Man Child: Difference between revisions

Line 1:

{{quote|''"I don't think I'm ready to be a grown-up."''|'''[[Scott Pilgrim]]'''}}

Line 27:

* Galactic ''otaku'' [[Keroro Gunsou]] is this - followed Pekopon anime as a child, then subjected to [[Training From Hell]] until he was assigned to Pekopon to lead the invasion... making it far easier to follow his old hobbies as a result. Just picking up where he left off in life.

* Figure skater Azusa Shiratori from [[Ranma ½]] is a spoiled 16 year old girl who acts like a 5 year old, she'll steal anything she considers cute even if it's just a food item and she will give it a pet name, if the person who has the thing she wants won't hand it over she will attack them with anything she can find.

* [[Played for Drama]] in ''[[Kodomo no Jikan]]''. Reiji is able to support Rin and himself financially as an office worker but he is ''incredibly'' messed up due to his abusive childhood and the death of his lover/cousin Aki, Rin's mother. He has severe dependency issues as a result and [[Obliviously Evil|sees nothing wrong]] with [[Wife Husbandry|trying to raise Rin to take Aki's place]]. [[media:~~Kodomo_no_Jikan_Ch_59_~~-~~_05_8438~~.jpg|He even mentally regresses to a child when he thinks Rin might abandon him.]]

* [[Played for Drama]] in ''[[Kodomo no Jikan]]''. Reiji is able to support Rin and himself financially as an office worker but he is ''incredibly'' messed up due to his abusive childhood and the death of his lover/cousin Aki, Rin's mother. He has severe dependency issues as a result and [[Obliviously Evil|sees nothing wrong]] with [[Wife Husbandry|trying to raise Rin to take Aki's place]]. [[media:Kodomo no Jikan Ch 59 - 05 8438.jpg|He even mentally regresses to a child when he thinks Rin might abandon him.]]

* Usagi from ''[[Junjou Romantica]]'' appears to be this. He's actually trying to simulate a child's environment because he wanted to "recreate what normal kids do in their childhood".

* ''[[Axis Powers Hetalia]]''; yes, new viewers, the character throwing a tantrum and beating a dragon with a [[Hello Kitty]] doll is a ''[[Really Seven Hundred Years Old|four-thousand-year-old]] [[Dude Looks Like a Lady|man]].''

Line 38:

* [[Madman (Comic Book)|Madman]], due mostly to being killed and reanimated with new memories and a different personality. Mentally, he is only about ten years old (at least when his former life isn't poking through).

* In ''[[Empire State]]'', Jimmy admits that he really doesn't feel grown-up, even though he's 25. But when his friend Sara calls him out for not having a checking account, and still receiving an allowance from his mother, he insists that "it's an Asian thing".

* [[Shazam|Captain Marvel]] often comes across this way, but for a different ~~reason--he~~'s ''literally'' a young boy ([[Comic Book Time|or sometimes teenager]]) named Billy who can [[Henshin Hero|transform]] into an adult superhero. Early on the two forms had [[Super-Powered Alter Ego|different personalities]], but most modern interpretations make them the same person, acting like a [[Cheerful Child]] in both forms (though Marvel gets a bit of maturity from having the Wisdom of Solomon as one of his powers).

* [[Shazam|Captain Marvel]] often comes across this way, but for a different reason—he's ''literally'' a young boy ([[Comic Book Time|or sometimes teenager]]) named Billy who can [[Henshin Hero|transform]] into an adult superhero. Early on the two forms had [[Super-Powered Alter Ego|different personalities]], but most modern interpretations make them the same person, acting like a [[Cheerful Child]] in both forms (though Marvel gets a bit of maturity from having the Wisdom of Solomon as one of his powers).

* Similarly, Rage of Marvel's ''[[New Warriors]]'' was an immature young teen when he got his ~~powers -- which~~ mutated him into the form of a very large and muscular [[Scary Black Man]].

* Similarly, Rage of Marvel's ''[[New Warriors]]'' was an immature young teen when he got his powers—which mutated him into the form of a very large and muscular [[Scary Black Man]].

Line 50:

** Pee-wee's also had several love-interests (namely Dottie from "Big Adventure," Miss Yvonne on "Pee-wee's Playhouse," and Winnie and Gina from "Big Top Pee-wee"). And they're all pretty good-looking. However the heck he managed to pull that off...well, the world may never know.

* [[Adam Sandler]]'s entire career is built on this trope, most notably ''[[Billy Madison]].''

* In another [[Tim Burton|Burton]] flick, ''[[Charlie and the Chocolate Factory]]'', is Willy Wonka, a character eerily similar to Pee-Wee Herman. But, while Wonka appears to be completely unselfconscious of what a Man Child he is, (at one point in the film, he argues that he was ''never'' as small as a child, because he remembers being able to reach his head to put a hat on top of it) unlike Herman's world, Wonka's notices and is more than a little [[~~Squick|squicked~~]] by him.

* In another [[Tim Burton|Burton]] flick, ''[[Charlie and the Chocolate Factory]]'', is Willy Wonka, a character eerily similar to Pee-Wee Herman. But, while Wonka appears to be completely unselfconscious of what a Man Child he is, (at one point in the film, he argues that he was ''never'' as small as a child, because he remembers being able to reach his head to put a hat on top of it) unlike Herman's world, Wonka's notices and is more than a little [[squick]]ed by him.

* Played with in ''[[The 40-Year-Old Virgin|The 40 Year Old Virgin]]''; the main character is, as the title suggests, not sexually active, and also dresses in a rather buttoned-down fashion, has a typically childish hobby of collecting comic-book action-figures and is slightly naive and inexperienced, coming across on the surface as being one of these. However, on the whole he's actually managed to get his shit together a lot more successfully than many of the supposedly more 'experienced' men and women around him, and generally comes off as being a lot more mature, well-rounded and wise about life than them.

