History Main / ShortTeensTallAdults

* Inverted somewhat disturbingly in ''ComicBook/{{Darkchylde}}'', where the title character looks like she could pass for a Swedish bikini model, despite only being 16. Her clothes often being turned into ModestyRags doesn't help.

Part of this can be the visual effect of a show shot from a child's or teen's perspective. The adults tower over our protagonists in terms of authority, and the best way to demonstrate that is make them physically much taller (or the child physically much shorter) than they actually are or conceivably would be. This is especially true in animated shows, which can oftentimes have the [[PintSizedKid child reach no higher than the parents' waist despite almost nearing adolescence]]. Again, it's a visual clue as to the power dynamic.

In RealLife, most people are at or near their adult height by 12-16, with girls typically reaching said height towards the earlier end of that range and boys reaching it near the later end. For reference, the average adult height in the U.S. is around 5'9" for men and 5'4" for women. This means a teenager who's on the tall side can tower over their adult costars and ruin the visual effect.

Contrast: DawsonCasting. Or compare, as short, baby-faced actors can make a career of playing teenagers throughout their 20's (even if [[NotAllowedToGrowUp they'd rather not]]). A SisterTrope to TinySchoolboy, in which the boy is short for reasons he can't control and it's rather noticeable among others his age.

%%Contrast: DawsonCasting. Or compare, as short, baby-faced actors can make a career of playing teenagers throughout their 20's (even if [[NotAllowedToGrowUp they'd rather not]]). Also contrast Small Parent Huge Child. A SisterTrope to TinySchoolboy, in which the boy is short for reasons he can't control and it's rather noticeable among others his age. --Small Parent, Huge Child has been unlaunched; restore once properly relaunched.

** Played straight with Ricket who was tiny among his TrueCompanions in his mid teens and even when he is 19 he still barely comes up to Gut’s chest at 5'5.
* High schoolers in ''Manga/CaseClosed'' aren't too far from adult characters in height. Conan and his first grader peers are considerably smaller than them. In the middle is the Mysterious Child, known only as "Mary". Conan estimates her as being middle school aged, approximately 12-15, but she isn't much taller than Conan and is considerably shorter than 17-year-old Masumi Sera when they're seen together, barely coming up to Masumi's waist.

** By the time ''Anime/DragonBallZ'' hits, this trope is averted. Teenaged Future Trunks is taller than his dad and almost as tall as Goku, and the 17-year-old Gohan (seen closer to the end of the series) is one of the taller members of the cast, despite being 5'9.

** Played straight in ''Anime/DragonBallSuper'', where present Trunks and Goten don't appear to have grown since before the TimeSkip at the end of Z despite 7 years having passed by the Tournament of Power. In fact, Future Trunks' own history shows more significant growth during his time training with Gohan, than his present day iteration. That said it ''is'' established that [[HumanAliens Saiyans]] grow very slowly for most of their childhood but have some rather extreme growth spurts to get to their adult height.
* Exaggerated in ''Manga/FullmetalAlchemist''. While Edward Elric is short, he's the shortest of all of the teenage characters, which are taller than him. It's eventually revealed that [[spoiler:the reason is because Alphonse's body is absorbing nutrients from his own, which is keeping him from growing]]. After the FinalBattle he starts growing a lot taller, to the point where he's taller than Winry. He's also 14 or 15 when the series starts. In the [[Anime/FullmetalAlchemist2003 2003 anime]], he never hits a growth spurt and thus is short even in ''Anime/FullmetalAlchemistTheConquerorOfShamballa'' when he is eighteen (where Winry, Alfons, Noah, and even Alphonse at the end dwarf him).

