History Main / OlderThanTheDemographic

* ''Animation/PleasantGoatAndBigBigWolf'' has goat characters who are [[VagueAge assumed to be around the same age as the audience]] at the front and center, but its antagonist, Wolffy, an adult, has two movies based around him called ''Film/PleasantGoatAndBigBigWolfILoveWolffy'' and ''[[Film/PleasantGoatAndBigBigWolfILoveWolffy2 I Love Wolffy 2]]''. He's played by an adult actor in both.

* ''Animation/PleasantGoatAndBigBigWolf'' has goat characters who are [[VagueAge assumed to be around the same age as the audience]] at the front and center, but its antagonist, Wolffy, an adult, has two movies based around him called ''Film/PleasantGoatAndBigBigWolfILoveWolffy'' and ''[[Film/PleasantGoatAndBigBigWolfILoveWolffy2 I Love Wolffy 2]]''. He's played by an adult actor in both.

* The protagonists in ''WesternAnimation/TeenTitans'' and ''WesternAnimation/TeenTitansGo'' are teenagers and the shows are aimed at preteens. A huge chunk of the audience for ''Go!'' are ''toddlers''.

* Averting this trope is one of the reasons many Creator/{{Nintendo}} fans cite UsefulNotes/{{Wii U}} advertisements failed. Most were aimed specifically at kids and featured kids alongside their families. This not only turned off teenagers and adults, but many kids thought the Wii U wasn't "cool" either. In contrast, the UsefulNotes/{{Wii}} beforehand and UsefulNotes/NintendoSwitch since (both [[CashCowFranchise extremely successful]]) had ads that showed young adults on their own, alongside families and children.
* Creator/{{Sega}} and later Creator/{{Nintendo}} had TotallyRadical ads in UsefulNotes/TheNineties featuring teenagers, despite the fact many of their games were actually aimed at preteens. Later, the UsefulNotes/{{Playstation}} usurped the UsefulNotes/SegaSaturn, in part because Sega reverted to "kiddier" advertisements while Playstation geared itself as a more mature-oriented console.

* ''WesternAnimation/MyLifeAsATeenageRobot'' is of course, [[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin about a teenage robot]], but aimed at the 6-11 demographic.

* ''Manga/RentAGirlfriend'''s cast is mostly made up of college students, but the manga runs in ''[[Magazine/ShonenMagazine Weekly Shonen Magazine]]'', so the intended demographic is preteen and teenage boys.

* ''WesternAnimation/RegularShow'' was meant for a roughly preteen demographic, yet the vast majority of characters (including the main and supporting cast) are adults. Protagonists Mordecai and Rigby are stated to be both 23 years old in the first episode, making them at least a decade or so older than the target audience.

* Creator/{{Sega}} and later Creator/{{Nintendo}} had TotallyRadical ads in UsefulNotes/TheNineties featuring teenagers, despite the fact many of their games were actually aimed at preteens. Later the UsefulNotes/{{Playstation}} usurped the UsefulNotes/SegaSaturn in part because Sega reverted to "kiddier" advertisements while Playstation geared itself as a more mature-oriented console.

* ''Manga/BoboboboBobobo'' has a protagonist who is in his late twenties, but was serialized in Weekly Shonen Jump, aimed at middle school boys.
* All ''Franchise/{{Digimon}}'' anime series with the exception of the adult-targeted ''Anime/DigimonAdventureTri'' and ''Anime/DigimonAdventureLastEvolutionKizuna'', are aimed at [[{{Kodomomuke}} elementary school aged kids]], and most avert this by starring elementary school-aged characters, but there are four series that play this straight. ''Anime/DigimonDataSquad'' focuses on characters ranging from 14 to adults and ''Anime/DigimonFusion'', ''Anime/DigimonGhostGame'', and ''Anime/DigimonUniverseAppMonsters'' focus on middle school aged characters, although ''Savers'' and ''Appmon'' do feature a younger token KidAppealCharacter as part of the team.

* ''Manga/RurouniKenshin'' is a Shonen Jump series aimed at teenage boys, yet its seasoned protagonist is 28. The mangaka had wanted him to be 30 but was forced to lower his age after being told a Shonen Jump manga couldn't feature a 30-year old.

* ''Literature/TheBabysittersClub'' featured 12- and 13-year-old protagonists however it was actually aimed at an elementary audience. This means that the actual target audience was the same age as the kids the girls babysit. The low age of the target demographic is likely why, unlike much MiddleGradeLiterature aimed at tween girls, it [[NoPeriodsPeriod lacked any reference to menstruation]] (though bras were mentioned a lot).

