History Main / Really17YearsOld

* In the ''Literature/DearAmerica'' book''My Face To the Wind'', Sarah Jane Price lies to the Broken Bow school board that she's sixteen so she can take up the teaching position her late father once held. She's only fourteen, but doesn't want to be sent off to an orphaned girls' labor home.

* In ''Wild Magic'', the first book of ''Literature/TheImmortals'' quartet, thirteen-year-old Daine claims to be fifteen. The person she's lying to sees through it with her magic but thinks she's a good liar and lets her come anyway.

* Also a trope in a more... prurient forms of acting:

* In ''Literature/TheCasteelSeries'', when Heaven finally gets to meet her birth grandmother Jillian and step-grandfather Tony, she tells them she's sixteen years old instead of seventeen to hide that her mother Leigh was already pregnant with her when she married her father Luke. It seems like a harmless white lie at first but turns out to have unexpected consequences as Tony is actually Heaven's birth father who raped and impregnated Leigh before she ran away from home and married Luke but since Heaven lied about being younger, Tony thinks that Luke was her actual father and encourages her to get romantically involved with his younger brother Troy, not knowing that Troy is [[SurpriseIncest actually Heaven's uncle by blood]] until Jillian tells him the truth.

* A RunningGag in the ''{{VideoGame/Touhou}}'' fandom is TimeAbyss Yukari Yakumo claiming to be 17 years old, with any smart remarks along the lines of "more like 17 million" resulting in the offender getting [[AcidTripDimension gapped]].

* In ''WesternAnimation/YoungJustice,'' the Justice League are largely annoyed when they discover that [[ComicBook/{{Shazam}} Billy Batson]] (see above) was actually a ten-year-old with an OlderAlterEgo. He defends himself by saying that he never actually claimed to be older (which Franchise/WonderWoman writes off as a "lie of omission"). It's also implied that the Justice League didn't technically have an age restriction before this came up. They vote whether or not to expel Billy from the League [[spoiler: but let him stay]].

* In ''Webcomic/{{Beloved}}'', a sixteen-year-old girl goes to a club and sleeps with a woman over twice her age by pretending to be older.

* Alice got into a lesbian bar in ''Fanfic/{{Metamorphosis}}'' despite only being 18. Sei is able to tell she's under the drinking age of 20 but isn't bothered by it.

When [[JailbaitTaboo it's about sex]], the age boundary is virtually always 18 (at least in American media) due to HollywoodProvincialism, even though most of the USA allows it as young as 16.[[note]]Though in a few states (with 16 or 17 as the age of consent), it may still be a murky area because charges like "corruption of a minor" would still apply.[[/note]]

[[folder Film -- Live-Action]]

When [[JailbaitTaboo it's about sex]], the age boundary is virtually always 18 (at least in American media) due to HollywoodProvincialism, even though most of the USA allows it as young as 16. [[note]]Though in a few states (with 16 or 17 as the age of consent) it may still be a murky area because charges like "corruption of a minor" would still apply. [[/note]]

[[folder: Anime & Manga]]

[[folder: Comedy]]

[[folder: Comic Books]]

[[folder: Fan Works]]

[[folder: Film -- Animated]]

[[folder: Film -- Live-Action]]

[[folder: Literature]]

[[folder: Live-Action TV]]

[[folder: Music]]

[[folder: Podcasts]]

[[folder: Pro Wrestling]]

[[folder: Video Games]]

[[folder: Visual Novels]]

[[folder: Web Animation]]

[[folder: Webcomics]]

[[folder: Web Original]]

[[folder: Western Animation]]

[[folder: Real Life]]

When [[JailbaitTaboo it's about sex]], the age boundary is virtually always 18 (at least in American media) due to HollywoodProvincialism, even though most of the USA allows it as young as 16. [[note]]Though in a few states (with 16 or 17 as the age of consent) it may still be murky area because charges like "corruption of a minor" would still apply. [[/note]]