* ''Manga/JoJosBizarreAdventure'' ping-pongs the issue, depending on the characters. Jotaro, Kakoyin and Josuke are tall and buff, but Koichi (nearly the same age as Josuke, or possibly the same) is waist-height (and his child-like voice doesn't help things). One teenaged antagonist starts out tall but ''shrinks'' to Koichi's height after being beaten, as does another (presumably) adult antagonist. Officially these characters are about five feet tall, [[StylizedForTheViewer the artstyle just exaggerates their shortness]].
** Averted completely in earlier parts e.g the 18-year-old [[Manga/JoJosBizarreAdventureBattleTendency Joseph Joestar]] stands at 6'5 inches towering over his grandmother, girlfriend, [[spoiler: and 50-year-old mother]].
* ''Manga/MagicKnightRayearth'' has Hikaru, Umi, and Fuu –- all fourteen -– about as tall as each other, and ''way'' shorter than the adults they meet in Cephiro (barring the ones who [[OlderThanTheyLook have a childlike appearance]]). They're at least a head shorter than the women they meet, and barely up to waist-height on the men.

* Itsuki Kawasumi and Ren Amaki from ''Literature/TheRisingOfTheShieldHero'' are 155 cm at 17 and 160 cm at 16 respectively.
* Usagi Tsukino, the eponymous ''Franchise/SailorMoon'', is 4'11 at 14, though she may not look it.

* A justified example is [[ComicBook/Batgirl2000 Cassandra Cain]], who was alone and starving between the ages of six and seventeen, so that even at eighteen she is noticeably short, despite her parents being rather tall at 5'8" and 6'2". Ironically, Cass is OlderThanTheyLook as she hasn't been a teenager since about a year after she was introduced and is meant to be about the same age as Jason Todd, but due to her short size, [[ContinuitySnarl some writers who aren't well-versed in her character write her as being a teenager]], and some fans have assumed she's such.

* ''ComicBook/SpiderGwen'': [[PlayingWithATrope Played with]], as Gwen Stacy is 19 during the first volume (due to a time skip, she's 20 in the second volume), but is shown to be ''exceptionally'' short. Her exact height is only given as 'approximately' 5'5, but its repeatedly shown to be much shorter than that (a crossover with the above-mentioned ''All-New Wolverine'' depicts the two at the same height, implying Gwen is ''5'1''), especially when standing next to others billed at that height. Her father George is a full foot taller and pretty much all of her (primarily adult) villains tower over her, not unlike ''Ultimate Spider-Man''. It seems to be something specific to ''this'' Gwen, as when she meets the Gwen Stacy of Earth-616 (AKA, the main Marvel Universe) when lost in time and space [[spoiler:which indirectly leads to splintering the timeline to create the AU Earth-617]], its said the two are the same age at this point, but 616!Gwen is a couple inches taller. Averting/inverting this somewhat, ComicBook/MilesMorales is about a year and half younger than Gwen, but is currently billed at 5'8. Typically he's depicted as ''much'' shorter than this when around adults, playing it straight, but when him and Gwen meet he's typically drawn a good few inches taller, despite the age gap. This makes ''some'' sense as Miles ''is'' at the point he'd be reaching his full height, and boys are typically taller than girls, but it does amusingly subvert the trend of height being used to determine youth.
* Despite having been portrayed as adults for decades, most of the founding ''Comicbook/TeenTitans'' members (Dick Grayson/ComicBook/{{Nightwing}}, [[ComicBook/WonderGirl Donna Troy]], and Garth/Aqualad/Tempest) will all be a little shorter than their mentors. [[Franchise/TheFlash Wally West and Barry Allen]] are both six feet tall, and prior to the ComicBook/New52, Wally was actually an inch taller than Barry. And Roy Harper/Arsenal/Red Arrow is an inch taller than [[ComicBook/GreenArrow Oliver Queen]]. Despite this, you'll rarely see an artist draw either Wally or Roy as taller than their mentors, and sometimes Wally will outright be dwarfed by Barry despite this billing.

