History Main / WiseBeyondTheirYears

[[quoteright:300:[[SouthPark http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/905_not_again-300x231_1121.jpg]]]]
[[caption-width-right:300:Dude, my parents are so ''stupid''.]]

* Kaguya Sumeragi in ''CodeGeass''.

* Alessa Gillespie, from ''SilentHill'', is an odd combination of this trope and CreepyChild. She traps the main character and several others in a horrific parallel universe, in an attempt to [[spoiler:stave off the birth of a hidden cult's god, and prevent the end of the world]].

** In one of the rare cases where twelve-year-old Annie actually acts her age, she ends up collapsing in tears, crying that she misses her mother. One might assume that she wears her maturity so tightly, because the child can't handle that pain. (Or maybe it was just [[LemonWackyHello those cherries]].)

Contrast AdultChild. Compare CuteShotaroBoy, who tries to be like this but is still a kid at heart. Compare ChildProdigy, who is basically a TVGenius in child form. TheLinus is when a child really ''is'' like this, but still retains a [[ChildrenAreInnocent childlike innocence]] in other aspects of life. LittleMissSnarker is a sub-trope of this, and when this character's maturity is displayed in a villainous light, he may become a CreepyChild. When ''every'' kid in a franchise acts like this (or at least most of them), it's probably because MostWritersAreAdults. Kids may be forced into this by living in a TeenageWasteland.

** The major determining factor in marriagibility was the accumulation of resources/ demonstrated ability sufficient to establish a household, and support a family. Often this meant waiting until your apprenticeship was done, by which time you'd be in your early twenties or so. These rules did not apply if you had rich parents. To get married before this criteria was met was heinously irresponsible.

* How is it that the ''SouthPark'' boys haven't been mentioned?
** All of the students with the exception of Butters have shown to be consistently more intelligent than the adults especially in the later episodes and understand many complex things.

->''You don't have to be old to be wise.''

** In the manga, he somehow cheated to win the chess game which, while more probable, still requires a considerable amount of skill to pull off.

* No mention of Miles "Tails" Prower of [[SonicTheHedgehog Sonic]] fame, who created the Tornado, a biplane, and is a full-fledged mechanic at '''age 8'''.

* Tomoyo from ''CardCaptorSakura'' is not only GenreSavvy, but is able to see the hidden intentions of every character she comes across even though she's a fourth-grader.
** Even Eriol acknowledges Tomoyo's savviness.

* I can't believe Matilda has not been mentioned yet!

* Rachel in ''500DaysOfSummer''

* Rachel in ''{{500 Days Of Summer}}''

** Chisame also qualifies, as she arguable has the [[OnlySaneMan best grip on reality]] out of everyone, and Jack Rakan even identifies her as being the advisor that Negi benefits most from.

* Negi is a {{Deconstruction}} of this trope as he literary has no idea how to be a child. Once when he was on vacatio9n and was suposed to just have fun he tried approaching it the same way he does everything else: by carefully analyzing the situation and coming up with most efficient solution, until Asuna told him he should just relax for once.

* No love for [[WellIntentionedExtremist Redcloak]] from ''{{The Order of the Stick}}? [[spoiler:He was only an acolyte for the Dark One when he was forced to take on the Crimson Mantle -- a religious artifact that literally freezes his body and mind in time, making him immune to maturing, aging, and disease. Anyone who reads only the strip on the Internet would guess that he was at least in his mid-twenties. ''At least.'' In reality, because of the mantle, he's somewhere between ten and fifteen years old. Of course, if you discount the mantle, he's been alive for [[ReallySevenHundredYearsOld about half a century]], which is actually pretty old for a goblin.]]

*** This troper rewatched the series not long ago, and after having seen all of Katara's background, that line becomes particularly [[TearJerker poignant and bittersweet]].

* The cynical 12-year-old Ciel from ''{{Kuroshitsuji}}'', who manages his family's corporation, but he's also seen some pretty messed-up shit, SoYeah...