[[folder:Anime & Manga]]
* ''Manga/AhAndMmAreAllSheSays'': When Toda's sister Yuuko visits, Tanaka finds out she's been lying about her age so she can get published as a hentai artist, and is actually [[spoiler:about to turn 18]].
* Played with ''Manga/AyakashiTriangle'': Sosuke technically ''isn't'' a child, but an ageless [[GodInHumanForm humanoid ayakashi]] eventually reduced to a childlike form. He gets a job as a steward at Lu's mansion by claiming to be a short twenty-year-old, which worked because Sosuke's type can manipulate the WeirdnessCensor [[UndeadTaxExemption to blend in]].
* ''Manga/HaventYouHeardImSakamoto'': In exchange for a DVD he needs for school, Sakamoto is made to get a number of porn movies from the 18+ section, and hand them off to Acchan and his friends. Sakamoto successfully bluffs the store's manager and the cashier, but Acchan doesn't even end up watching them and returns the whole stack.
* ''Manga/KomiCantCommunicate'': PlayedForLaughs with the protagonist's mother Komi Shuuko. [[MumLooksLikeASister She looks youthful enough to pass off as her daughter's older sister]] and loves to act like a ditzy teenager, even calling herself an "eternal 17-year old", but it's obviously just a way for her to have fun [[AmazinglyEmbarrassingParents by embarrassing her daughter]].
* Implied with Megumi in ''Anime/MartianSuccessorNadesico''. She's officially 17, but lives independently and it isn't treated as [[MinorLivingAlone odd]], is treated as an equal in a LoveTriangle over a 20-year-old, and is a voice actress, a profession known for lying about your age in Japan.

* In ''Anime/WeatheringWithYou'' Hina tells 16 year old Hodaka that she's 18 so he should act more respectful towards her. [[spoiler: Near the end of the movie, Hodaka finds out from the police that she is actually only 15, having lied about her age on her resume so she could work to support herself and her kid brother.]]

[[folder:Comedy]]
* In "No Sex (In the Champagne Room)", Creator/ChrisRock says that "If a girl says she's 20, and looks 16, she's ''12''."

[[folder:Comic Books]]

* ''ComicBook/{{Shazam}}'': Occasionally happens with Captain Marvel, since he's an adult in superhero form, but a kid (usually pre-teen) in civilian form.

[[folder:Fan Works]]

* In ''Fanfic/FlyMeToTheMoon'', Shadow and Maria don't bat an eye when the teenaged Sonic claims to be Gerald's assistant.
* Alice got into a lesbian bar in ''Fanfic/{{Metamorphosis}}'' despite only being 18. Sei is able to tell she's under the drinking age of 20, but isn't bothered by it.

[[folder:Film -- Animated]]

[[folder:Film -- Live-Action]]
* In ''Film/AnimalHouse'', one of the characters meets a girl and they have a fun romp which ends with them having sex in the middle of a football field. After all this is done, she reveals that she's thirteen. The guy is understandably horrified. This was a CensorDecoy that the censors somehow missed. The writers wanted them to "catch" this, then "allow" them to change it to sixteen as a compromise.

* In ''Film/HotFuzz'', Nicholas throws a bunch of underage drinkers out of the bar, who lied about their real age to get in. This comes back later in a grim way when Nicholas discovers that [[spoiler:the NWA killed all the teenagers he picked up for underage drinking to avoid kids with arrest records making the town look bad]].
* ''Film/LiarLiar'': Fletcher is trying to defend his client, Mrs. Cole, in a divorce case; this is hampered by the fact that he knows she's in the wrong and is supernaturally compelled to tell the truth. He eventually wins by discovering a loophole, however: she was actually only seventeen when she and her (ex-)husband got married, but claimed to be a few months older. That means their original prenuptial agreement is void, but not their marriage, so she still gets half his wealth.

* Plot point in ''Film/PitchPerfect'', where a boy from a local [[spoiler:high school lies about his age and schooling to be able to compete]] in a college acapella competition. He is found out and the Bellas [[spoiler:are still able to compete in nationals]].
* In ''Film/{{Starkweather}}'', Charlie's girlfriend Caril Ann is 14 years old but described as having the body of an 18 year old.

* Inverted in ''Film/TheTerminal''. Amelia tells Viktor that while she's actually 39, she tells passengers she's 27 and lets her coworkers believe she's 33, because she's still single.