** Despite being one of Marvel's top assassins, Comicbook/{{X 23}} is generally depicted as being very short and slight -- [[DependingOnTheArtist at times]] even smaller than her father/template ComicBook/{{Wolverine}} -- and it's very common for people who've at least ''heard'' of X-23 to be left stunned when they actually see her for the first time. By the time of ''Comicbook/AllNewWolverine'' she's likely no older than 19, and her official height is listed at a mere ''5'1"''.[[note]] However, Wolverine's official height is 5'3", so [[FridgeBrilliance it does make sense that X-23 would be on the short side even as an adult.]] [[/note]] Her own clone, Gabby, is 13, and is actually ''[[PintSizedKid even shorter]]''.

* In general, most 90s/2000s era 'teen heroes' in Marvel and DC were all drawn as rather short, and were even often billed at 5'5, which was largely a result of this trope, but it's now something that's carried over even as most have actually grown into adulthood. Though this ''does'' make things somewhat realistic (a short teen will probably be a short adult), it does create a funny situation that seemingly an entire generation of superheroes never grew past 5'6.

* ''Fanfic/ChildOfTheStorm'' averts this. Clark (per ''{{Series/Smallville}}'' canon) is easily pushing 6 feet, and Carol's 5'9'', reaching 5'10'' by the sequel, despite both being no older than 14/15. Uhtred, despite being 13, is easily the same height as Carol. Likewise, while the other younger characters are initially fairly short -- Harry's initially only 5 feet and change, and Diana is notably pocket sized -- it's temporary. Harry's 13, and she's 11 or 12, so both get growth spurts (and magical medical correction for stunted growth in Harry's case) leaving Harry roughly only par with Carol and Clark, and Diana close behind. Since they all come from tall families, this isn't all that surprising.

--> The human was so short that he doubted she was even fully-grown.
* In ''Fanfic/MaFille'' and its sequel, ''Fanfic/ShiningAndSweet'', 14 year old Katrina Beaufort/Chaton Cheri is the shortest of the WVBA boxers at five foot one

* Averted in ''Fanfic/{{Traveler}}''. Less than a year into his journey, Ash is already as tall as his mother even though he's only eleven.
* Inverted in ''Fanfic/SkylandersReturnToTheRuins''; 19 year old Crestfeather, despite being the youngest of the Core Five, is easily the tallest of them, being the only one over six feet tall.
* Donna from ''Fanfic/SonicAndDonna'' is under 5'0 at 13 years old. It's implied to be due to age rather than her just being short.

** Anna in ''WesternAnimation/{{Frozen|2013}}'' –- aged 18 and with one exception she's the shortest person in the main part of the film. Her sister Elsa is 21 and appears to be of average height. Subverted in ''WesternAnimation/FrozenII'', where Anna's still the shortest despite being in her early 20s.
** In ''WesternAnimation/BigHero6'', Hiro Hamada is stated to be around 5'0" –- pretty short for a 14-year-old, and further emphasized by the fact that everyone else in the movie is an adult and ''incredibly'' tall (except for [=GoGo=] and maybe Aunt Cass). It's stated in ''The Art of Big Hero 6'' that for the first bit of the movie, everything is shot above Hiro's eye level so that we are looking down on him. However, after [[spoiler:Tadashi's death]], the "camera" moves down so that we are seeing everything from Hiro's point of view. His short height is occasionally acknowledged in ''WesternAnimation/BigHero6TheSeries''; in particular, when he tries to question Liv Amara at the symposium in "Something Fluffy", he has to move the microphone down. After the moderator Bluff Dunder repeatedly jokes about his height, he angrily replies he just hasn't hit his growth spurt yet.

* In ''WesternAnimation/TurningRed'', 13/14 year old Abby is no taller than an 8 year old.

* Creator/ElliotPage is 5'1", so even in his late twenties he was frequently cast as teenagers. For ''Film/HardCandy'' he played a girl who claims she's 14, and two years later when he was 20 he took on an Oscar-nominated role as a pregnant 16-year-old in ''Film/{{Juno}}''.
* Creator/MarkWahlberg's earliest roles were teens, despite his acting career beginning in his early twenties. The man is, depending on the source, no taller than 5'8".
* Shailene Woodley is a similar case. At 5'7.5", all her major roles have been 16-year-olds. Amusingly enough, she's also lost her virginity onscreen in five different films.

