Kid Detective: Difference between revisions

[[File:conan-detective_8078detective 8078.gif|link=Detective Conan|frame|[[Captain Obvious|Hey, wait... Those are my footprints.]]]]

The [['''Kid Detective]]''' is part [[Snooping Little Kid]], part [[Amateur Sleuth]]. This kid lives to snoop, but also sometimes to ask questions of the suspicious adults or those who may have seen or heard something important, and try to piece together what happened.

There are some notable differences between the [['''Kid Detective]]''' and adult detectives, however, that make the [['''Kid Detective]]''' a unique character. For example, while an adult can go straight to the authorities with evidence, a kid often [[Not Now, Kiddo|has difficulty convincing adults of what s/he experienced]]. Hence the kid often has to let the adults know what's going on in a roundabout way, or expose it somehow. Sometimes the kid is in fact trusted by detectives, and can go to them directly.

The [['''Kid Detective]]''' tends to be more adventure-oriented than the adult detective, meaning that there's often more emphasis on snooping and less emphasis on, say, interrogating or asking questions. Heck, kids can't interrogate suspects anyway, so asking questions to trick the suspect into revealing something is more likely. Also, due to the greater emphasis on snooping and sneaking, getting captured is a bigger threat, resulting in the kid getting [[Bound and Gagged]] and having to either break free, attract help, or be freed by a fellow [['''Kid Detective]]'''.

* ''[[Death Note (Manga)|Death Note]]'': The kids from Wammy's House seem to have shades of this, being a group of orphan geniuses raised to find the kid that will one day become {{spoiler|L's successor}}. Near, especially, seems to fit early on, with his childish appearance and love of toys. He is, however, taken perfectly seriously by the authorities, if considered a tad unorthodox.

* ''[[ToA AruCertain Kagaku no Railgun (Manga)|To Aru Kagaku noScientific Railgun]]'' is a variation in which three out of the [[Four-Girl Ensemble]] detectives have super-powers.

* ''[[Detective Conan (Manga)|Detective Conan]]'' is a 16-year old de-aged down to six. Since everyone thinks he's six, he has to find ways of cluing adults in disguised as being a nosy six-year-old. There's also Ayumi, Genta, and Mitsuhiko, the "Detective Boys." However they aren't quite up to snuff as true Kid Detectives yet. They ''do'' try, though.

* ''[[Mirai Nikki]]'' Akise when he is introduced is a ''[[Kid Detective]]''

* Tubby from ''[[Little Lulu]]'' occasionally acted as one, whenever Lulu needed his help with a problem at her house.

== FanficsFan Works ==

* ''[[Encyclopedia Brown (Literature)|Encyclopedia Brown]]''. Notable here is the fact that his father is a police officer who knows of his son's activities, and is somewhat embarrassed that the smartest detective in town is a fifth-grader.

* A couple of [[Kim Newman]]'s ''[[Diogenes Club (Literature)|Diogenes Club]]'' stories include Richard Riddle, Boy Detective.

* ''[[The Boxcar Children (Literature)|The Boxcar Children]]'': The titular children.

* Walter "Ramses" Emerson was an example (a master of disguise among other things) until, over the course of the series, he grew up. He is the child of [[Amelia Peabody]] and Radcliffe Emerson, a [[Battle Couple]] pair of Egyptologists and incidental detectives in a series of books by Elizabeth Peters. Ramses has since grown up, gotten married, and produced his own frighteningly precocious children. His mother feels it serves him right.

{{quote| "Now, Mama, Papa, and sir," said Ramses, "please withdraw to the farthest corner and crouch down with your backs turned. It is as I feared: we will never break through by this method. The walls are eight feet thick. Fortunately I brought along a little nitroglycerine--"<br />

* [[Astrid Lindgren (Creator)|Astrid Lindgren]]'s Kalle Blomkvist, translated into English as Bill Bergson. He's thirteen to fifteen in the books and played quite realistically. He has a hyperactive imagination but enough analytical skills and knowledge of real detective procedures (like taking fingerprints, and even chemically detecting arsenic) to find real evidence against them when he's finally confronted with real criminals. Together with his friends, he's also resourceful enough, and suitably experienced in pretend warfare of sorts against their friendly rivals, to make it through sticky situations involving dangerous adults.

