Not Growing Up Sucks: Difference between revisions

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 [[Legal Jailbait]] 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]].

* In Black Blood Brothers, there is a possible aversion; the younger brother is childlike and innocent, and still loves sweets and toys (and doing silly things, like wall graffiti).

* Pinoko from [[Black Jack]]. Her ectoskeleton (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 old girl prevents her from living out her romantic feelings for the protagonist the way she would like to.

* In a departure from the source material (see Literature below), Pinocchio in ''[[Fables]]'' had to deal with this. The Blue Fairy was, due to her [[The Fair Folk|fairy]] mentality, a [[Literal Genie]] when he asked to become a real boy. He got to be a real boy, but he was stuck as one, ''forever.''

* [[Marvel Comics]]' [[wikipedia:Agamemnon (Pantheon)|Agamemnon]] is immortal but never physically aged beyond 16. There was some [[Wild Mass Guessing]] at the time that at one point in the past he was [[Captain America|Bucky]].

* One album of the Belgium comic book series [[Urbanus]] featured a sorceres who was cursed by her master/mentor to remain a child forever because she abused her powers to turn her brother into a crow. She desperately wants to break the curse because she mentally did mature and now wants a steady relationship, but because of her body still being that of a child she can't get one.

* The boy in ''[[The Tin Drum]]'' stays a three-year old until he's well into his twenties. He does this out of his own free will, although changes his mind later when he makes this realization.

* Claudia in ''[[Interview With a Vampire]]'' felt the pain most keenly.

* Ditto in ''[[The Supernaturalist]]'', who is a 30-year-old genius with a 6 year old's body.

* Seria Mau in M. John Harrison's novel ''Light''. Her physical age is around 30, but her mental age is still around 13; the age when she was voluntarily imprisoned as a K-ship. She is shown to have tantrums and not have the understanding one would expect of a sane, unbroken adult; her body is also unable to grow past the age she was when [[Spaceship Girl|she merged with her ship.]]

** Even better, he's been channelling his rage into killing prostitutes.

* [[Truth in Television]] example: ''[[Series/Law And Order Special Victums Unit|Law And Order Special Victums Unit]]'' did an episode about a young woman, chronologically an adult, whose [[wikipedia:Turnerchr(27)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.

== [[Web Comics]] ==

== [[Web Original]] ==

* ''[[Batman: The Animated Series]]'' had "Baby Doll," an actress who played [[The Cutie]] in a sitcom and had a medical condition that stunted her physical growth, thus giving her the appearance of a child despite the fact that in the series she was in her Thirties. ([[No Celebrities Were Harmed|No celebrities]] named [[Diff'rent Strokes|Gary]] or Emmanuel were [[No Celebrities Were Harmed|harmed]]). Her inability to gain a legitimate career after her show was canceled made her obsessed with the show, resulting in her kidnapping the cast so that they could re-enact their "family." In the end however, she's treated as [[The Woobie]].

* ''[[Tutenstein]]'' features the [[Undead Child]] version. Since boy-king Tutankhensetamun died at the age of ten, his reign was cut short and he never had the chance to do great deeds and make a name for himself as pharaoh. Once he's resurrected as a mummy, he tries to make up for lost time, and [[Hilarity Ensues]] (as well as [[Fridge Horror]], since Tut gets several chances to escape the trope and grow up, but always ruins them through childish mistakes).

* [[wikipedia:Turnerchr(27)s syndrome|Turner's Syndrome]] is one of a number of genetic disorders that can result in the appearance of extreme youth.

* Many low-functioning, non-verbal autistic kids (which make up less than 10% of all diagnoses) have this issue. Those with higher-functioning autism or Asperger's syndrome can, and very often do, function as adults without insurmountable problems. When they can't, it's usually a case of [[My Beloved Smother]] and/or [[Meddling Parents]], though this is rare.