* Both used and averted in British comic-action thriller ''Film/FourThreeTwoOne'': of the four female leads (who are around 18 or 19) two are anything if but tall, but the petite Ophelia Lovibond and Emma Roberts certainly fall under this. Lovibond in particular has [[DawsonCasting less than a two year age gap]] between her and the older villain played by Michelle Ryan but because Ryan is much taller, Lovibond ''seems'' much younger.
* Inverted in ''Film/DeckTheHalls'', where Creator/DannyDeVito (4'10") and Creator/KristinChenoweth (also 4'10") have teenage daughters played by 5'8" Kelly and Sabrina Aldridge.
* Played straight in ''Film/TheDuff'' with Bianca but subverted with many of the other high school characters. Both Jess and Casey, as well as the AlphaBitch Madison, are obviously taller than Bianca. Note that the actress playing Madison, Creator/BellaThorne, was 16 while filming this movie, meanwhile the actress playing Bianca, Creator/MaeWhitman, was almost ten years older.
* Somewhat averted in ''Film/EnolaHolmes'', where Enola is as tall as her mother at sixteen. Of course, her mother, played by Helena Bonham Carter, is only 5'2".
* In her 2012 film ''Film/{{Gone|2012}}'', Seyfried actually takes advantage of this trope and her height in-universe. Her character is twenty something but while trying to avoid cops looking for her she joins a group of teens and successfully blends in thanks to her lack of height.
* In ''Film/Hairspray2007'', the main teen cast members are all significantly shorter than the actors playing their parents -- compare Nikki Blonsky (4'10") with Creator/ChristopherWalken (6'0") and Creator/JohnTravolta (6'1"), Creator/AmandaBynes (5'7") with Creator/AllisonJanney (6'0"), Elijah Kelley (5'6") with Music/QueenLatifah (5'10"), and Brittany Snow (5'2.5") with Creator/MichellePfeiffer (5'6" and towering in stilettos). Not to mention Creator/ZacEfron with everybody.
* For ''Film/Halo4ForwardUntoDawn'', casting specifically chose short actors to play the Corbulo cadets with the intention that Master Chief would tower over them in shooting, though this is justified by the Chief being a roughly 7'0" SuperSoldier. Ironically enough, [[spoiler:the Chief and his fellow Spartans are revealed at the end to be roughly the same age as the cadets, even though John is canonically 6'9" under the armor]].
* Creator/DanielRadcliffe started playing Film/HarryPotter when he was only a little bit older than the character. However, he was 21 playing 17 by the end but he was helped in passing by the fact that he’s only 5'4". Even though Harry’s [[OneHeadTaller a lot taller]] than his {{Love Interest|s}}, Ginny, in the books, [[Creator/BonnieWright she]]’s actually taller than him in the movies.

* ''Film/MammaMia''. While technically not playing a ''teen'' (her character is 20) Creator/AmandaSeyfried is considerably shorter than Creator/MerylStreep (who plays her mother). She doesn't get it from her dad either -- ''all three'' potential fathers are over 6 foot.
* In the Franchise/MarvelCinematicUniverse, KidHero [[Franchise/SpiderMan Peter Parker]] (played by 5'7" Creator/TomHolland) is a good bit shorter than the majority of his fellow heroes. Even Creator/RobertDowneyJr's [[Film/IronMan Tony Stark]] is made to look several inches taller despite he and Tom being around the same height in real life. Averted with MJ who, at 5'10, is among the tallest of the franchise's female characters.
** Zig-Zagged with Cassie Lang. Originally played by child actor Abby Ryder Fortson in ''Film/AntMan1'' and ''Film/AntManAndTheWasp'', Cassie later received a PlotRelevantAgeUp to 15 for ''Film/AvengersEndgame'' and was recast with 17-year-old Emma Fuhrmann, who at 5'8 was almost the same height as her father Scott Lang, played by the 5'9 Creator/PaulRudd. In ''Film/AntManAndTheWaspQuantumania'', she's played by Creator/KathrynNewton, who is [[DawsonCasting almost a decade older than Cassie]], but is also only 5'5 and thus still easily passes for a teenager. To be clear, the recast is probably less an issue with Fuhrmann's height but more the fact Newton [[TruerToTheText better resembles the character]] (who in the comics ''is'' around 5'4-5'5).

