her Pregnancy
One of the darker moments in Gossip Girl saw Blair end up pregnant. Cyrus was there to offer both fatherly emotional support, as well as help her figure out the legal side of things. Obviously, Rufus was in a band, so he didn’t exactly have the lawyer skills that Cyrus had, but it’s still a point in favor of Cyrus.
RUFUS WAS THE BEST: He And Lily Stayed Apart For Their Kids’ Sake
It was pretty clear that no matter who they eventually ended up with, Rufus and Lily were very much in love with each other. They had a literal child (who they pretty much didn’t care about) and were temporarily married. The fact that he effectively gave up his own happiness so that Dan and Serena could be together is about the biggest sacrifice one could make.
CYRUS WAS THE BEST: He Treated Blair Like His Own Child
Many step-fathers enter into a family and treat their partners' children as if they are their partners' children. Cyrus, despite having a child of his own, makes it his mission to treat Blair exactly the same.
On the surface, you’d never be able to tell that Cyrus wasn’t Blair’s real father, as he basically does everything a father would do for her.
RUFUS WAS THE BEST: He Was A ‘Cool’ Dad
As much as we all love him, one of the few things Cyrus Rose wasn’t, was cool. Rufus, on the other hand, was literally in a band who had moderate success before the events of the show, ran an art gallery and lived in a trendy Manhattan loft. He even ended up married to Lisa Loeb.
CYRUS WAS THE BEST: He’s A Hugger
Catchphrases in TV shows are typically pretty annoying. Unless you’re Cyrus Rose, who yelled proudly about the fact that he was a hugger. He didn’t save his hugs for Blair, though, and would happily tell anyone he hugged that it was “not enough”. Surely it would have been impossible for Blair to hold her grudge against this man for more than two seconds?