Childish Villain, Mature Hero

Heroes and villains can be contrasted in many ways: beauty and ugliness, modesty and skimpiness/sexiness, politeness and rudeness, among other things. In this dynamic, the hero is contrasted with the villain in terms of maturity levels.

While some works present childishness as an endearing trait, in this dynamic the hero's lack of childishness is what makes them better than the villain. This makes sense to an extent; many immature qualities such as pushing the blame, entitlement, self-centeredness, callousness, pettiness, acting spoiled, etc. are almost always associated with villains and jerks. In contrast, mature traits such as forgiveness, taking responsibility for one's faults, losing gracefully, humility, a sense of responsibility, etc. tend to be related to heroes.

This trope can manifest itself in a number of ways. If the hero and villain went to school together, expect the hero to have matured since then, while the villain hasn't grown up at all. If the hero and villain desire or have power, the hero tends to be responsible with their power, while the villain values power purely for the privileges and scoffs at such silly ideas like "obligation." This dynamic doesn't even have to involve heroes and villains; a mature Nice Guy and an immature Jerkass work just as well.

A common variation of this trope is to have a younger hero who shows more maturity than an older villain, with the hero displaying wisdom and maturity far beyond their age, while the villain acts very childish for their age.

Compare Older Hero vs. Younger Villain, where the hero literally is older than the villain, which this can overlap with. Also compare Snarky Villain, Earnest Hero, Diligent Hero, Slothful Villain, Insecure Protagonist, Arrogant Antagonist, Good Is Not Dumb, Stupid Evil, Not Growing Up Sucks.

Contrast Dumb Is Good, Growing Up Sucks.