[[folder:Literature]]
* Firo lies about his age in ''both'' directions in later volumes of ''Literature/{{Baccano}}'' (set in 2002) once he discovers the loophole in the [[CannotTellALie "No false names"]] clause of immortality[[note]]The demon never said anything about a legit ID with an inaccurate birthdate[[/note]]. Physically he's just shy of nineteen (and chronologically ninety), but he claims twenty five to reap the benefits of the legal drinking and gambling age. Most people find it a bit hard to swallow, [[OlderThanTheyLook given that he has trouble passing for eighteen as it is]].

* In ''Literature/TheDevilIsAPartTimer'' the hero Emilia is seventeen, but the ID papers she obtains after arriving on Earth claim she's over twenty. She did this so that she could get a better job and not have to deal with school. This is in contrast with the titular demon lord, who is really about 300 years old but claimed to be a teenager, and is currently stuck working at a fast food restaurant.
* ''Literature/GoAskAlice'': When they [[TheRunaway run away]] to California, sixteen year old Carla and her seventeen year old friend live under the guise of being eighteen. They even rent a store on their own.
* In William Saroyan's ''Literature/TheHumanComedy'' Homer Macauley, who's fourteen, claims to be sixteen to get a job as a messenger at the Postal Telegraph office. The boss isn't fooled, but keeps him anyway.
* In ''Wild Magic'', the first book of ''Literature/TheImmortals'' quartet, thirteen-year-old Daine claims to be fifteen. The person she's lying to sees through it with her magic, but think she's a good liar and lets her come anyway.

* In ''Literature/MonstrousRegiment'', Sergeant Jackrum covers for [[SweetPollyOliver Oliver's]] struggle to shave Lieutenant Blouse by saying he was too young to shave and had lied about his age to enlist. Jackrum himself regularly deducts a couple decades from his own age to stay in the army.

* In ''Literature/TheSavant'', seventeen-year-old Louie Harkin lies about his age so he can join the marines.

[[folder:Live-Action TV]]

** In the first season of Idol in Norway, a 15-year old girl lied about being 16. She made it through the semifinals and was disqualified once they found out.

* In an episode of ''Series/{{Friends}}'', Monica dates a younger guy who appears to be in his early twenties and claims to be a senior in school. After they sleep together, he admits that he's that he's not a ''college'' senior...

* On ''Series/HannahMontana'', Miley tried to make Jake jealous by accepting a date at the bowling alley with a guy she just met who claims to be a senior. Unfortunately for Miley, it turns out he is actually an 11 year-old brat and the "date" is really a birthday party.
* This also happened on ''Series/HappyEndings'' to Dave in the pilot-he meets a girl with a club and, still devastated over his fiance Alex leaving him, sleeps with her. He then invites her to Penny's birthday party, to make Alex jealous, and its then revealed she's still in high school, although apparently of legal age. Cue SpitTake.
* In one episode of ''Series/{{House}}'', a young man brings in his apparently mentally ill mother for treatment. House eventually notices little details about the guy hinting that he's not as old as he pretends and eventually confronts him. He turns out to be a fifteen year old boy masquerading as an adult so he can support his mother. This leads to some drama when someone places a call from the hospital to Child Services to pick him up, and the boy immediately blames House. This leads to the EurekaMoment [[spoiler:since House finds out the boy's mom made the call because she wanted to free her son from the burden of caring for her. House realizes she's not crazy after all, and that her apparent mental illness is actually a symptom of something else.]]
* Inverted on ''Series/HowIMetYourMother'', when Lily and Robin, both pushing 30, try to get into a high school prom (to listen to the band) by pretending to be 17. The guard isn't fooled for a second. They do manage to go as the dates of of two nerds.

[[folder:Music]]

[[folder:Podcasts]]

