Children Are Innocent: Difference between revisions

Expect those who buy into this trope to hold that any villain character [[Used to Be a Sweet Kid]] until [[Start of Darkness|something bad]] happened to them, especially if they also believe that [[Rousseau Was Right]]. (Also keeping in mind that some view [[Teens Are Monsters|puberty]] as a [[Start of Darkness]] in its own right, and take much the same view of any worldly experience.)

 

 

Where blond hair is found naturally, children are often depicted with [[Hair of Gold]]. Indeed, this trope is considered to drive that one: because children (and the young) are more likely to have blond hair than older people, blond hair is a sign of innocence.

* In ''[[Code Geass]]'', believe it or not Mao (the [[Psychopathic Manchild]]) actually touches upon this trope. Most of his evil deeds are a direct result of serious [[Moral Myopia]] brought about from his lack of normal human experience since childhood. With his mind-reading powers, he first learned about humanity's evil impulses ''much too young,'' and so automatically assumed that the people thinking them were bad and deserved to be killed, a fact that carries over into the actual plot action, where he's seventeen. This is all talked about in the supplementary readings, where CC frequently comments on his misplaced innocence.

* In the second season of ''[[Ai Yori Aoshi]]'', Chika asks the assembled female cast if they "love" Kaoru. They freak, because their definition is rather ''different'' than hers. The episode follows Chika's attempts to get answers from the group individually, including Aoi's explanation of the term ''[[Title Drop|Enishi]]''. At the end, Chika concludes that ''everyone'' [[True Companions|loves Kaoru]].

* Satellizer from ''[[Freezing]]''

* Tokomon serves this purpose in ''[[Digimon X Evolution]]''.

== [[Literature]] ==

* ''[[The Road]]'' by [[Cormac McCarthy]] has [[Hair of Gold|The Boy]] being "compassion incarnate," as one reviewer stated, while The Man must struggle to do the right thing.

* ''[[Winnie-the-Pooh|Winnie the Pooh]]'': Christopher Robin.

** Real name of [[A. A. Milne|AA Milne]]'s son. Christopher never forgave his father for setting him up for endless years of being patted on the head and told how cute he was, even as an adult! Particularly mortifying to Christopher was "Vespers"<ref>Although he was quick to point out this was due to people misunderstanding the poem; it's not about [[Tastes Like Diabetes|a sweet little boy saying his prayers]], it's about a naughty little boy ''pretending'' to say his prayers</ref>. He did admit to having been somewhat girlish and slow-witted as a boy...such that his fictional counterpart was at least partly accurate, and perhaps a slight improvement on reality. (He fared better than Peter Pan's namesake: who suffered similar condescension, but took his own life in his forties.)

** The children of Ordon Village, particularly Colin, in ''[[The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess|The Legend of Zelda Twilight Princess]]''

** Subverted in ''[[The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker|The Legend of Zelda the Wind Waker]]'': While Link and Aryll are still the embodiment of this trope, Tetra defies it with all her might. She was called "The Bitch" of the game by players almost as frequently as [[Twilight Princess|Midna]]. Subverted again, when she turns into innocent Princess Zelda. Subverted back again, when she and Link kill Ganondorf rather in an incredibly brutal way. Subverted YET AGAIN when the King of Hyrule pretty much calls the gods themselves out to this trope, refering to Link and Tetra. Also, many players have noted that, aside from Link and Aryll, most of the children in the game behave like small adults, especially (aside from Tetra) Medli. Yeah, ''Wind Waker'' just loo~ooved to screw with this trope.

* One of the few survivors from Cabadath's blood trail in ''Trilby'sNotes'' is the woodcutter's son. According to the Evil Bible within the game it is because he is an innocent, but the book tends to downplay the bloodshed to say the least.

 

== [[Video Games]] ==

* Subverted in ''[[Neverwinter Nights 2]]: Mask of the Betrayer'', the spirit of a priest is convinced that "the child" (who, at this point, is over centuries old after his soul was imprisoned in a furnace) can't have committed the crimes he was convicted of, turns out "The Child" is a brilliant liar who was more than capable of murder by arson, and if the requirements are met, join the party in control of a mis-mash of spirits called One Of Many. One of Many's dialogue is mostly encouraging the player to screw people over for power at every chance he gets.

** In the sequel, we discover how they've been programmed to see [[Crapsack World|Rapture]] - to them, the whole thing is elegant and beautiful (except for the occasional lapse into reality), with "angels"(read: corpses) lying on the ground waiting for them to gather their ADAM. Not to mention they completely trust "Daddy" whatever he does to them(although they may be scared of him if you go the evil route, they'll still go with him and gather for him).

* Puniyo from ''[[Mana-Khemia 2: Fall of Alchemy]]'' starts as a straight example, but eventually subverts this as she seems to inherit [[Mr. Imagination|Lily]]'s active imagination throughout the game, along with showing hints of being able to become a [[Magnificent Bastard]]. Despite being only five years old.