Coco's father died before the story begins. His absence profoundly shapes Coco's motivations and emotional state. She remembers him claiming he flew with penguins, a memory sustaining her belief in flight despite penguins being flightless. This recollection proves crucial during the climax. Confronted with the need to fly to retrieve a missing wing for the fallen angel Zammie, Coco recalls her father's story. Remembering him summons his presence from heaven to aid her. He grants her the ability to fly, enabling her to recover the wing. His posthumous intervention directly resolves the central conflict. After helping Coco, he returns to heaven. He exists solely through Coco's memories and his spiritual manifestation.