Not Growing Up Sucks: Difference between revisions

'''Eli:''' Yes, but I've been this age for a very long time.|''[[Let the Right One In]]''}}

Some (well, many) kids think [[Growing Up Sucks]]. Then there's this. It turns out [[Immortality Begins At Twenty]] is only true for a lucky few, because due to some form of [[Phlebotinum]], this child can never grow up. They are forever frozen in their preteens or early teens. If still organic and biologically alive, they will never mature enough to even seem ''close'' to becoming [[Legalold Jailbait]]enough for sex to the opposite (or same) gender, even if they're not so physically immature as to be entirely incapable of having sex. [[Squick|Thankfully]], this [[Lolicon|usually]] doesn't come up. Interestingly, their intellect will very likely keep growing throughout their lifetime, but their emotional maturity may or may not undergo a similar growth. They may [[Immortal Immaturity|forever throw tantrums and sulk]], or they may well develop an [[Older Than They Look|adult mindset]] or even go [[Time Abyss|beyond it]]. In any case, expect this thwarted love life to cause them a great deal of frustration if not outright [[Wangst]].

May or may not overlap with [[Who Wants to Live Forever?]] and [[I Hate You, Vampire Dad]]. [[Sub-Trope]] of [[Blessed with Suck]]. Not to be confused with [[Not Allowed to Grow Up]], which is about live-action characters being forced to remain the same age via [[Executive Meddling]], not any in-story reason -- despite their actors growing up in the roles. Closely related to [[Never Grew Up]] (which is a voluntary decision by the child to not grow up). See also [[Legal Jailbait]]

== [[Anime]] Andand [[Manga]] ==

* ''[[Dance in the Vampire Bund]]'', humans turned vampires don't grow any older than they are. The queen is stuck in a constantly childlike state.

* For the first 900 years of her life, manga ChibiusaChibi-usa of ''[[Sailor Moon]]'' is magically kept at the physical age of five until her powers kick in. This is stated to be unnatural even considering the extremely long lifespans of the citizens of crystal Tokyo (such as her twentysomething-looking parents), because of how early it kicked in, but is never fully explained. The television series, unsurprisingly, [[Adaptation Distillation|avoids the weird subplot entirely]].

* Konata and Yutaka of ''[[Lucky Star]]'', paternal cousins, were frozen in their early teen bodies. While Yutaka complains it makes it difficult to find a boyfriend, [[Otaku Surrogate]] Konata pragmatiallypragmatically assures herself that many of her fellow otaku [[Lolicon|would have no problem with it]].

** In the [[Fullmetal Alchemist (anime)|2003 anime version]], however, {{spoiler|after Edward sacrifices himself to bring him back in one piece, Al is physically a ten -year -old. Additionally he lost his memories of the time he spent in the armor.}} In the movie we meet him again, three years later as a early teen both mentally and physically. {{spoiler|And then it is a slight subversion, since after he decides to stay with Edward in Germany he slowly starts regaining his memory, which implies him maturing on his actual age.}} More a case of [[Older Than They Look]]

* ''[[Presents]]'' stars a girl named Kurumi, who after falling asleep at the table on her birthday one night, without receiving presents from her classmates or parents, found herself suddenly far away from home, and unable to age past 10. Now she's an old woman in a child's body, who searches for her missing birthday present.

* ''[[Lyrical Nanoha|Magical Girl Lyrical Nanoha]]'' gives us Vita, starting in ''[[Magical Girl Lyrical Nanoha A's|A's]]''. Though it doesn't often come up in the main series, [[All There in the Manual|supplementary materials]] indicate she isn't happy about it. ''[[Magical Girl Lyrical Nanoha StrikerS|Striker SStrikerS]]'''s supplementaries suggest this may eventually change. Or maybe not.

* The driving force behind the plot of ''[[Petite Princess Yucie]]'', the anime result of combining the settings, characters and story elements of several of the ''[[Princess Maker]]'' games. Here, an artifact called the Eternal Tiara exists, capable of granting any wish, and several girls of about ten years coincidentally end up trying to prove themselves true princesses (and thus able to use it without getting killed) in order to be worthy of using it. The twist comes when it becomes clear that all of the girls are about 15, and none too pleased about having stopped growing at ten. The reason? {{spoiler|A cosmic ploy to give the winner something to wish for when their friends are [[Powered by a Forsaken Child|sacrificed]] to power the [[Artifact of Doom|tiara]], since it tends to destroy the world itsit's currently in if it isn't used regularly.}}

* In an odd case, Hinako Ninomiya from ''[[Ranma ½]]'' (manga, but not anime) isn't able to ''stay'' grown up. Due to a cure for an illness when she really was a child she periodically reverts back to a preteen state until she absorbs enough ki to temporarily age up again. This makes it rather difficult to be taken seriously as a teacher, or woo a potential suitor, since she spends most of her time looking and acting like a 5 year old.

