I guess I could put this here, they're possibilities and headcanons to this character. Also, I'm kind of rambling here, so bear with me.
From the seventh sequel onward, I've always been fascinated, no
obsessed with Petrie's relationships with his family, how he relates to them, and particularly the males in the family. I feel as though throughout the series, the flyers have shown that the moms are more involved with the kids then the dads (if they're around at all), and the males seem to just go off on their own in packs or something. I feel like Petrie has a lot of potiential for growth in terms of how he sees himself and what type of flyer he wants to be.
If he had a mate, I had this idea that he would take on an active parental role as he knows what it is like to not have a reliable male flyer figure in his life.
I know there's the possibility that Petrie's dad died in the first movie, and heck, I even had it in a story once that Pterano was the one that was responsible for his death, whether directly or indirectly.
However, I actually like the idea of him just leaving the family, whether because that's their "flyer culture" or he just didn't want to be an active role. And Petrie just coming to terms with that and making certain he never turns out like his uncle or deadbeat dad. Interesting too, because on one extreme you have a manipulative narcissist that's a liar and had to leave, while the other chose to just go and remain idle from his family. Petrie could really struggle with the whole mentor figure thing, feeling disillusioned that he might never find the figure he ideally wants, coming to terms with that, and finding the strength in his friends, mother, siblings, anyone else close to him. And because he's willing to believe in things no matter how far fetched they may be, he can try to be more optimistic and less fearful, use his weaknesses as strengths, etc.
I have a lot of thoughts and feelings about this character.