* Asta from ''Manga/BlackClover'' is the shortest teenager in the series, with his rival and childhood friend Yuno being about two heads taller despite being the same age. [[spoiler:After the 6 month TimeSkip, Asta expresses jealousy that another of his teen friends, Leopold Vermillion, has had a growth spurt while Asta himself is still short.]] He makes up for his short stature by [[HeroicBuild being completely ripped]], but it still bothers him.

* ''WesternAnimation/ArloTheAlligatorBoy'': The titular Arlo is shorter than most of the cast despite being fifteen years old, as is Alia, who's implied to be the same age as him. Averted with Bertie, who is also a teenager, but is by far the largest of the main cast.

** Both actors playing 16 year old Jacaerys and 14 year old Lucerys Velaryon are 5’5” tall, despite the fact that they are rumored to be [[spoiler:the illegitimate children of Princess Rhaenyra and Harwin “Breakbones” Strong, who is among the largest, tallest, strongest men in Westeros at the time.]] Even the actor playing their father is at least 5’11” and their mother is played by a 5’7” actor.

* Probably explaining how Creator/MichaelJFox got away with playing teenage parts into his late twenties. Interestingly, ''Film/BackToTheFuture'' partially averted this with Creator/CrispinGlover and Creator/ThomasFWilson, both of whom are over six feet. However, they also had to play middle aged versions of George [=McFly=] and Biff Tannen, so they needed to appear taller than teenage Marty in 1985.

** Both actors playing 16 year old Jacaerys and 14 year old Lucerys Velaryon are 5’5” tall, despite the fact that they are rumored to be the illegitimate children of Princess Rhaenyra and Harwin “Breakbones” Strong, who is among the largest, tallest, strongest men in Westeros at the time. Even the actor playing their father is at least 5’11” and their mother is played by a 5’7” actor.

* Any issue of ''Comicbook/YoungJustice'' that had them standing alongside the Franchise/{{Justice League|OfAmerica}}. Assuming that Franchise/{{Superman}} and the rest were around 6 feet tall, the YJ kids looked like they were closer to 4 feet. Disconcerting, given that most of the cast was about 16. At one point in his own series [[ComicBook/RobinSeries Robin]] (Tim Drake) even lampshades it, grumbling that maybe one day he'll stop looking like he's twelve.

* ''WesternAnimation/{{Rugrats}}'': A minor character, Alisa Carmichael (Susie's older sister) is 16, but shown to be a head shorter than her parents.

* Unintentionally done in ''Series/FamilyTies''. Michael J. Fox almost didn't get the role of [[DeadpanSnarker Alex P. Keaton]] because the producers at NBC didn't think it was realistic that the 5'4" Fox could be the son of 6'3" Michael Gross, who played his father Stephen Keaton.

* In ''Film/{{Hairspray}}'', the main teen cast members are all significantly shorter than the actors playing their parents -- compare Nikki Blonsky (4'10") with Creator/ChristopherWalken (6'0") and Creator/JohnTravolta (6'1"), Creator/AmandaBynes (5'7") with Creator/AllisonJanney (6'0"), Elijah Kelley (5'6") with Music/QueenLatifah (5'10"), and Brittany Snow (5'2.5") with Creator/MichellePfeiffer (5'6" and towering in stilettos). Not to mention Creator/ZacEfron with everybody.

* The main characters of ''WesternAnimation/TinyToonAdventures'' are supposed to be teenagers. But as the title makes clear, they're ''tiny'' compared with the ''WesternAnimation/LooneyTunes'' characters that mentor them (except for Tweety, of course).