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Examples

Anime & Manga

• Berserk: Used as one of the many aspects by which Guts and Griffith act as foils to each other. Guts, for his faults, gradually begins to care about things beyond base survival, and even after the horror of the Eclipse, eventually the meaningless and destructiveness caused by his revenge quest as the Black Swordsman, moving past it to prioritize protecting those that he cares about and finding his own meaning in life. In contrast, Griffith, despite his Wicked Cultured exterior, is a Psychopathic Manchild who refuses to ever move past his initial childish goal of achieving a kingdom even when it's flatly told to him this desire was deliberately inserted into him by the Godhand, is incapable of viewing people outside of their relation to him, and is willing to sacrifice anyone, even those he has grown to care about, in pursuit of it. And to drive the whole point home, as Art Evolution progresses, Griffith is drawn to look increasingly child-like and cherubic despite the fact that he's at least 2 to 3 years older than Guts is, showing how childish Griffith is deep down.
• Death Note: Villain Protagonist Light Yagami is a Psychopathic Manchild with a god complex, who uses the titular notebook to kill criminals in an attempt to remove all the bad people in the world, with his definition of "bad people" quickly slipping to include anyone who tries to stop or criticize him. His fellow Death Note users aren't much better in the maturity department, with Misa being a Cute But Psycho Yandere who is willing to kill anyone who criticizes Kira and Mikami being a Knight Templar with an extreme case of Black-and-White Insanity to the point that he kills people for being lazy. The Kira Task Force, led by Hero Antagonist L and including Light's father Soichiro Yagami, all understand how wrong it is to administer "justice" by killing wrongdoers without a second thought, and especially how wrong it is to kill people just for disagreeing with you. Near, in his Kirk Summation, explains that the only reason anyone would use a Death Note is to see if it worked as advertised or for their own self-interests.
• Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba: Despite their respective quirks, Tanjiro Kamado and most members of the Demon Slayer Corps are kind-hearted, responsible, and selfless individuals who are willing to put their own lives on the line to protect those around them. Muzan Kibutsuji meanwhile is extremely narcissistic, petty, selfish, cowardly, and incapable of taking any form of criticism regarding his plans, all of which has bitten him in the ass more than once. It has even been offhandedly mentioned several times as to how childish Muzan really is at his core, to the point where his final form ends up being a literal giant, crying baby to avoid burning up in the sun.
• Goblin Slayer has this dynamic with the entire goblin race: Goblin Slayer is a dour serious man who is extremely set on ensuring that every single goblin is destroyed in order to ensure that the world is safe from their evil. Despite the sheer impossibility, hardship, and overall misery that his job entails, he is diligent in pursuing his enormous burden. The goblins, on the other hand, are an entire race of low-functioning sociopaths (with the occasional high functioning leader) who are motivated to do the most horrendous acts of evil for no other reason than sadism, envy, and hatred towards both other goblins and the other races.
• My Hero Academia:
  • Izuku Midoriya and Tomura Shigaraki are the series' most focal protagonist and antagonist respectively and are heavily contrasted by how they're mentored by the most powerful hero/villain of their time and are built up to be the symbol of peace and evil. Outside of their alignments, Midoriya is known for being a polite, humble, considerate, and mature boy for his age whereas Shigaraki is akin to a childish, petty brat, though this is because he suffered a tragic past that severely damaged his perspective on the world and his mental psyche, and nonetheless ends up developing into becoming a much more emotionally mature, more mentally sound and calculative individual.
  • By extension, Midoriya and Shigaraki's predecessors, All Might and All for One are the symbols of peace and evil and the most powerful hero and villain of their time respectively. Most of Midoriya's personality traits are inspired by All Might, who is just as wise, compassionate, and level-headed. All for One initially appears to be a subversion, looking to be more mentally sound and calculative than his apprentice was until the end where it's revealed that All for One is even more immature, insane, and childish than Shigaraki could ever be shown to be, being a petulant Psychopathic Manchild whose ultimate motivation for being a supervillain stems from reading comic books when he was a child and being an extreme fanboy of its villains (especially the Maou the Demon King ones), so all he wants is to become one to show how this kind of villain would go in reality to the point where he outright rejects the fact that the villains lost, making him a childishly delusional chuunibyou of all things, and throws destructive temper tantrums when things don't go his way. All of this comes to a head when Shigaraki calls him out for using him and the League of Villains he's founded as disposable tools for accomplishing his childish goals before ripping his metaphysical vestige apart from the inside out, which alongside Lady Nagant turning on him, causes All For One to throw a massive tantrum like the pathetic child he really is.
• Naruto: Obito, Madara, and Black Zetsu have different levels of immaturity, but they all serve as the childish villain to the mature heroes:
  • Obito, as a result of witnessing Kakashi impale Rin because the latter took his attack to ensure she wouldn't be used to destroy Konoha, sought to replace reality with an illusion because he couldn't accept a world with Rin dead and his team permenantly broken apart. The illusion he seeks to create is one where everyone can be happy and the good guys always win, but he's also willing to kill countless people for the sake of his goal, reasoning that they'll all just be brought back in the illusion. That being said, deep down he does regret his actions, but he didn't have his friends to serve as his moral compass and is trying to convince himself that he's committed to the plan. Naruto and Kakashi had all of their friends help them grow and mature to be better people, as well as to keep them from going down a dark path. Naruto would have succumbed to Obito's temptation after Neji's death if Hinata hadn't snapped him out of it, and Kakashi admits that while the system is flawed, Naruto's journey helped him to regain faith that things can get better. Because of this, both are able to reach out to Obito and convince him to regain his idealism and undergo a Heel–Face Turn.
  • Madara Uchiha, despite his usual stoic demeanor, is also a Smug Super and a self-pitying loser who wants to cast Infinite Tsukuyomi on the world partially because of an ego trip and a desire to see himself as the savior and ruler. Despite claiming that life is horrible, it's become clear that most of his problems were self-inflicted. Despite claiming to wish for peace, he also takes a lot of pleasure in battle and treats his new powers and his battles as toys and games for him to play. Hashirama, Tobirama, and all who follow the Will of Fire on the other hand, for all their flaws, still take their responsibility to protect the village seriously, never blamed life for their problems, were able to keep moving forward despite their struggles because they still had friends and family to watch out for them, and fight for the sake of protecting their comrades. In the end, it takes being backstabbed by Black Zetsu and learning that he was an Unwitting Pawn all along for Madara to realize that Hashirama's way was superior, allowing him to at least make peace with his former friend before dying.
  • Black Zetsu, The Man in Front of the Man to the Akatsuki, Obito, and even Madara, is revealed to have been seeking Kaguya's revival so he can be alongside her for all eternity, with everyone who suffers along the way being an afterthought as they're all just a part of his story to bring about the return of his mother. Naruto, despite having grown up without his parents to raise him and losing people he cares about throughout his life, is able to grow from his experiences and he never treated people as expendable in his goals. He even calls Black Zetsu a spoiled brat who still wants to cling to his mother's side and has no right to compare himself to the shinobi who left their marks on history.
• Pokémon: The Series: This becomes the dynamic between Ash Ketchum and the Team Rocket Trio. While Ash was immature and arrogant at the start of the series, he (and to lesser extents his traveling companions) display or develop the maturity to stop when things aren't working, accept defeats with dignity, and grow and learn from their experiences. Meanwhile the Trio remain arrogant, refused to admit their mistakes while any realizations don't stick, and continue even when they'd be more successful with anything else. The final episode highlights the contrast: Ash has grown to the point he's achieved his goal of becoming the worlds best Pokémon trainer, and then accept that it didn't give him the satisfaction he'd expect and adopt a new goal. Meanwhile the Trio's failures in their goal to capture Pikachu reach the breaking point of destroying their friendship, only to get back together because they refuse to stop and change.
• This dynamic shows up a lot in The Rising of the Shield Hero:
  • Malty and Naofumi: When it comes to their duties, Malty is a Spoiled Brat who focuses more on hedonistic thrills and scheming her way into easy money and power while avoiding any responsibility; Naofumi is a hardworking underdog who is diligent in his duties as the Shield Hero. As a teammate, Malty is a useless, disloyal parasite who simply looks for a new host to leech off of when she has no further use for someone and is utterly incapable of doing anything for herself; Naofumi is a useful, loyal man who will walk the ends of the earth for his loved ones, and while he is dependent on his team, he still does as much as he can to contribute.
  • Naofumi and Motoyasu: While all of the Three Heroes are less mature than Naofumi, Motoyasu takes the cake; out of all of the Four Heroes, Motoyasu is the laziest, least responsible of the lot, focusing more on chasing and impressing girls than doing his job; Naofumi is the most diligent and most responsible of the Four Heroes and has enough self-control to focus on doing his job rather than chasing idle pleasures. When it comes to getting respect, Motoyasu prefers to throw his weight around and put other people down, whereas Naofumi prefers to let his deeds speak for him. Finally, when it comes to how they treat each other, Motoyasu is always the one who instigates conflicts, even when they're supposed to be cooperating, while Naofumi prefers to ignore Motoyasu whenever possible.
  • Malty and Melty combine this trope with Foolish Sibling, Responsible Sibling; everything Malty was mentioned as being above, Melty is not. Despite being the younger sibling, Melty is diligent in her duties as princess, contributes to her party and kingdom, and returns loyalty to those who show it to her; it's no wonder why their mother decided to make Melty the heir instead of Malty.