* Creator/DisneyChannel sitcoms, in general, have been aimed at females (particularly {{Girly Girl}}s) aged about 8 - 16 since the debut of ''Series/HannahMontana'' (who's protagonist is 13 at the start, 17 at the end). Amusingly, in universe for the mentioned show, the titular character, an intended parody of {{Teen Idol}}s like Music/BritneySpears who was Defictionized because of a MisaimedFandom, tried to target a mostly 8 - 14 female audience, but ended up with a much wider appeal.

** ''Avatar High'' is aimed at preteens despite being a high school sim on the Teen Nick website.
** ''Avatar U'', is themed around university but isn't aimed at that demographic.

* WesternAnimation/HandyManny is a grown man and he's the main character of a preschool cartoon.
* ''Franchise/TeenageMutantNinjaTurtles'': It's right there in the title that the heroes are teenagers, but many series in the franchise were aimed squarely at elementary school-aged boys. The [[ComicBook/TeenageMutantNinjaTurtlesMirage original comic]] was a ''ComicBook/{{Daredevil}}'' parody aimed at adults, but the 1980s LighterAndSofter cartoon cemented the series as being for little boys.

* ''WesternAnimation/MyLifeAsATeenageRobot'' is of course, [[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin about a teenage robot]], but aimed at the 6-11 demographic.
* ''WesternAnimation/{{Jem}}'' is a cartoon based on a doll line. Like most fashion doll lines, the protagonists are adults (with the youngest being a teenager that's already finished high school, making her either 18 or 19). The target audience was 6- to 11-year-old girls. ''Jem'' is often called "like a soap opera" because it featured a lot of romance, drama, etc. Part of the reason why the InNameOnly LiveActionAdaptation ''Film/JemAndTheHolograms2015'' failed is that they aged ''down'' the characters to high schoolers. This, combined with everything being heavily toned down into a cookie-cutter ComingOfAgeStory, meant that the characters couldn't do half as much as they did in the original cartoon or [[ComicBook/JemAndTheHologramsIDW comic reboot]].
* ''WesternAnimation/SpongeBobSquarePants'': On one hand, [=SpongeBob=] is an adult with a house and his own job. But on the other hand, he usually acts like an [[ManChild overgrown child]] to the point where many fans think he's actually a teenager when he's at least 25.
* ''WesternAnimation/CaptainPlanetAndThePlaneteers'' is an EdutainmentShow about the environment aimed mostly at elementary schoolers. Almost all of the main characters are in their late teens.
* ''WesternAnimation/ElenaOfAvalor'' stars teenage protagonists who are at least 15-16 years old, and tells a serialized story about its title character one day being queen, among other things. The show airs on Creator/DisneyJunior, which is aimed at preschoolers.

* 2/3 of the core trio of ''WesternAnimation/OKKOLetsBeHeroes'' are teenagers, in order to give [[VagueAge 6-11 year-old]] title character K.O. peers to look up to.
* Harry, the main protagonist of the [[UsefulNotes/{{Canada}} Canadian]] preschool series ''WesternAnimation/HamstersOfHamsterdale'', is 8 years old, and so are his close friends, which is older than the main demographic.
* ''WesternAnimation/{{Bluey}}'' is a six-year-old, yet the show is aimed at preschoolers. This is downplayed with her sister Bingo, who is four.
* The titular protagonist of ''WesternAnimation/DoraTheExplorer'' is 7, but the TargetAudience of the show is preschoolers.

* ''Anime/PrettyCure'', a magical girl anime aimed at preschool [[note]] In addition to preschool-aimed magazines featuring stories about the franchise, at least two seasons skew to this younger demographic by being LighterAndSofter than other installments: ''Anime/SmilePrettyCure'' and ''Anime/KiraKiraPrecureALaMode''.[[/note]] and elementary school-aged girls, generally features heroines ranging anywhere from age 13 to 17. However, [[Anime/SuitePrettyCure on one occasion, one of the heroines was under 10 like the demographic of the show]].

** The protagonist of the ''Anime/PokemonTheSeries'', Ash Ketchum, is and always will be 10 years old. The anime is targeted mostly at 3 - 10 year olds, meaning only the very oldest members of the target audience overlap with Ash's age.

** The protagonist of the ''Anime/{{Pokemon}}'' anime, Ash Ketchum, is and always will be 10 years old. The anime is targeted mostly at 3 - 10 year olds, meaning only the very oldest members of the target audience overlap with Ash's age.