* Also the case in ''WesternAnimation/CodeLyoko''. Most of the teens are between 13 and 14, yet they are all very much shorter than the adults. Even Yumi, who's reaching 15, is smaller than her parents (though she comes close to her father, who's probably of typical height for a Japanese male -– her mother on the other hand is quite tall). Also of note is that the girls are often taller than the boys, or about the same size.

* ''WesternAnimation/TeenTitans2003'': {{Subverted|Trope}} (it's not really most teens in the show), especially for Robin (about 15 years) and Beast Boy (approximately 13 to 14 years). {{Lampshade|Hanging}}d by Cyborg in "Divide and Conquer" when he refers to Robin as being "4 feet tall and smelling like cheap hair gel".
* In ''WesternAnimation/TeenageMutantNinjaTurtles1987'' several of the teen characters we meet like Zach the boy who wants to be the fifth ninja turtle, his friend Kaitlyn, and Buffy Shellhammer are so short especially compared to the turtles who are stated to be 15, the three of them could be mistaken for elementary students.

* In ''WesternAnimation/TheOwlHouse'', Luz and her classmates are all quite short despite being around 14. In flashbacks to their time at Hexside, Eda, Raine, and Lilith are also WAY shorter than they are as adults.

* A variation occurs in ''WebComic/SWAPEnsemble''. The heights are widely varied, but all the middle school students are under five feet tall, with the exceptions of the abnormally tall Turie and Troy.

* Averted in ''Fanfic/PokemonResetBloodlines'', where the [[AgeLift now 15-year-old Ash]] is mentioned to be taller than his mother. Other teenage characters in fic follow a mix of averting and playing this straight, though it's rather clearly shown that height is less a matter of teen vs adult but [[spoiler: genetic]], like in real life.
* Averted in ''[[https://www.fanfiction.net/s/12869868/1/No-Promises No Promises]]'' where the SelfInsert is six feet tall despite only being fourteen, but this is because his father [[Literature/ASongOfIceAndFire King Baratheon]] is even taller.
* Averted in ''Fanfic/{{Traveler}}''. Less than a year into his journey, Ash is already as tall as his mother even though he's only eleven.

!! This page is currently under [[https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/posts.php?discussion=16887575770.39460100 TRS discussion]]

* ''WesternAnimation/HowToTrainYourDragon'': Not only are the teens shorter than the adults, all but two of them are lanky and noodly. It doesn't help that the adults are all stereotypical gigantic vikings, even [[BrawnHilda the women]].

* For ''Film/Halo4ForwardUntoDawn'', casting specifically chose short actors to play the Corbulo cadets with the intention that Master Chief would tower over them in shooting, though this is justified by the Chief being a roughly 7'0" SuperSoldier. Ironically enough, [[spoiler:the Chief and his fellow Spartans are revealed at the end to be roughly the same age as the cadets, even though John is canonically 6'9" under the armour]].

* Exaggerated in ''Manga/FullmetalAlchemist''. While Edward Elric is short, he's the shortest of all of the teenage characters, which are taller than him. It's eventually revealed that [[spoiler:the reason is because Alphonse's body is absorbing nutrients from his own, which is keeping him from growing]]. After the FinalBattle he starts growing a lot taller, to the point where he's taller than Winry. He's also 14 or 15 when the series starts. In the [[Anime/FullmetalAlchemist 2003 anime]], he never hits a growth spurt and thus is short even in ''Anime/FullmetalAlchemistTheConquerorOfShamballa'' when he is eighteen (where Winry, Alfons, Noah, and even Alphonse at the end dwarf him).

** Oscar and Whitley are introduced in Volume 4 when Ruby is 16 and the other teens are 18. They're both much shorter than the adults, including the 18-year old male teens. Oscar is a little bit shorter than Ruby and Weiss while Whitley is a tiny bit taller than Weiss. Although Oscar is confirmed to be 14 years old when introduced, Whitley's age is vaguely implid to be somewhere between Oscar and Weiss's age, making him approximately 15-16 years old. The height contrast between the younger male teens compared to the older male teens is therefore much greater, and played straighter, than for the younger female teens.

