In narcissistic families, everyone is assigned a role. These roles aren’t chosen freely; they are imposed to maintain the illusion of control, loyalty, and image preservation. Mark’s family offers a textbook example of how this toxic system operates—with a matriarch at the center and each member pulled into a script that serves her narrative.

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The Matriarch

At the core is Mark’s mother Elena Flores (actual name is Helen)—the narcissist’s matriarch. She protects the family myth at all costs. Her son can face restraining orders, court findings, and estrangement, but she will still declare him “the best father ever and always.” Her denial is not accidental; it’s a deliberate rewriting of reality to shield both herself and her favored son from accountability.

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The Golden Child: Mark (and Nathan by Proxy)

The Golden Child is upheld as the family’s reflection of success. Failures are excused, abuses are defended, and loyalty is rewarded with praise.

• For the matriarch, that Golden Child is Mark. He can do no wrong as long as he maintains loyalty to her narrative.
• Mark, in turn, repeats the cycle by elevating Nathan as his own Golden Child—the favored son through whom he seeks admiration and validation. Nathan’s worth is conditional, tied to how well he reflects Mark’s image.

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The Scapegoat: Erik and Liam

The Scapegoat is the truth-teller, the one who refuses to play along. They are blamed for conflict, punished for honesty, and often exiled.

• Erik, Mark’s younger brother, spoke out against the dysfunction and was cast aside—either exiled by the family or forced to leave for survival. His punishment for honesty was exclusion.
• Liam has become Mark’s scapegoat. When Liam resists or reveals the truth about his father’s behavior, he is dismissed, blamed, or outright attacked. The scapegoat role ensures the narcissist never faces their own reflection; they simply project it onto someone else.

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The Passive Enabler: Walter Flores and Tori

The Enabler smooths things over, denies abuse, and shields the narcissist from accountability. Walter, Mark’s stepfather, doesn’t appear to defend Mark loudly or craft the narrative himself. Instead, his role is one of silence. By keeping his head down and avoiding Elena’s wrath, he helps maintain the system by default. His silence ensures that no dissent rises within the inner circle, leaving the matriarch’s voice as the final word.

• Walter, Mark’s stepfather, has long filled this role, supporting the matriarch’s narrative and holding the system together.
• Tori, Mark’s former spouse, once acted as Mark’s enabler—defending him until the reality of abuse became undeniable. Her break from the role destabilized the system and intensified Mark’s obsession with control.

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The Flying Monkeys: Diana Diaz

The Flying Monkeys are extended family or friends recruited to enforce the narrative, spread gossip, and discredit dissenters.

• Diana, Mark’s aunt, exemplifies this role. Whether knowingly or not, she reinforces the matriarch’s image and helps attack anyone who dares to challenge the family script.

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The Cycle of Dysfunction

This system ensures the illusion survives:

• The matriarch denies reality.
• The Golden Child basks in unearned praise.
• The scapegoats absorb the blame.
• The enablers and flying monkeys hold the walls together.

But beneath the surface, it’s a house of cards. The moment truth is spoken—by Erik, by Liam, or by anyone who refuses to play their assigned role—the structure begins to collapse.

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Breaking the Cycle

The cost of these roles is immense. Children grow up unseen, siblings are driven apart, and spouses are discarded when they stop enabling. What’s called loyalty is really control; what’s called love is actually fear.

The only path forward is boundaries and truth. Naming the roles strips the illusion of power and gives voice back to those who have been erased by the matriarch’s denial.