** The male lead in ''Knocked Up'' also has many Man Child traits.

Line 80:

* ''[[In Death]]'': Poor Alice Lingstrom from ''Ceremony In Death'' turns out to be a child in a woman's body. She was just exploring Satanism and got involved in a Satanic cult. The cult drugged her and then gang-raped her. She was pretty much made into the cult leaders' slave for a time, but she left when she witnessed the two leaders sacrifice and murder a young boy. She actually thinks a spell had been cast on her, and that one of the leaders is a shapeshifter. Considering that she is suffering from trauma and paranoia, it is safe to say that her status of Womanchild is being [[Played for Drama]].

* ''Sisterhood'' series by [[Fern Michaels]]: The Vigilantes seem to act like womenchildren a number of times. At least Myra Rutledge and Countess Anne "Annie" de Silva have the excuse of being rich 60-something-year-old ladies who may have never developed maturity...or they lost it as they got older! Cosmo Cricket, introduced in ''Final Justice'', could be considered this. However, he has wisdom and is quite responsible in his job as a lawyer!

* Bertie Wooster from ''[[Jeeves and Wooster (novel)|Jeeves and Wooster]]''. His valet is implied to be acting as his [[Parental Substitute]], and he's very childish in ~~general--loves~~ playing in the shower "like a two-year-old", doesn't know how to deal with women, and never got over his fear of his [[Grande Dame]] aunt.

* Bertie Wooster from ''[[Jeeves and Wooster (novel)|Jeeves and Wooster]]''. His valet is implied to be acting as his [[Parental Substitute]], and he's very childish in general—loves playing in the shower "like a two-year-old", doesn't know how to deal with women, and never got over his fear of his [[Grande Dame]] aunt.

* Lieutenant Wes Janson of the [[X Wing Series]] is a classic example, between his pranks, general irreverence towards everything in life, and his boundless sense of humor. He ''is'' capable of being serious, when actively shooting at things, but it's not his natural state. However, he explains that this is a deliberate part of his philosophy of living life to its fullest, given the mortality rate of his [[Ace Pilot|chosen profession]].

{{quote|'''Janson''': I want you to remember something very important: ''you can't look dignified when you're having fun''.

Line 101:

* [[Sarah Silverman]]'s character in ''[[The Sarah Silverman Program]]''.

* Kirk from ''[[Gilmore Girls]]''.

* ''[[The Big Bang Theory]]'': While all the characters indulge themselves in childish things, Sheldon insists that ''someone'' take care of him the way his mother would when he's sick, (or even just ''home''sick) locks himself in his bedroom where no one else is allowed when he's furious, curls up into a crying ball of sad on his bed when he's embarrassed, runs away from home when he's upset, is practically traumatized by the sound of people arguing<ref>Although this one may be perfectly justified, as his parents often got into arguements when he was a child and it is also implied that a lot of the arguments were exceedingly violent (he mentioned that his father would start throwing plates and shattering them in the kitchen, and that his mom planned to place glass shards in his father's meatloaf), even when they said to Sheldon that they stopped fighting</ref>, and is stubborn and petty beyond all reason. The only thing on this planet that can force him to behave rationally when he's angry or depressed is an order from his mother, who Lenard calls "Sheldon's Kryptonite". He also responds positively to being patronized by Penny, especially if he gets a toy robot and a comic book out of it.

* ''[[The Big Bang Theory]]'': While all the characters indulge themselves in childish things, Sheldon insists that ''someone'' take care of him the way his mother would when he's sick, (or even just ''home''sick) locks himself in his bedroom where no one else is allowed when he's furious, curls up into a crying ball of sad on his bed when he's embarrassed, runs away from home when he's upset, is practically traumatized by the sound of people arguing,<ref>Although this one may be perfectly justified, as his parents often got into arguements when he was a child and it is also implied that a lot of the arguments were exceedingly violent (he mentioned that his father would start throwing plates and shattering them in the kitchen, and that his mom planned to place glass shards in his father's meatloaf), even when they said to Sheldon that they stopped fighting</ref> and is stubborn and petty beyond all reason. The only thing on this planet that can force him to behave rationally when he's angry or depressed is an order from his mother, who Lenard calls "Sheldon's Kryptonite". He also responds positively to being patronized by Penny, especially if he gets a toy robot and a comic book out of it.

* Dougal from ''[[Father Ted]]''.

* Andy on ''[[Parks and Recreation]]''. Part of the reason the show is praised for [[Growing the Beard]] is his [[Character Development]] having him go from a [[Jerkass]] to simple man who just doesn't know better.

Line 168:

* [[Half Life|Gordon Freeman]], as depicted in [[Freeman's Mind]], was this the even before his mental breakdown, apparently acting immature the whole time he worked at Black Mesa and doing many childish things like playing racket ball in the anti-mass spectrometer and doing a cannonball into his bath tub. And, of course, there's the episode where he discovers a cart that goes around in circles at high speeds. He just spends a full minute sitting there pressing the button that sends it back and forth while screaming "Weeeeeeeeee!". Let it be known that there's an alien invasion the middle of all this.

* Zack in ''[[Echo Chamber]]'', though it's partially explained by his {{spoiler|[[Freudian Excuse]]}}.

* [[The Nostalgia Chick]]'s best friend, Nella, is repeatedly referred to (by herself and others) as a "wo-[[Man Child]]."

* [[The Nostalgia Chick]]'s best friend, Nella, is repeatedly referred to (by herself and others) as a "wo-Man Child."