* Ohno Kei from ''[[Take On Me]]'' provides a mundane example. She is [[Christmas Cake|26 years old]], but due to a genetic disorder looks half [[Older Than They Look|half her age]] and thus has trouble finding fellows her age that are willing to date her and she is [[Lolicon|willing to touch]].

* Pinoko from ''[[Black Jack]]''. Her ectoskeletonexoskeleton (which keeps her almost entirely artificial body from collapsing) prevents her from growing, a fact that often upsets her, especially because having the appearance of a 6-years year-old girl prevents her from living out her romantic feelings for the protagonist the way she would like to.

* The middle child among the Kuonji sisters in ''[[They Are My Noble Masters]]'' physically looks like a child younger than the youngest sister, but she's already an adult.

* One issue of ''[[30 Days of Night]]'' had a vampire INFANT''infant'' that would never be able to grow up.

* Ysabell in ''[[Discworld/Mort|Mort]]''.:

** And the teenage vampiresYsabell in ''[[Discworld/Carpe Jugulum|Carpe JugulumMort]]''.

* [[Truth in Television]] example: ''[[Series/Law And& Order: Special Victums Unit|Law And Order Special VictumsVictims Unit]]'' did an episode about a young woman, chronologically an adult, whose [[wikipedia:Turner's syndrome|rare medical condition]] kept her permanently looking about 11 years old. Her consensual relationship with an adult man caused a lot of [[Squick]], the more so in that he's implied to be a pedophile who only likes her ''because'' she looks prepubescent. Her parents, naturally, want him busted for rape because they think of her as a child.

* Babette from ''[[The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim]]'' is a 300+ year old vampire who was turned when she was a child. She puts the [[Cheerful Child]] facade to good use on her assassination missions for the Dark Brotherhood, but she's pretty straightforward about not really being kid anymore. As she puts it, she's no more a child than the protagonist is. She looks and sounds (having a child actor despite her gory dialog) exactly like other little girls in the game (except for the telltale red eyes and fangs) but comes across as one of the most mature and level-headed members of the Brotherhood (which admittedly isn't that much of an accomplishment since they are a cult of death-worshippers). Babette doesn't really seem to mind her condition—most vampires in the series are evil/sociopathic <ref>In ''The Elder Scrolls'' vamprism is obvious and easy to cure in the first three days of infection, so generally only people who ''want'' to become flesh eating creatures of the night, the incredibly isolated, and those kidnapped for forced conversion become vampires.</ref> and don't really care about little things like "love", so no "never being able to grow up and marry someone" angst for Babette.

* Robert from the webcomicweb comic ''Eros Inc.'' isn't human, but he looks and talks like a human baby (gun obsession notwithstanding).

* In the ''[[Jack (webcomic)|Jack]]'' arc "Megan's Run," Susan Lancaster and Megan Fairchild are not only [https://web.archive.org/web/20120524053132/http://www.pholph.com/strip.php?id=5&sid=3284 not able to die, get sick, or remain injured], but neither will [https://web.archive.org/web/20120524050121/http://www.pholph.com/strip.php?id=5&sid=3298 grow old or mature any more than their current state].

* A slight variation: Chibi Sue of [[GhastlysGhastly's Ghastly Comic]] is the only [[Super-Deformed]] person in her hometown, and perpetually looks like a child to the normal human populace, despite being thirty-six. Thanks to this, she's still a virgin because she's creeped out by the idea of pedophiles using her as a substitute (one could argue it's preferable to the alternatives, but the poor woman's allowed her squicks). Cybersex doesn't work either, as she has no fingers and can't type properly.

* [[wikipedia:Brooke Greenberg|Brooke Greenberg]] still(January has8, 1993 – October 24, 2013) had the body and mind of a toddler evenher thoughentire she was born in 1993life.

* Would you believe [[The Andy Milonakis Show|Andy Milonakis]] is 36{{age|1976|1|30}} years old?