Topic on Talk:Legal Jailbait

I believe Legal Jailbait is when a character looks like he/she is underage, but in the plot of the story, is confirmed to be older than legal age, possibly much older, and there is proof of this in-story. The scene in Buffy where Drusila (I believe) can't order alcohol in a bar despite being centuries over legal age is an example.


Totally Eighteen is when a character looks like he/she is underage, the plot or the script is insisting the character is legal age; no actual proof is given in-story. Often a meta example. For instance, in Aladdin (1992 Disney film) and Tangled Jasmine and Rapunzel clearly look like teenagers, but both are 18 according to the scripts.

Note that in both cases, if the actor is underage, the Trope is Dawson Casting