Comic Books

• Batman: Batman is usually The Stoic at all times, rarely ever showing emotion and treating his duties as Gotham's hero with the utmost respect and seriousness. By contrast, his Arch-Enemy the Joker treats everything like one big joke, always laughing hysterically or using weapons and tools based on literal toys.
• Locke & Key: A key focus of the series involves Tyler and Kinsey Locke growing progressively more mature as they recover from the death of their father, with Kinsey learning to accept her own fear and grief and Tyler learning responsibility. By contrast, Dodge's immaturity becomes more pronounced, revealing his inner spite, selfishness, and petulance — to the point that he openly admits that he can't stand being told "no." He even ends up pulling a Grand Theft Me on Bode Locke in order to escape death, conducting the final arc of the comic in the form of a child.
• Pictured above is Superman standing next to Mr. Myxzptlk as a way to contrast the two, with the former being a hero who treats his duties seriously and with the utmost responsibility and, while not afraid to crack a joke every now and then, uses his powers for doing good and dedicates his life to ensure the well-being of everyone around him. The latter, meanwhile, while nowhere near as malicious as other members of the Man of Steel's Rogues Gallery, being a mischievous prankster more than anything else, is nonetheless rather childish and immature, being a Mad God who uses his powers to treat everything in his environment like one big playground.