-->-- Creator/RogerEbert on ''Film/TheSorcerersApprentice''

* ''VideoGame/SonicTheHedgehog'' and its many MascotWithAttitude clones were based on this. The original three ''Sonic'' games were aimed at the 12-and-under crowd but marketed at teenagers. This helped make ''Sonic the Hedgehog'' look "cool" and mature. Sonic's {{badbutt}} teenager attitude in comparison to his [[Franchise/SuperMarioBros competition's]] more friendly one also helped. By ''Sonic Adventure'', however, the series dropped this angle and markets mainly at kids, though still most of the cast are teenagers.

* ''Manga/Bobobobobobobo'' has a protagonist who is in his late twenties, but was serialized in Weekly Shonen Jump, aimed at middle school boys.

* ''Animation/PleasantGoatAndBigBigWolf'' has goat characters who are [[VagueAge assumed to be around the same age as the audience]] at the front and center, but its antagonist, Wolffy, an adult, has two movies based around him called ''I Love Wolffy'' and ''I Love Wolffy 2''. He's played by an adult actor in both.

* Creator/DisneyChannel sitcoms, in general, have been aimed at females (particularly {{Girly Girl}}s) aged about 8 - 16 since the debut of ''Series/HannahMontana'' (who's protagonist is 13 at the start, 17 at the end). Amusingly, in universe for the mentioned show, the titular character, an intended parody of {{Teen Idol}}s like Music/BritneySpears who was Defictionized because of a MisaimedFandom, tried to target a mostly 8 - 14 female audience, but ended up with a [[HundredPercentAdorationRating 99% Adoration Rating]].

Many kids gravitate towards material made for older audiences as a result. This is most pronounced in pre-adolesence, between 9 and 12. Kids will begin to throw away their toys and get into things that are aimed at their elders. A budding interest in violence and sexuality often starts to occur in this age group.

* Most of the Franchise/DisneyAnimatedCanon films star either adults or teenagers. Disney films are aimed at general audiences; however, merchandise is almost always aimed at children. This is especially noticeable with ''Franchise/DisneyPrincess'' line. The youngest character is 14, which is still a good sum older than the target, and it is meant to appeal to girls going through their PrincessPhase. In TheNewTens, Disney started making their princess characters even older, as ''WesternAnimation/Frozen2013'''s Queen Elsa is the ripe old age of ''twenty-one'' (and twenty-four by the time of the sequel).

* Mostly due the AnimationAgeGhetto, the large majority of animated shows inspired by Creator/DCComics and Creator/MarvelComics tend to be aimed at kids as their main target audience, and almost all of them feature adults as the protagonists.
* ''WesternAnimation/HandyManny'' is a grown man and he's the main character of a preschool cartoon.

** The ''WesternAnimation/MyLittlePonyEquestriaGirls'' series is the official HighSchoolAU spinoff of the above, aimed at a roughly middle school audience. Ironically, the main cast are ''younger'' than the original series, to appeal to ''older'' children. Oddly, the original series is [[NoHuggingNoKissing very low on romance]], but ''Equestria Girls'' flirts with it slightly, despite featuring a younger cast.

* ''WesternAnimation/ElenaOfAvalor'' stars teenage protagonists who are at least 15-16 years old, and tells a serialized story about its title character one day being queen, among other things. The show airs on Disney Junior, which is aimed at preschoolers.

* WesternAnimation/PostmanPat: Pat Clifton himself is a 35 year old in a show aimed at preschoolers.

* Harry, the main protagonist of the Canadian preschool series ''Hamsters of Hamsterdale'', is 8 years old, and so is his close friends, which is older than the main demographic.

* The protagonist of ''WesternAnimation/DoraTheExplorer'' is 7, but the audience of the show is preschoolers.

* ''Series/ThatsSoRaven'' was aimed at the elementary school market but featured teenage leads in wacky situations. Subverted in the SequelSeries ''Series/RavensHome'', where Raven's preteen children are the main protagonists. ''Raven's Home'' also has a MultipleDemographicAppeal and is aimed at adult fans who grew up with the original and new, younger fans as well.

* ''Series/MightyMorphinPowerRangers'': The heroes attended high school and were infamously described in an early episode as "teenagers with attitude", but elementary school-aged kids were the main audience.
** This also happens in ''Franchise/SuperSentai'', the Japanese show it was adapted from, as well as in sister show ''Franchise/KamenRider'', both of which also have teenage protagonists.

* ''Animation/PleasantGoatAndBigBigWolf'' has goat characters who are [[VagueAge assumed to be around the same age as the audience]] at the front and center, but its antagonist, Wolffy, an adult, has two movies based around him called ''I Love Wolffy'' and ''I Love Wolffy 2''.

* Harry, the main protagonist of the Canadian preschool series ''Hamsterdale'', is 8 years old, and so is his close friends, which is older than the main demographic.