Immortal Immaturity: Difference between revisions

Content added Content deleted
VisualWikitext
m (clean up)
Line 1: Line 1:
{{trope}}
{{trope}}
[[File:Eternityscan_7755.jpg|link=The Superhero Squad Show|right]]
[[File:Eternityscan 7755.jpg|link=The Superhero Squad Show|right]]


{{quote|''"There's no point in being grown up if you can't be childish sometimes."''|'''The Doctor''', ''[[Doctor Who]]''}}
{{quote|''"There's no point in being grown up if you can't be childish sometimes."''|'''The Doctor''', ''[[Doctor Who]]''}}


The tendency of immortals in fantasy and science fiction to not act significantly older than they look -- even if they're [[Really Seven Hundred Years Old]].
The tendency of immortals in fantasy and science fiction to not act significantly older than they look—even if they're [[Really Seven Hundred Years Old]].


Fair enough when you're talking about an alien species or fantasy race with a very long lifespan. [[Older Than Feudalism|Ancient vampires]] who behave like teenagers -- or even like ordinary adults -- may present more of a strain on credibility, relative to the seriousness of the genre in which they appear.
Fair enough when you're talking about an alien species or fantasy race with a very long lifespan. [[Older Than Feudalism|Ancient vampires]] who behave like teenagers—or even like ordinary adults—may present more of a strain on credibility, relative to the seriousness of the genre in which they appear.