* ''[[The Great Brain]]'' series by J.D. Fitzgerald -- theFitzgerald—the Great Brain Himself, when there's a serious crime to solve. Subverted in that when there ''isn't'', the Great Brain is more likely to be swindling other kids out of their pocket change.

* ''[[TKKG (Literature)|TKKG]]'' falls into this category, combining it with a [[Five-Man Band]]. Also the problem with the authorities is not that big because the father of one of the kids is with the police. And since in later books they also have a reputation for solving crime.

* Subverted by [[Agatha Christie (Creator)|Agatha Christie]] in ''Crooked House''. Twelve year old Josephine investigates the murder of her grandfather, using her naturally snoopy nature to provide clues that the outsiders to the family never manage to find. However, it then turns out she's the ''murderer'', having decided to kill her grandfather over [[Disproportionate Retribution|his not getting her ballet lessons.]] She had decided to investigate the murder to get further attention from her family and the police. The subversion naturally comes from the fact that readers had been led to believe she was a genuine [[Kid Detective]], before we find out what was really going on.

* [[Alfred Hitchcock]]'s ''[[The Three Investigators (Literature)|The Three Investigators]]'', long-running multinational book series.

* Max the Wolf from ''[[Down the Mysterly River (Literature)|Down the Mysterly River]]'' is this.

* Dink, Josh and Ruth Rose in the ''A to Z Mysteries'' series.

* PBS's ''[[Ghostwriter (TV series)|Ghostwriter]]'' involves kids and a ghost who solve mysteries. The ghost communicates only by typing, as it cannot speak.

* ''[[The Adventures of Shirley Holmes (TV)|The Adventures of Shirley Holmes]]'', starring Sherlock's teenaged great grand-niece.

* Flavia Gemini and friends in ''[[The Roman Mysteries (TV series)|Roman Mysteries]]'', the [[CBBC]] live action adaptation of ''[[The Roman Mysteries (Literature)|The Roman Mysteries]]'' books.

* Mackenzie from ''[[Touch Detective]]'' is a [[Born Detective]] in the [[Kid Detective]] phase of her life.

* ''[[Suikoden III]]'' has a [[Kid Detective]] named, [[Exactly What It Says Onon the Tin|wait for it]], Kidd. His look also seems to be heavily inspired by [[Detective Conan]].

* As each of the characters in ''[[Guilty Party]]'' is based on a classic detective archetype, Rudy (AKA Kid Riddles) represents this particular trope. His cousin Ling-Ling is one too, but she's a teenager and skews more towards being a [[Nancy Drew]]-alike.

* ''[[Scooby Doo]]'' is a borderline example; although they are old enough to drive, they are called "you meddling kids" all the time. However, they have many spinoffs with younger heroes, such as ''[[Clue Club]]'', whose youngest member complains about [[Competence Zone|not being allowed to come along on the adventures]].<br /><br />:The series also has the variant that the local sheriff is well aware of how skilled the kids are and regularly consults with them (He must have severe budget constraints for investigations if he has to turn to a group of teen amateurs, albeit skilled ones).<br /><br />A more straight example is in ''[[A Pup Named Scooby Doo]]'' where the characters are younger than in other series.

* This is what Hank and Dean, ''[[The Venture Brothers]]'', ''want'' to be. This is what the [[Exactly What It Says Onon the Tin|Giant Boy Detective]] is.

* ''[[The Simpsons (Animationanimation)|The Simpsons]]'' has done this numerous times with Bart and/or Lisa. The first such instance is when Krusty gets arrested for armed robbery but some sleuthing discovers that it was actually [[It Was His Sled|Sideshow Bob]] trying to frame Krusty. Nelson also takes it up later on, with Bart and Lisa being the suspects.

* ''[[Fillmore!]]'' is a rare example of a cop version of this trope

* Timmy Turner from ''[[The Fairly Odd ParentsOddParents]]'' ventured into this trope in 2002 with ''Where's Wanda'' when he wished to become a full, typical private investigator; trench coat and all.

[[Category:ChildrensChildren's Show Tropes]]