Fan Works

• Better to Reign in Heaven: Villain Protagonist Dr Stanislaus Braun is a spiteful little brat in an old man's body, playing sadistic games with his captives for centuries, throwing temper tantrums whenever things don't go his way, and depicting himself as a child in the simulation. By contrast, Hero Antagonists Tessa Dithers and Mattie are both thoughtful, compassionate, and much more serious — to the point that Mattie often wonders if he deserves to be called a hero. Indeed, Braun finds Mattie's maturity so boring that he uses his control over the simulation to regress Mattie right back to the start of his life — inflicting a horrific pregnancy on Tessa in the process — in the hope that he can be raised and indoctrinated into a fellow Psychopathic Manchild.
• In the My Brave Pony: Starfleet Magic Deconstruction Fic Fall of Starfleet, Rebirth of Friendship, the Elements of Harmony alongside the more sympathetic members of Starfleet have this relationship with Grand Ruler and Rhymey; whereas the former are humble and prefer to earn respect with their actions, the latter are Smug Snakes who believe that their race and status entitle them to respect. In addition, the former are willing to change themselves for the better and accept that reality does not always turn out in their favor, the latter are Psychopathic Manchildren who reject any form of self-reflection and expect reality to conform to their desires, with Grand Ruler being willing to use a magical artifact to force the universe to conform to his wishes.
• For His Own Sake: Keitaro has this dynamic with most of the Hinata Girls; whereas Keitaro accepts responsibility for his actions, communicates and listens to people, and grows as a person over the course of the story, most of the Hinata girls blame others for their actions, refuse to listen to anything that isn't what they want to hear, and actively refuse to grow as people.
• How Bad Can A Little Gossip Be: Mr Ricci and Massimo, the former being a short-tempered schoolyard bully trapped in the body of a grown man and the latter a hard-working and caring Family Man who uses his influence on Portorosso in a wise and responsible manner.
• The Many Dates of Danny Fenton: Dash Baxter is The Bully rather than a villain, but he can be considered an example. Like in the source material, Dash is open about the fact that he has no aspirations in life beyond high school popularity, and as a result, is looked down upon by the narrative and by everyone else, especially the girls he hits on. Danny by contrast, is no longer obsessed with popularity and has ambitions beyond high school, traits that in addition to his kindness, make him quite popular with the ladies.
• Scarlet Lady: Scarlet Lady is a Childish Nominal Hero to Chat Noir and Marigold's Actual Heroes; while Scarlet Lady is a spoiled Attention Whore who became a superhero to get attention and puts little effort in actually being a superhero; Chat and Marigold take their duties as superheroes seriously, with Marigold even being a former Heroic Bystander before she became a superheroine.
• The Story of Apollo, Daphne and Luca: An Italian Tragedy: Vincenzo is petty, hot-headed and is not above using dirty tricks to get what he wants, while Luca is selfless, caring, kind-hearted and treats everyone with respect.
• The Ultimate Big Brother: Monokuma, and by proxy Junko Enoshima, is a Psychopathic Manchild taken to dangerous extremes: he has no regard for others, is easily excited by the prospect of mass murder and death, and is prone to temper tantrums and childish name calling should things not go his way. Charlotte Katakuri, by contrast, is far more composed and analytical, being The Stoic and, despite his off-putting appearance, genuinely caring for others and holds a powerful Big Brother Instinct to the class, working to save as many of them as he can.