[[folder:Pro Wrestling]]
* Wrestling/{{ECW}}'s infamous "Wrestling/MassTransitIncident". In 1996, Erich Kulas, a 17-year-old, 350-pound kid from New England with no in-ring ability, lied about his age, his wrestling experience and his schooling background (claiming to have been trained by Killer Kowalski) in order to get into the ring. He was given the gimmick "Mass Transit", a [[Series/TheHoneymooners Ralph Kramden]]-like [[WrestlingDoesntPay wrestling bus driver]], and thrown into a tag-team [[GarbageWrestler hardcore match]] (filling in for Axl Rotten) alongside [[Wrestling/TheDudleyBoys D-Von Dudley]] against Wrestling/NewJack and Mustapha Seed. It ended about as well as you would expect -- Kulas left the match lying in a pool of his own blood after a botched bladejob, New Jack was arrested and later sued (he was let off after it was revealed how Kulas had lied to the bookers), and ECW's first pay-per-view, [[MeaningfulName ''Barely Legal'']], was almost canceled, and wound up getting pushed back by four months.
* It's {{common knowledge}} among wrestling fans that the Briscoe Brothers were under the legal age for a wrestling license when they made their pro debut. The "evidence" being Jay Briscoe's claim to have spent his entire adult life wrestling for Wrestling/RingOfHonor when they did not debut there and the fact every Wrestling/{{CZW}} show they worked in a commission state before their ROH debut had them under masks.

[[folder:Video Games]]

[[folder:Visual Novels]]
* Played with in ''VisualNovel/UminekoWhenTheyCry'', where [[spoiler:the Golden Witch Beatrice]] claims to be ReallySevenHundredYearsOld to pass as a legendary witch [[spoiler:even though she's 19 years old, and was made a witch only for a few days.]]

[[folder:Web Animation]]

[[folder:Webcomics]]
* In ''Webcomic/{{Beloved}}'', a sixteen year old girl goes to a club and sleeps with a woman over twice her age by pretending to be older.

[[folder:Web Original]]
* ''Tina Marie, a ex prostitute's diary'', is a blog in Spanish (very NSFW) where the author, a former Mexican prostitute, tells how she started working at 17 in a "modeling agency", her bosses knew her true age, but they ordered her to tell her clients that she was just over 18 years old.

[[folder:Western Animation]]

* In ''WesternAnimation/YoungJustice,'' the Justice League are largely annoyed when they discover that [[ComicBook/{{Shazam}} Billy Batson]] (see above) was actually a ten-year-old with an OlderAlterEgo. He defends himself by saying that he never actually claimed to be older (which Franchise/WonderWoman writes off as a "lie of omission"). It's also implied that the Justice League didn't technically have an age restriction before this came up. They vote whether or not to expel Billy from the League [[spoiler:but let him stay]].

[[folder:Real Life]]

** Creator/LaurenceFishburne lied to the producers of ''Film/ApocalypseNow'' to get a role in the movie. He said he was 18 when he was really 14. Coincidentally, his character was seventeen years old. [[TroubledProduction And the film took so long to complete]] that by the end of the shooting he actually ''was'' 17.

** In 2010, a porn actress who used the artistic name of "Bieyanka Moore" was accused of actually being only 15 years old (she was supposedly a teenage girl escaped from her home who stole the identification of an older woman), it is not clear if she really was minor or not, but she has completely disappeared from the industry and social networks.
** Similarly, ''The Guy Game'' was pulled from shelves across America when it was learned that one of the actresses featured in the risque full motion video sections wasn't 18 at the time of filming.
** María Jose "Cote" López is a chilean model who in 2007 became quite famous due to her appearances on television and numerous photo sessions where she exploited all her sensuality. She claimed to be 19 years old, but it was later discovered that she was actually only 17 years old.

** The Chinese gymnastics team was accused of doing this in the 2008 Olympics and in other international gymnastic tournaments, and had been caught at it for the 2000 Olympics, [[http://usatoday30.usatoday.com/sports/olympics/2010-04-28-olympic-medal-underage-gymnast_N.htm resulting in their losing a medal 10 years after the fact.]]

** [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Manute_Bol Manute Bol]], the tallest player in NBA history, was born in an isolated village in what is now South Sudan, and never had a formal birth certificate. When he came to America in 1983, his birthdate was recorded as October 16, 1962, but Kevin Mackey, the college basketball coach who recruited Bol, now says he arbitrarily made that day up when he was negotiating with US Customs officials to get Bol the proper documentation, and he suspects Bol may actually have been around 40 at the time. Which means he would've been in his mid-50s when he retired from the NBA, making him by far the oldest player in league history.
** In the non-fiction book ''Outcasts United'', about an Atlanta youth soccer team made up of refugees, the team is accused of this trope by other teams because many of the team members birthdays were listed as "January 1". The unfortunate truth was that many of the refugees didn't know their actual birthdate and so were given "January 1" as a birthday.

