Miniature Senior Citizens: Difference between revisions
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{{quote|''"Of course, I was much taller in those days... six foot three..."''|'''[[Dirty Old Man|Basil Makepeace]]''' ([[Blatant Lies|clearly fibbing]] to impress a new resident), ''[[Waiting for God]]''.}}
Something about aging shrinks people. Maybe it's the effect of old age on posture, or cartilage compression, or maybe it's just how kids these days shoot up like beanpoles with how much they eat. Either way, most senior citizens -- ''especially'' [[Old Master|the skilled, powerful ones]] that can kick the crap out of younger
In real life, there is basis for shrinking in scientific lore. Except in cases of severe osteoporosis, however, most people will only lose a couple of inches from their tallest height over their lifetime. Note, however, that each generation has been, on average, taller than the last throughout the 20th century even in the west thanks to heartier diets rich in protein that their peasant ancestors could not enjoy, while Japan in particular (and Asia in general) is currently going through an accelerated version of this phenomenon since the end of World War II. Taller people tend to have shorter lifespans, which accounts for elder characters in general being shorter, but not individual height loss.
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*** As well as Cologne and Happôsai, ''Ranma ½'' has other Miniature Senior Citizens as well. The manga has Happôsai's old partner/rival Lukkosai, who has managed to get himself a [[Fountain of Youth|Jusenkyô Spring of Drowned Child curse]]. The anime has Happôsai's old friend Chingensai, who basically looks like Happôsai with a massive head of brown hair that, coupled with his thick beard/moustach, covers his whole head, and a trio of unnamed others who show up in an early seventh season episode.
*** Finally, a [[Filler]] episode in the first season gives us Kin Ono, the diminutive mother of [[Brother Chuck|Dr. Tôfû Ono]]. Unlike these others, she only a "normal" old person, about 60 or so, but she seems to have been fairly tiny even when she was a young girl.
** Also lampshaded in ''[[Inuyasha]]'', in which Miyoga is smaller than the younger characters for a
* ''[[The Slayers]]'' has, in at least Slayers NEXT (the second season of the anime), Auntie Aqua, a little old woman who's barely waist-high on Amelia. She turns out to be {{spoiler|the last remaining fragment of the soul of the Water Dragon King, one of the five gods who serve the Dragon God Ceiphied}}.
* An elderly woman from an episode of ''[[Burn Up Excess]]'' plays this trope straight, all while harassing Rio.
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* Rei's grandfather from ''[[Sailor Moon]]''.
** This is only in the anime. Rei's grandfather is shown to be quite dapper in the manga.
* ''[[Samurai 7]]'''s village elder, and Kirara's grandmother, are both
* Torogai in ''[[Seirei no Moribito]]''.
* Genkai in ''[[Yu Yu Hakusho]]'' (Although like Yoda, she is seen in flashbacks to have always been that height.)
* Libra Dohko, the [[Hermit Guru]] in ''[[Saint Seiya]]''. He's about 140
* Yugi's grandpa in ''[[Yu-Gi-Oh!]]''. It should be noted, however, that Yugi's not much taller.
* The Tsuchikage from ''[[Naruto]]'' was recently revealed to be an old man so tiny that he's only about 1.5 times as tall as his [[Nice Hat|Kage head piece]] is long. It turns out that Onoki was always tiny, though.
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* In the sitcom ''[[WKRP in Cincinnati]]'', newsman Les Nessman frequently voices concern over his (never seen) aged mother's chronic shrinking.
* Marie in ''[[Everybody Loves Raymond]]''.
* The Janitor from ''[[Scrubs]]'' once said to his girlfriend Lady that he didn't want
* On ''[[ER]]'', the term "LOL" was shorthand for "little old lady." Presumably they didn't encounter many six-foot-tall elderly women.
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== Video Games ==
* Kliff in ''[[Guilty Gear]]'' comes up to the waist of most of the younger cast; he's even a touch shorter than May, the second-youngest character in the game (Dizzy, the ''actual'' youngest character, is taller than either). Some of his special moves restore his youth, doubling his height in the process.
* Old man Strago from ''[[Final Fantasy VI]]'' is 4'11" (1.51
** Their respective sprites, however, are just as large as the sprites for the other characters. For Relm this is accomplished through a [[Nice Hat]], but Strago makes up for lack of height with an abundance of Mohawk.
* Most of the older characters in the first ''[[Jak and Daxter]]'' game (such as the bird lady and Jak's uncle) are tiny and reach only to Jak's waist. Samos the Sage is significantly shorter than his daughter Keira, though apparently his younger self was short as well.
* Inverted in ''[[Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles]]'': ''[[Crystal Bearers]]'', for the Lilties. Typically small in their prime, the average never going taller than four feet (excepting the princess and those train conductors), Lilties grow ''much'' larger as they age; Cid is nearly as tall as Layle and quite wide to boot, and Jegran could easily pass for a basketball player. The ''elderly'' Lilties are large enough to [[Foe-Tossing Charge|toss bystanders aside]] as they run.
* Chin Gentsai in ''[[The King of Fighters]]'' is a diminutive man (he's just about as tall as Choi
** [[Truth in Television]]: Chin's design was a homage to Chinese actor Yuen Siu Tien. Yuen's most famous role was that of Beggar So in [[Drunken Master]] and [[Snake in the Eagles Shadow]], and he's quite shorter than [[Jackie Chan]]. He was 66 years old when the movies were shot.
* The twin witches [[Playing with Fire|Koume]] and [[An Ice Person|Kotake]] in ''[[The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time]]'' (where they are boss characters) and ''[[The Legend of Zelda: Majora's Mask|Majora's Mask]]'' (where they are allies).
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== Web Comics ==
* ''[[A Skewed Paradise]]'' has [http://aspcomics.net/archindex.php?strip_id=80 Nick's dad].
* In ''[[The Inexplicable Adventures of Bob]]'', Mrs. Primrose is fairly
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