Films — Animation

• The Bad Guys (2022) demonstrates this via the title Villain Protagonist group themselves, who are portrayed as swanky, petty Attention Whores who try to gain infamy for themselves to deflect over their insecurities in life. This is lampshaded by the Governor and Big Good, Diane Foxington, a professional and insightful authority figure, though, keeping with the trope, harbours a hidden schoolgirl boastfulness about her tenure as the Crimson Paw, a highly successful cat burglar. After Diane influences Mr. Wolf into turning good, he matures as himself becomes a Positive Friend Influence to the other Bad Guys, largely to unite them against Professor Marmalade, a Villain with Good Publicity who in reality is an egotistical Psychopathic Manchild.
• The Incredibles: Syndrome and Mr. Incredible show this dynamic via their reactions to their life's setbacks. Mr. Incredible has gone through many hardships, from being forced into retiring from heroism after getting sued for saving a man's life, to losing his insurance job for trying to help someone; despite this, he ultimately remained a hard-working, responsible, and heroic person, both as a superhero and a father. Syndrome, by contrast, became a mass-murdering supervillain who chose to let one single misfortune (i.e., not getting to be Mr. Incredible's sidekick) define his entire life, with his Evil Plan being motivated to satisfy his ultimately petty grudge.
• The Lion King (1994): At the beginning of the film, Simba as a cub thinks that being king means being able to do whatever he wants. His father Mufasa explains to him that being king isn't just about getting your way all the time, a lesson Simba takes to heart as an adult. Scar, by contrast, wanted to be king purely for the power and privileges and when criticized by Sarabi outright states, "I'm the king, I can do what I want", demonstrating that, for all of his boasts that he is "ten times the king Mufasa was," he is little more than an entitled cub in a grown lion's body.
• Luca pulls this off solely through comparison. Luca, Alberto, and Giulia are fairly normal thirteen-year-olds having a Coming-of-Age moment in their lives, while Ercole is a childish bully who lies about his age to enter and continue to dominate a contest for(mostly pre-pubescent) children despite being eighteen years old.
• Megamind: Despite his love for theatrics, a belief that his only place in society is being a supervillain, and all his other quirks, the titular Villain Protagonist proves himself to be a lot more compassionate and self-aware than he lets on, as well as having a clear understanding of what it means to be a true hero. In contrast, Megamind's subject for creating a superhero who would fight him, Hal Stewart/Titan, is an immature idiot who thinks having superpowers entitles him to have anything or anyone he wants, as shown by his failed attempts to woo Roxanne and his Big Bad Slippage shortly afterward because of Roxanne rejecting him for a disguised Megamind, who actually treats her as a person instead of an object.
• Puss in Boots: The Last Wish: "Big" Jack Horner is constrasted as the Childish Villain to both Puss in Boots (in a standard case of the trope) and Goldilocks (in a villain-to-villain variant).
  • Puss is an outlaw Anti-Hero who, despite his pride and selfishness towards his allies, nobly fights for the people and is resourceful enough to outwit his foes. Meanwhile, Goldi is a wanted criminal who, while having a notorious criminal record, confronts her victims reasonably as long as they don't try to defy her, and cares for the Three Bears as her adoptive family (even if she plans to separate herself from them because she thought she was the outcast among them). Both Puss and Goldi also give up on their respective wishes for using the Wishing Star upon learning the big picture by the time of the film's climax.
  • Jack, on the other hand, is a spoiled Psychopathic Manchild who, on top of having a front for his crimes, is Driven by Envy of fairy tale creatures, wants to have control of all the magic in the world (with no intention of sharing any of it), and doesn't care about who has to die (whether it be his enemies or underlings) to get his wish.
• Robin Hood (1973): Robin is a highly intelligent, compassionate, capable individual, and a leader among men, going out of his way to help the oppressed people of Nottingham. Prince John, on the other hand, is a childish tyrant who doesn't care about his subjects except as his personal piggy bank, as well as feeling jealous of his older brother Richard, the legitimate king of England. His immaturity goes to the point that he sucks his thumb while crying for his mommy, and even throws a literal tantrum when Robin gets the people to chant for Richard.
• The Super Mario Bros. Movie: Bowser is the Childish Villain to both Mario and Peach's Mature Heroes.
  • Mario is a fairly grounded and humble guy who initially wasn't interested in becoming a hero, only agreeing to help Peach save the Mushroom Kingdom if it meant rescuing Luigi in the process. Peach, meanwhile, is a Reasonable Authority Figure, as she is presented as an ideal ruler who loves and protects her subjects at all costs.
  • On the other hand, Bowser is a tyrannical conqueror with the mentality of a spoiled brat who usually responds to criticism or rejection with violence, with his whole antagonism with Mario only happening because Bowser mistakenly believes he's stealing Peach from him.
• Wreck-It Ralph: Despite his role as the villain of his game and the needless disrespect he receives for it, Ralph is a friendly, humble, and down-to-Earth guy who up until the events of the movie never sought more than what his job entails and takes responsibility for all the damage he inadvertently causes. Meanwhile, Turbo AKA King Candy is an Attention Whore of the highest degree whose extreme pettiness makes him more than willing to alter and even destroy other games just to stay in the spotlight.
• The Emperor's New Groove: Before his Heel–Face Turn, Kuzco was the Childish Villain to Pacha's Mature Hero. Effectively, Pacha is a wise and caring but serious man who loves his family, cares about his village and takes responsibility about being a village leader; on the other hand, Kuzco has been a tyrannical emperor whose mentality is that of a spoiled brat's, and he was a self-centered and arrogant person who only cared about himself and having fun.