Often justified in the sense that an immortal wouldn't have to deal with many of the psychological aspects of growing older. Their bodies don't break down with age, so they don't have to come to terms with decreased mobility or mental capacity. They won't die of natural causes, so they don't have to contemplate the inevitability of death, or the possibility of an eternal reward (or punishment) and all the moral responsibility that might carry. They don't have to worry about their legacy or leaving anything unfinished, [[Living Forever Is Awesome|because there really]] ''[[Living Forever Is Awesome|is]]'' [[Living Forever Is Awesome|always tomorrow]]. Because of all this, these characters never need to "grow up" in the sense that a mortal does.
Often justified in the sense that an immortal wouldn't have to deal with many of the psychological aspects of growing older. Their bodies don't break down with age, so they don't have to come to terms with decreased mobility or mental capacity. They won't die of natural causes, so they don't have to contemplate the inevitability of death, or the possibility of an eternal reward (or punishment) and all the moral responsibility that might carry. They don't have to worry about their legacy or leaving anything unfinished, [[Living Forever Is Awesome|because there really]] ''[[Living Forever Is Awesome|is]]'' [[Living Forever Is Awesome|always tomorrow]]. Because of all this, these characters never need to "grow up" in the sense that a mortal does.
Line 27: Line 27:
* Chibiusa, a.k.a. Sailor Chibi-Moon, from ''[[Sailor Moon]]'' looks and behaves like a five-year old. According to the manga, she's about 900. She still seems to find kindergarten challenging.
* Chibiusa, a.k.a. Sailor Chibi-Moon, from ''[[Sailor Moon]]'' looks and behaves like a five-year old. According to the manga, she's about 900. She still seems to find kindergarten challenging.
** She spent much of this time in suspended animation in the anime, and it's implied that her growth was physically ''and'' mentally stunted. Somewhat creepy, but justified.
** She spent much of this time in suspended animation in the anime, and it's implied that her growth was physically ''and'' mentally stunted. Somewhat creepy, but justified.
* The Wolkenritter from ''[[Magical Girl Lyrical Nanoha]]''. Vita looks like a child, and acts like a child -- though it could be fairly said that she's just immature, which is a problem that doesn't automatically go away with age. Her rather sucky role in life up to that point, and during the second season, probably also contributed to her lack of control via lots of emotional pain. Still, it's awfully coincidental that the most child-like Knight in appearance would be the most childish in behavior, given that they're all supposed to be the same age.
* The Wolkenritter from ''[[Magical Girl Lyrical Nanoha]]''. Vita looks like a child, and acts like a child—though it could be fairly said that she's just immature, which is a problem that doesn't automatically go away with age. Her rather sucky role in life up to that point, and during the second season, probably also contributed to her lack of control via lots of emotional pain. Still, it's awfully coincidental that the most child-like Knight in appearance would be the most childish in behavior, given that they're all supposed to be the same age.
** Despite this, she claims to be an adult when going to a public bath in ''[[Magical Girl Lyrical Nanoha StrikerS]]'' Sound Stage 01.
** Despite this, she claims to be an adult when going to a public bath in ''[[Magical Girl Lyrical Nanoha StrikerS]]'' Sound Stage 01.
* Chizuru of ''[[Kanokon]]''. On the one hand, she ''is'' a fox spirit, with all the instincts that entails, but on the other, she's ''four hundred years old'', so you'd think she'd know that trying to rape a [[Shotacon|shota]] is bad manners. Her [[Hot Shounen Mom|mom]] is a little better but still has entirely too much fun with said shota herself.
* Chizuru of ''[[Kanokon]]''. On the one hand, she ''is'' a fox spirit, with all the instincts that entails, but on the other, she's ''four hundred years old'', so you'd think she'd know that trying to rape a [[Shotacon|shota]] is bad manners. Her [[Hot Shounen Mom|mom]] is a little better but still has entirely too much fun with said shota herself.
Line 37: Line 37:
** Played straight with {{spoiler|Hanyuu, a.k.a Oyashiro-sama}}, who's even older, but is really quite shy and easily flustered.
** Played straight with {{spoiler|Hanyuu, a.k.a Oyashiro-sama}}, who's even older, but is really quite shy and easily flustered.
*** She can be quite serious and mature though. The manga tends to make her overly mature, and the anime tends to make her too immature.
*** She can be quite serious and mature though. The manga tends to make her overly mature, and the anime tends to make her too immature.
* Hinako Ninomiya of ''[[Ranma ½]]'' is somewhere in her mid-to-late twenties; however, thanks to [[Old Master|Happosai]], her body ages incredibly slowly, so she currently looks like a ten year-old girl. She can only grow up to reflect her true age by absorbing the [[Battle Aura]] of highly-combative people around her, and even then, only temporarily. How she acts depends entirely on how she ''looks'' -- she could be watching [[Doraemon]], reading [[Shojo]] or gushing over the giant panda in the living room as a child one second, only to suck out Ranma's [[Battle Aura|ki]] and try to hook up with Akane's father as a grown, mature woman the next.
* Hinako Ninomiya of ''[[Ranma ½]]'' is somewhere in her mid-to-late twenties; however, thanks to [[Old Master|Happosai]], her body ages incredibly slowly, so she currently looks like a ten year-old girl. She can only grow up to reflect her true age by absorbing the [[Battle Aura]] of highly-combative people around her, and even then, only temporarily. How she acts depends entirely on how she ''looks''—she could be watching [[Doraemon]], reading [[Shojo]] or gushing over the giant panda in the living room as a child one second, only to suck out Ranma's [[Battle Aura|ki]] and try to hook up with Akane's father as a grown, mature woman the next.
** Don't forget Happosai, whose general outlook on life can be summarized roughly as "five year old child with the hormones of a [[All Men Are Perverts|stereotypical boy]] just hitting puberty".
** Don't forget Happosai, whose general outlook on life can be summarized roughly as "five year old child with the hormones of a [[All Men Are Perverts|stereotypical boy]] just hitting puberty".
* In ''[[Mermaid Saga|Mermaid's Scar]]'', a subversion occurs when an immortal who has lived for 800 years as an 8 year-old boy only ''acts'' as a child to keep up appearances; his mind is anything but childish.
* In ''[[Mermaid Saga|Mermaid's Scar]]'', a subversion occurs when an immortal who has lived for 800 years as an 8 year-old boy only ''acts'' as a child to keep up appearances; his mind is anything but childish.
Line 102: Line 102:
* The fey in ''[[Wicked Lovely]]''. They are immortal, or at least [[Really Seven Hundred Years Old]], but they very rarely act or look anything more than early-twenties. Probably the best example is Keenan, who is a 900 hundred year old teenager in pretty much all respects.
* The fey in ''[[Wicked Lovely]]''. They are immortal, or at least [[Really Seven Hundred Years Old]], but they very rarely act or look anything more than early-twenties. Probably the best example is Keenan, who is a 900 hundred year old teenager in pretty much all respects.
* ''[[Honor Harrington]]'' occasionally addresses the implications of slowing the aging process and how much of your personality is influenced by hormone levels based on your age. Puberty and its associated mood swings has years added on to it.
* ''[[Honor Harrington]]'' occasionally addresses the implications of slowing the aging process and how much of your personality is influenced by hormone levels based on your age. Puberty and its associated mood swings has years added on to it.
* In [[Chronicles of Amber]], most of the Amberite Princes initially think and act like [[Prince Charmless|charmless]] [[Royal Brat|Royal Brats]], but as the series goes on and conflicts force them to work together, develop into [[The Wise Prince]].
* In [[Chronicles of Amber]], most of the Amberite Princes initially think and act like [[Prince Charmless|charmless]] [[Royal Brat]]s, but as the series goes on and conflicts force them to work together, develop into [[The Wise Prince]].