** It was also reversed; Men older than the 40 year old cutoff age often claimed to be in their late 30s so that they could serve. Allegedly, some boys would put a scrap of paper with the correct number (16 or 17) written on it in their boot, so they could say they were [[ExactWords "over 17"]] without it technically being a lie (which may have helped them keep their story straight, if nothing else). Other versions of such stories imply that the recruiters encouraged this so they had plausible deniability, or even giving advice like "walk twice around the building and come back in; then you'll be 17".
** Creator/AudieMurphy, in a literal example. He was seventeen when he joined the US Army after his sister altered his birth certificate. Before attempting to join the army, he was turned down by the Marines, the Paratroopers, and the Navy. After finally being accepted into the military as an Army infantryman, he went on to become the most decorated solder in US Army history. His tombstone in Arlington National Cemetery states his false date of birth, however.

* ''Tina Marie, a ex prostitute's diary'', is a blog in Spanish (very NSFW) where the author, a former Mexican prostitute, tells how she started working at 17 in a "modeling agency", her bosses knew her true age , but they ordered her to tell her clients that she was just over 18 years old.

* [[TheParagonAlwaysRebels Big Boss]] from ''Franchise/MetalGear'' enlisted in UsefulNotes/TheKoreanWar at the age of 15, whereupon he met his [[FatherToHisMen surrogate mother]] [[TheParagon The Boss]] who taught him everything he knew.

[[folder:Web Original]]
* ''Tina Marie, a ex prostitute's diary'', is a blog in Spanish (very NSFW) where the author, a former Mexican prostitute, tells how she started working at 17 in a "modeling agency", her bosses knew her true age , but they ordered her to tell her clients that she was just over 18 years old.
[[/folder]]

* Late into ''Manga/WanderingSon'' Nitori begins working at a bar at age seventeen. She told the owner she was eighteen.
* Implied with Megumi in ''Anime/MartianSuccessorNadesico''. She's officially 17, but lives independently and it isn't treated as [[MinorLivingAlone odd]], is treated as an equal in a LoveTriangle over a 20-year-old, and is a voice actress, a profession known for lying about your age in Japan.
* ''Manga/HaventYouHeardImSakamoto'': In exchange for a DVD he needs for school, Sakamoto is made to get a number of porn movies from the 18+ section, and hand them off to Acchan and his friends. Sakamoto successfully bluffs the store's manager and the cashier, but Acchan doesn't even end up watching them and returns the whole stack.

* In ''Anime/WeatheringWithYou'' Hina tells 16 year old Hodaka that she's 18 so he should act more respectful towards her. [[spoiler: Near the end of the movie, Hodaka finds out from the police that she is actually only 15, having lied about her age on her resume so she could work to support herself and her kid brother.]]
* ''Manga/KomiCantCommunicate'': PlayedForLaughs with the protagonist's mother Komi Shuuko. [[MumLooksLikeASister She looks youthful enough to pass off as her daughter's older sister]] and loves to act like a ditzy teenager, even calling herself an "eternal 17-year old", but it's obviously just a way for her to have fun [[AmazinglyEmbarrassingParents by embarrassing her daughter]].

* Occasionally happens with [[ComicBook/{{Shazam}} Captain Marvel]], since he's an adult in superhero form, but a kid (usually pre-teen) in civilian form.
* ComicBook/TheAvengers for a time had a member named Rage, who was an enormous, muscular man who gained superhuman strength from his adrenaline - basically a street-level Hulk. They assumed Rage was a grown adult, and were stunned when they finally learned that he was 12 years old and his appearance was due to a mutation.

* Skids and Mudflap are implied to be this in ''Fanfic/ThingsWeDontTellHumans''.

[[folder:Films -- Animated]]

[[folder:Films -- Live-Action]]
* Plot point in ''Film/PitchPerfect'', where a boy from a local [[spoiler:high school lies about his age and schooling to be able to compete]] in a college acapella competition. He is found out and the Bellas [[spoiler:are still able to compete in nationals]].

* ''Film/WhipIt'': The protagonist says she's 22 in order to be allowed to join the Roller Derby League. She's 17.