Films — Live-Action

• Godzilla vs. Kong:
  • The main human heroes on Team Godzilla and Team Kong are largely mature, intelligent and responsible people: especially Madison (a teenaged, Wise Beyond Her Years veteran of the war against King Ghidorah who takes it upon herself to resolve Godzilla’s mysterious rampage when she realizes no-one else will act effectively); and Jia (who is calm, dignified, intelligent, and more perceptive than even her adult peers despite her being barely into the double-digits). The only really immature hero is Bernie Hayes, and even this gets somewhat amended in the novelization, where he has very deep and personal reasons for wanting to bring the bad guys to justice.
  • The grown villains on Apex Cybernetics, on the other hand, are very petulant and childish for all their corporate power. The late-middle-aged Walter Simmons is a self-absorbed, delusional, disaster-engineering Psychopathic Manchild who sees the fate of the world as nothing more than a glory contest, cackling like an excited child or throwing sulky moods depending on his temperament; Ren Serizawa’s motives for being one of the bad guys, according to the novelization, are unresolved daddy issues which drive him to scream for his neglectful father’s attention in horrific ways long past the latter’s death; and Maia Simmons is a "Well Done, Daughter!" Girl who has all the manners of an entitled seven-year-old and half the brains to go with it.
• In Knives Out and Glass Onion, Benoit Blanc is an eccentric, but otherwise intelligent, amiable, and composed Gentleman Detective, which serves to contrast him with the culprits of both movies.
  • In Knives Out, Ransom Drysdale is a young, immature, Smug Snake Jerk with a Heart of Jerk who acts like a teenager even though he's in his 30s. And to top it off, his motive for killing his grandfather wasn't greed for his money, but that his pride wouldn't let a servant get his family inheritance.
  • In Glass Onion, Miles Bron is a Wicked Pretentious Insufferable Imbecile Know-Nothing Know-It-All Smug Snake who likes to rub his wealth in other people's faces through grand gestures, and when his Glass Onion is blown up and The Mona Lisa torched at the end of the movie, his Villainous Breakdown is essentially a childish tantrum.

Literature

• Epithet Erased: Prison of Plastic: Ultimately subverted. While the core substance of the plot is, unambiguously, mature for her age hero Molly taking on her bratty, immature older sibling, the narrative takes pains to point out that Molly's maturity isn't a positive trait in a twelve-year-old but an unfortunate result of Lorelai and their father Martin being such immature assholes, and Molly's happy ending isn't a triumph for maturity as a concept but being taken away from her tarpit of a family by Giovanni and allowed to just be a kid again.
• Matilda: Matilda Wormwood is a book-loving Child Prodigy with a maturity and a moral compass beyond her young age, while her arch-nemesis, Principal Agatha Trunchbull, is a playground bully trapped in the body of a grown woman, treats her students like dirt out of sheer sadism and murdered her brother-in-law Magnus so that she could abuse undisturbed her own niece, Miss Jennifer Honey.

Live-Action TV

• American Horror Story: Freak Show:
  • Elsa Mars is a White-Dwarf Starlet and Anti-Hero, but she's also a responsible businesswoman who genuinely cares about the "freaks" in her Cabinet of Curiosities, treating them with respect and kindness even as she uses them to pursue her dreams of fame. Her opposite number, Stanley, works as an agent for another freak show, the Museum of Morbid Curiosities, but he's a petty, scheming man who sees freaks as toys to be collected rather than human beings, to the point where he's out to kill and stuff as many as possible just to make a quick buck. He also resorts to blackmail and mind games to get the freaks to work for him, while Elsa, though slightly underhanded, offers the freaks a good home and is transparent about her plans.
  • The ultimate trio of heroes for the season—conjoined twins Bette and Dot Tattler, "lobster boy" Jimmy Darling, and Desiree Dupree—are mature, responsible people with dreams of building a better life outside of the freak show. They're also hard workers who take their jobs in the show seriously and help to protect the other freaks, especially those who can't help themselves. By contrast, Big Bad Dandy Mott is the very definition of a Psychopathic Manchild: he lives in a gigantic playroom full of toys, has a mother who endlessly pampers him, and thinks that his money allows him to do whatever he wants without any consequences, including trying to buy Bette and Dot to be his personal girlfriends (apparently not realizing that you can't buy people).
• Charmed (1998): The Halliwell Sisters are a Power Trio of witches who, upon realizing their birthright as the Charmed Ones, willingly accept the great responsibility of protecting innocent people from the forces of evil. While they occasionally slip up and succumb to the temptation of using their powers for personal gain, they always learn from their mistakes, admit their flaws, and try their best to improve their behavior. By contrast, most of the villains of the week they face are demons, monsters, and mages who delight in screwing with humans because it's fun and are motivated by petty grudges and errors they refuse to admit to, instead blaming other people for their own bad choices.
• Doctor Who: David Tennant's Doctor and John Simm's Master in Season 3 are a unique example in that, while both can be of similar childish temperament, especially with authority figures, the Doctor does know when to shut up, drop the act, and get serious. The Master, by contrast, keeps on being goofy and childish to the point where it gets downright creepy.
• Star Trek: The Next Generation: This is the dynamic between Picard and Q. Under the guise of testing humanity's worthiness, Q puts the Enterprise crew through all manner of strange scenarios (such as making them reenact Robin Hood). Picard frequently calls him out on this and refuses to sink to Q's level.
• The Twilight Zone (1959):
  • The episode "One More Pallbearer" features Paul Radin, a Psychopathic Manchild who, despite being extremely rich and powerful, harbors grudges against three people who he claims ruined his life: Mrs. Langsford, a high school teacher who caught him cheating, flunked him, and called him out in front of his classmates; Colonel Hawthorne, his military commanding officer who had Radin court-martialed for cowardice after he abandoned his men to save himself; and Reverend Hughes, a kindly preacher who learned that Radin drove a young woman to suicide and started a public scandal over the deed. Radin creates an elaborate underground bunker, rigs up a fake nuclear war (complete with official-sounding announcements and footage), and summons Langsford, Hawthorne, and Hughes to him, hoping that they'll kneel before him and apologize profusely in exchange for getting to survive the supposed explosions. To his shock, the trio refuse to break and, with maturity and grace, take him to task for his pettiness and mutually agree to Face Death with Dignity rather than sacrifice their honor and dignity. Radin is so shocked at his failures that he breaks down completely and thinks that there really was a nuclear war, because he can't fathom the idea that anyone could be stronger or wiser than him.
  • "A Piano in the House" features Jerkass Fitzgerald Fortune, a Caustic Critic who treats everyone from shopkeepers to his butler to his wife Esther with contempt and cruel jokes. When he purchases the titular player piano for Esther as a birthday present, he discovers that it has magical powers: when a roll of music is placed inside it, someone in the vicinity will share their deepest feelings and secrets without prompting. Fortune spends the whole day agonizing people with the piano, but ends up getting a taste of his own medicine when Esther secretly switches one roll with another that makes him start revealing his true nature as a spoiled, scared, frightened little boy who lashes out at the world because he can't understand things like love and kindness. Rather than get well-deserved revenge, everyone he's tormented instead handles the situation with tact and maturity, choosing to walk away from Fortune and his misery rather than stoop to his level.