Line 120: Line 120:
*** And, of course, Peter David would make Trelane a Q (non-canonically) in the novel ''Q-Squared''.
*** And, of course, Peter David would make Trelane a Q (non-canonically) in the novel ''Q-Squared''.
** Jadzia Dax, though not technically immortal, has several lifetimes of experience. Yet you wouldn't know it if [[Informed Attribute|they hadn't told you about it.]]
** Jadzia Dax, though not technically immortal, has several lifetimes of experience. Yet you wouldn't know it if [[Informed Attribute|they hadn't told you about it.]]
* Averted with ''[[Highlander (TV series)|Highlander: The Series]]''. Given the way they live -- constantly on the lookout for people with swords, forced into kill-or-be-killed duels, watching mortal friends grow old and die, moving around to avoid detection -- most Immortals trade their immaturity for a more practical outlook on life. The only immortal child shown uses his apparent innocence as a honey trap so he can kill other Immortals.
* Averted with ''[[Highlander (TV series)|Highlander: The Series]]''. Given the way they live—constantly on the lookout for people with swords, forced into kill-or-be-killed duels, watching mortal friends grow old and die, moving around to avoid detection—most Immortals trade their immaturity for a more practical outlook on life. The only immortal child shown uses his apparent innocence as a honey trap so he can kill other Immortals.




Line 148: Line 148:


== [[Video Games]] ==
== [[Video Games]] ==
* ''[[Xenogears]]'' features several characters who are quasi-immortal. Some have lived for hundreds of years, a few for as many as ten thousand. {{spoiler|Emperor Cain and the Gazel Ministry}} act as one might imagine. The former is a world-weary, very old man who has kept his moral compass intact due to guilt over a sin committed long ago, the former being very anxious to transcend to a higher level of existence and possessing of no moral compass whatsoever. Then, there is {{spoiler|Miang}}, who has lived as long, but in a different manner: she possesses a new body when her current one dies. When we meet her, she has the body of a beautiful young woman and appears to act like one, being flirtatious and sexually-active. Yet, it's difficult to tell how genuine this is, because her entire existence is devoted to executing the mother of all [[Plan|plans]], and everything she does serves this end.
* ''[[Xenogears]]'' features several characters who are quasi-immortal. Some have lived for hundreds of years, a few for as many as ten thousand. {{spoiler|Emperor Cain and the Gazel Ministry}} act as one might imagine. The former is a world-weary, very old man who has kept his moral compass intact due to guilt over a sin committed long ago, the former being very anxious to transcend to a higher level of existence and possessing of no moral compass whatsoever. Then, there is {{spoiler|Miang}}, who has lived as long, but in a different manner: she possesses a new body when her current one dies. When we meet her, she has the body of a beautiful young woman and appears to act like one, being flirtatious and sexually-active. Yet, it's difficult to tell how genuine this is, because her entire existence is devoted to executing the mother of all [[plan]]s, and everything she does serves this end.
* In the ''[[Touhou]]'' series, the vampire Flandre Scarlet has a justified reason for typically being portrayed with a naive childish mentality: her sister Remilia has kept her locked-up in the house for the last 500+ years. She never gained perspective about the world. (And a bit insane on top of that.)
* In the ''[[Touhou]]'' series, the vampire Flandre Scarlet has a justified reason for typically being portrayed with a naive childish mentality: her sister Remilia has kept her locked-up in the house for the last 500+ years. She never gained perspective about the world. (And a bit insane on top of that.)
** Remilia herself is said to have the personality of a selfish, spoiled brat. She [[Crouching Moron, Hidden Badass|can get serious]] if the situation really merits her attention, and is actually [[Magnificent Bastard|remarkably on top of things]], but her behaviour is that of a spoiled nine-year-old about 95% of the time.
** Remilia herself is said to have the personality of a selfish, spoiled brat. She [[Crouching Moron, Hidden Badass|can get serious]] if the situation really merits her attention, and is actually [[Magnificent Bastard|remarkably on top of things]], but her behaviour is that of a spoiled nine-year-old about 95% of the time.
Line 159: Line 159:
Tenshi: [[Who Wants to Live Forever?|I don't want to go on living the boring life of a celestial forever.]] }}
Tenshi: [[Who Wants to Live Forever?|I don't want to go on living the boring life of a celestial forever.]] }}
* ''[[Mother 3]]'' has {{spoiler|Porky. He will stay that way forever due to both time warping too many times and for trapping himself in the Absolutely Safe Capsule at the end of the game.}}
* ''[[Mother 3]]'' has {{spoiler|Porky. He will stay that way forever due to both time warping too many times and for trapping himself in the Absolutely Safe Capsule at the end of the game.}}
* ''[[Fate/stay night]]'': Saber is, we are told, not actually fifteen; after receiving her sword {{spoiler|and becoming King Arthur}}, she didn't age over the next ten years, and she's really in her twenties. Not only does nobody mention how strange it is for her to have a romance with the seventeen year old main character, but she's as naive emotionally as a real seventeen year old, which is [[Hand Wave|Hand Waved]] by claiming that {{spoiler|as the king}} she had no personal life.
* ''[[Fate/stay night]]'': Saber is, we are told, not actually fifteen; after receiving her sword {{spoiler|and becoming King Arthur}}, she didn't age over the next ten years, and she's really in her twenties. Not only does nobody mention how strange it is for her to have a romance with the seventeen year old main character, but she's as naive emotionally as a real seventeen year old, which is [[Hand Wave]]d by claiming that {{spoiler|as the king}} she had no personal life.
** Ciel from ''[[Tsukihime]]'' has a similar situation going on, but in that case it's actually lampshaded in Kagetsu Tohya.
** Ciel from ''[[Tsukihime]]'' has a similar situation going on, but in that case it's actually lampshaded in Kagetsu Tohya.
* Arcueid Brunestud, of the visual novel ''[[Tsukihime]]'', is also much like the previous entries. She's an ancient [[Our Vampires Are Different|True Ancestor]], but she was [[Tyke Bomb|bred to be a weapon]] and not a person by her own race, and so they kept her asleep all the time except when she was sent to kill someone... so her demeanour on the outside world is not unlike that of a curious and confident child, marveling at everything new she comes across and being generally naive and emotionally outspoken. [[Justified Trope|She really]] ''[[Justified Trope|isn't]]'' [[Justified Trope|any older emotionally than she acts.]]
* Arcueid Brunestud, of the visual novel ''[[Tsukihime]]'', is also much like the previous entries. She's an ancient [[Our Vampires Are Different|True Ancestor]], but she was [[Tyke Bomb|bred to be a weapon]] and not a person by her own race, and so they kept her asleep all the time except when she was sent to kill someone... so her demeanour on the outside world is not unlike that of a curious and confident child, marveling at everything new she comes across and being generally naive and emotionally outspoken. [[Justified Trope|She really]] ''[[Justified Trope|isn't]]'' [[Justified Trope|any older emotionally than she acts.]]
Retrieved from "https://allthetropes.org/wiki/Immortal_Immaturity"