* One of the major subplots in ''Film/{{Superbad}}'' involves the characters trying to pass as 21 (when they're still in high school) in order to buy alcohol. HilarityEnsues.

* In ''The Chronicles of Narnia: Film/TheVoyageOfTheDawnTreader'', Edmund (who is only about fifteen) attempts to lie about his age in order to enlist in the British army and serve in WWII. He steals his aunt's (non-photo) ID and tries to pass off "Alberta" as "Albert A." The ruse falls apart when Lucy walks in and calls him by his real name, much to the amusement of the other raw recruits in line behind him.
* In ''Film/{{Trainwreck}}'', Amy goes to a club with her coworkers and ends up going home with the intern Donald (played by Creator/EzraMiller, who was 22 at the time). After she punches him too hard when he asks her to [[MakesJustAsMuchSenseInContext slap him]], he screams and his mom comes in and says that he's 16. Amy promptly gets fired from her job.
* Inverted in ''Film/TheTerminal''. Amelia tells Viktor that while she's actually 39, she tells passengers she's 27 and lets her coworkers believe she's 33, because she's still single.
* In ''Film/ZigZag2002'', Walters tells Detective Hawke that [=ZigZag=] is eighteen so Hawke can interview him on the record without the permission of a parent. It doesn't work, since Hawke needs a driver's license.
* In ''Film/{{Starkweather}}'', Charlie's girlfriend Caril Ann is 14 years old but described as having the body of an 18 year old.

* ''Literature/VorkosiganSaga'': Miles Vorkosigan, in his "Admiral Naismith" persona, is reputed to look seventeen because of advanced rejuvenation techniques. He is, in fact, seventeen.
* In the ''Literature/OldKingdom'' trilogy, when Sam starts flirting with Lirael, she discourages him by telling him that she's thirty-five years old (he's seventeen). When he expresses incredulity at this because she looks too young, she explains that she looks like she's only nineteen because she uses really effective youth-enhancing creams. He believes her. In fact, she looks nineteen because she ''is'' nineteen.
* In the ''Literature/TimeScout'' series, Margo Smith shows up on Time Terminal 86 claiming to be eighteen and determined to be the first female time scout. About halfway through the book, she reveals that she's just celebrated her seventeenth birthday. After a passionate rendezvous with a man twice her age.

* In ''Literature/TheCatcherInTheRye'', high school student Holden Caulfield is proud of the premature grey hair on half of his head, claiming that it allows him to pass as an adult. No one is actually fooled. Holden often tries to get alcohol at places, but he fails just as often as he succeeds.

* ''Literature/GoAskAlice'': When they [[TheRunaway run away]] to California, sixteen year old Carla and her seventeen year old friend live under the guise of being eighteen. They even rent a store on their own.

* In ''Literature/TheCasteelSeries'', when Heaven finally gets to meet her birth grandmother Jillian and step-grandfather Tony, she tells them she's sixteen years old instead of seventeen to hide that her mother Leigh was already pregnant with her when she married her father Luke. It seems like a harmless white lie at first but turns out to have unexpected consequences as Tony is actually Heaven's birth father who raped and impregnated Leigh before she ran away from home and married Luke but since Heaven lied about being younger, Tony thinks that Luke was her actual father and encourages her to get romantically involved with his younger brother Troy, not knowing that Troy is [[SurpriseIncest actually Heaven's uncle by blood]] until Jillian tells him the truth.
* ''Literature/RickBrant'': Scotty lied about his age to join the army in his early teens.
* In Creator/OrsonScottCard's horror novel ''Treasure Box'', Madeline has two secrets. One, which is revealed about halfway through the book, is that she's the result of a witch using magic to create the illusion of protagonist Quentin's dream girl. The second, revealed much later, is that the witch responsible for the illusion is ''twelve years old'' and has been bluffing her way through an adult romantic [[{{Squick}} and sexual]] relationship for her own reasons.
* In ''Literature/{{Titanic}}'', Alfie Huggins claims he's a year older than he really is in order to get a job.
* In William Saroyan's ''The Human Comedy'' Homer Macauley, who's fourteen, claims to be sixteen to get a job as a messenger at the Postal Telegraph office. The boss isn't fooled, but keeps him anyway.
* Nobody believes Ren in ''Literature/ThisIsScrewedUpButIWasReincarnatedAsAGirlInAnotherWorld'' is actually 11 years old when they meet her because she 1) is exceptionally tall for her age, 2) is exceptionally busty, 3) has two Fenrir as pets, 4) has the maturity of a 30-year-old man, and 5) routinely takes down monsters that C-ranks and above have a hard time with, even though it's illegal for her to hunt them down (though not to defend herself from them if they attack her).
* ''Literature/ReincarnatedAsASword'': People who see Fran's strength simply assume she must be from a long-lived race like elves and is actually a seasoned veteran. But no, she's really just a talented 12-year-old girl who stumbled upon the [[SentientPhlebotinum titular magic sword]] that massively boosts her stats and growth.