** Oscar and Whitley are introduced in Volume 4 when Ruby is 16 and the other teens are 18. They're both much shorter than the adults, including the 18-year old male teens. Oscar is a little bit shorter than Ruby and Weiss while Whitley is a tiny bit taller than Weiss. Although Oscar is confirmed to be 14 years old when introduced, Whitley's age is vaguely implid to be somewhere between Oscar and Weiss's age, making him approximately 15-16 years old.

** Weiss is a subversion: although she's around Ruby's height (in heels), despite being two years older, she's much shorter than the other teens and especially her adult sister, Winter, who is in her mid-20s. However, the on-screen introduction of her mother in Volume 7, reveals that Willow is a short adult and barely any taller than Weiss. Despite the show's preference for unusually tall adults, some adults are depicted as being short thereby indicating that some of the short teens -- like Weiss -- will become short adults.

* ''WebAnimation/{{RWBY}}'' plays with this. Going by the [[http://web.archive.org/web/20150907045328/https://scontent-a-sjc.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-xfa1/t31.0-8/10604608_651234038324805_1451554503241425760_o.jpg height chart]], most of the teenage characters are at reasonable heights for their ages... It's just that many of the adults are extremely tall, making both adults of normal height and teenagers look short. However, the show does denotes the difference between younger teens and older teens through height.

* ''WebAnimation/{{RWBY}}'' plays with this. Going by the [[http://web.archive.org/web/20150907045328/https://scontent-a-sjc.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-xfa1/t31.0-8/10604608_651234038324805_1451554503241425760_o.jpg height chart]], most of the teenage characters are at reasonable heights for their ages... It's just that the adults are extremely tall. Also worth noting that the show denotes the difference between younger teens and older teens through height. Oscar, who is 14, is at least a foot shorter than the average height for the 17- to 18-year-old male characters and Ruby (15-16) is shorter than her older sister Yang (17-18) and many other teens who are Yang's age. Weiss (17-18) appears to be a subversion: although she is ''much'' shorter than her older sister Winter (mid-20s) and a similar height to the younger Ruby, Volume 7 introduces her mother on-screen for the first time; her mother, it turns out, is very short and barely any taller than she is.

* ''WebAnimation/{{RWBY}}'' plays with this. Going by the [[http://web.archive.org/web/20150907045328/https://scontent-a-sjc.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-xfa1/t31.0-8/10604608_651234038324805_1451554503241425760_o.jpg height chart]], most of the teenage characters are at reasonable heights for their ages... It's just that the adults are extremely tall. Also worth noting that the show denotes the difference between younger teens and older teens through height. Oscar, who is 14, is at least a foot shorter than the average height for the 17- to 18-year-old male characters. It applies to siblings as well: Ruby (15-16) is shorter than her older sister Yang (17-18), while Weiss (17-18) is ''much'' shorter than her older sister Winter (mid-late 20s).

** ''WesternAnimation/AmericanDad'': Both used and subverted. Steve and Hayley are both towered over by their parents. Same goes for Steve's friends and Hayley's boyfriend/husband Jeff. Other teens depicted in the show are typically depicted as having realistic proportions. For example, Hayley's friends Zooey, Kristen and Danuta are all a few inches taller than her. Steve is only 14 so an argument could be made that he is just a late bloomer (the episode "Roots" more or less confirms it and most episodes that take place in the future show that adult Steve is at least as tall as Francine, who is pretty tall for a woman). Hayley, however, is 19 and should be long done with puberty. If the [[https://clzmovies.r.sizr.io/core/covers/lg/1b/1b_d__0_AmericanDadSeason6.jpg cover]] of Volume 6 is anything to go by, Hayley is just barely five feet tall and Steve is about four-and-a-half feet tall.