* Referenced in "No Sex in the Champagne Room" by Chris Rock: "If a woman tells you she's 20 and looks 16, she's 12."
* Music/MarkChesnutt's "She Was" begins with the subject of the song running away to get married. "He was eighteen; she wasn't. But she said [[TitleDrop she was]]."

* In Podcast/TheMagnusArchives, Martin lies about his degree and age on his CV in order to get a job at the Magnus Institute. Jon also lies about his age, claiming to be a decade older than he actually is for no discernible reason.

* ''VideoGame/AITheSomniumFiles'' has a background character named Amame Doi who is 20 and works at a maid cafe. [[VideoGame/AITheSomniumFilesNirvanaInitiative The sequel]] reveals that she's actually 18; she lied about her age so she could work night shifts to support her family.

* In ''Webcomic/{{Beloved}}'', a sixteen year old girl goes to a club and sleeps with a woman over twice her age by pretending to be older.

* ''WesternAnimation/KingOfTheHill'': Cotton Hill states he was about sixteen when he joined the Army, lying about his age.
* ''WesternAnimation/GravityFalls'':
** In "The Inconviencing", twelve-year-old [[AdorablyPrecociousChild Dipper]] claims that he and his twin sister [[CloudCuckooLander Mabel]] are thirteen ("and thus technically teenagers!") so they can hang out with his PrecociousCrush, Wendy, and her friends. He's eventually forced to reveal his age towards the end of the episode, but he and Mabel still hang out with Wendy and her friends in later episodes.
** In another episode they use fake [=IDs=] to get into a bar to investigate a crime. The [=IDs=] were clearly made by Mabel -- both of them have mustaches and googly eyes, their names are "Lady Mabelton" and "Lord Dippingsauce," and they are trying to pass as 21 and 45, respectively.
* An episode of ''WesternAnimation/TheFlintstones'' has the family traveling into the far future. A man tries to pass his son off as twelve years old to get children's fare. The worker immediately pulls out a device and slips it over the boy's wrist to confirm his age as fourteen, forcing the dad to pay regular adult fare.
* ''WesternAnimation/GIJoeARealAmericanHero'': Shipwreck, while being interrogated by Cobra, reveals he joined the Navy at age 16, having lied about his age (the minimum age to enter the US Navy is 17).

* In the ''WesternAnimation/FamilyGuy'' episode "Quagmire's Mom", Quagmire has sex with a 15-year-old girl who claimed she was 23 and is arrested for statuatory rape. As a minor, [[KarmaHoudini the girl faces no legal ramifications herself]].

* ''Series/MalcolmInTheMiddle'': A story arc at the end of season 5 revolved around Reese running away to join the army under a fake identity after crossing the DespairEventHorizon from [[WhatTheHellHero Malcolm stealing his girlfriend]]. He excels in basic training, but after he's [[UsefulNotes/TheWarOnTerror deployed to Afghanistan]] he [[ScrewThisImOuttaHere gets cold feet and deserts]]. Meanwhile his mother Lois [[ObnoxiousEntitledHousewife raises hell trying to find him]] and manages to track him down in India, then proceeds to [[DraggedByTheCollar drag him by the ear]] all the way back to California.

* On ''Series/MalcolmInTheMiddle'', Malcolm beats up a bully, then gets in trouble when the bully turns out to be much younger than he looked. Hal then gets a visit from what appears to be the boy's father, and after he starts behaving abusively, Hal beats him up too. Turns out the "father" was actually a minor.