Theatre

• Twisted: The Untold Story of a Royal Vizier: Jafar and Aladdin are polar opposites in both morality and maturity; Jafar is a hard-working, serious man who seeks to use the genie's magic to improve the kingdom for everyone. Aladdin is a selfish, lazy Psychopathic Manchild who steals and murdered his own parents because he's too lazy to get a job and seeks to use the genie's magic to make his own life easier. Their relationships also further showcase this tendency: while Jafar is a rather unpopular man who loved his late wife and appreciates any kindness he is shown, Aladdin is a womanizer who abandoned a woman he impregnated and is a parasite who has zero qualms about abandoning and abusing anyone who shows him kindness.

Video Games

• Borderlands 2 has Handsome Jack as the Childish Villain to Roland's Mature Hero. Handsome Jack spends every other second harassing you and making up childish insults while treating Pandora as his own personal ant hill to burn with a magnifying glass, while Roland has grown out of his cocky Vault Hunter days and acts as a straight-laced Big Good trying to keep the innocents of Pandora safe.
• Evil West: Jesse Rentier is extremely serious, no-nonsense (except for some quipping while killing vampires), and willing to do anything to help his friends out, despite his abrasive exterior. James Harrow, on the other hand, is a Corrupt Politician who constantly bosses the heroes around, expecting them to give him special privileges and never thanking them for any time they defend his life, and he starts swearing, throwing tantrums and threatening them the moment he doesn't get what he wants, making him look less like a middle-aged man and more like a Spoiled Brat who never grew up, which makes him all the more aggravating to both the characters and the player. A sign of their contrasting maturity is this exchange when Jesse returns from a mission that was supposed to secure some vital documents that would help win the war, only to find out that Harrow just wanted the money that came with them:
  Jesse: "Turning the tides," my ass! More like lining your own pockets, you slimy shit!
  Harrow: What the hell are you— Ah. Biddle. Oopsie daisy.
  Jesse: You sent two dozen national guardsmen to their deaths, for a paycheck. When the President gets wind of this, you're a dead man!
  Harrow: [Evil Laugh] I'm sorry, it's just that the way the veins are throbbing in your forehead, it's so... comical.
• Final Fantasy IX: Kuja is mentally a child pretending to be an adult, putting on exaggerated efforts to seem sophisticated and intelligent to assert his individuality, is very narcissistic and selfish, and is prone to quickly losing his temper when he doesn't get his way. Zidane on the other hand is a lovable rogue with a heart of gold, whose motto in life is "Do you need a reason to help anyone?" After finding out the Awful Truth about themselves, Zidane becomes more responsible and thoughtful while Kuja becomes an Omnicidal Maniac with a Suicidal Cosmic Temper Tantrum. Justified, as Kuja was Born as an Adult and thus could never develop past his initial thought process and truly change, whereas Zidane was created as a baby so he can mature and grow in order to develop the complex emotions needed to enter Trance.
• Fire Emblem Engage has an example between Alternate Selves in the form of Marni of the Four Hounds and Madeline of the Four Winds. Marni is a Psychopathic Womanchild with the demeanor of a Spoiled Brat who Desperately Craves Affection among Sombrom's cult, to the point she has no qualms with committing atrocities to earn Zephia's approval. Madeline on the other hand is a mature, humble, and polite young lady who looks out for her friends and other people. If they meet face-to-face in the main game, they naturally don't like each other, with Madeline telling Marni that her desire for approval will only end in disappointment while Marni resorts to childish insults and accuses her of being jealous. The only positive thing that Madeline has to say about Marni is her bond with Mauvier. That said, when Marni sacrifices herself to save Veyle, Madeline can't help but admit that she admires how her counterpart laid down her life for her lady like a true knight would.
• God of War (PS4): Kratos, who has now grown Older and Wiser after taking revenge on the Greek Gods, ends up becoming the mature hero to the childish Stranger, aka Baldur. The latter represents Kratos' past self as he seeks revenge on his mother Freya the same way Kratos wanted revenge on his father Zeus, but it's also apparent that beneath his godly exterior is an angry child lashing out at his mother for giving him immortality without his consent at the cost of taking away his sense of feeling. Even when he finally loses the immortality just as he wanted and regains his ability to feel again, he still wants revenge on his mother and will no longer listen to reason, forcing Kratos to Mercy Kill him after he refuses his Last-Second Chance. Kratos, having already learned that Vengeance Feels Empty and is working to become a better person, tries to dissuade Baldur from his path, only fighting him in self-defense and killing him when it's clear he's beyond help at this point.
• The Legend of Zelda:
  • The Legend of Zelda: Majora's Mask: This game's incarnation of Link is a stoic warrior who already saved a kingdom and is willing to undergo Painful Transformations with magic masks and other trials of courage to save Termina from a falling moon, all while still being a kid. The Skull Kid, in contrast, is an immature imp whose mean pranks got him ostracized, and upon wearing Majora's Mask starts playing even more dangerous pranks on people because it's fun.
  • The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess: This game's incarnation of Link is a humble farmhand with a noble heart, beloved as an older brother figure and role model by all the children of Ordon Village. The main antagonist is Zant, a deranged Psychopathic Manchild who willingly struck a deal with Ganondorf in exchange for power after he was passed over for the throne in favor of Princess Midna.
• Octopath Traveler: Primrose Azelhart is decidedly an Anti-Heroine on a quest for revenge against three assassins who murdered her father when she was a child. However, she is still a kind and gentle person to those who aren't her targets. By contrast, her employer at the beginning of her tale, Helgenish, is a narcissistic jerk who believes that the entire world should revolve around him, routinely abuses his impoverished employees to the point of treating them like slaves, and throws temper tantrums the moment things don't go his way.
  [After Helgenish stabs Primrose's Only Friend to death]
  Primrose: I saw you for the foul swine you are the first time I laid eyes on you.
  Helgenish: You would take that tone with me!? You're nothing but a stupid whore! You would have died on the street if not for me!
• Octopath Traveler II features Osvald and Harvey. Osvald is quiet and serious, and, while a bit snarky, he cares about the other travelers deep down. Meanwhile, Harvey is a Psychopathic Manchild who's utterly obsessed with one-upping Osvald, to the point of constantly bragging about what he's done with Osvald's research and throwing a temper tantrum when it becomes clear he's losing the final battle. Osvald even points out that he's grown and changed while Harvey is the same as always.
• Persona 4 has two antagonists who contrast with the protagonists in their unwillingness to face reality.
  • Mitsuo Kubo, while a teenager like the protagonists, is an Attention Whore who lies and exaggerates about himself in order to make himself look great, and resorts to murder when his claims of being the town's Serial Killer aren't believed. In addition, while the protagonists are able to accept their flaws and become better people as a result, Kubo stubbornly denies his flaws and insecurities to the end, ending up all the worse for it.
  • The Culprit, Tohru Adachi, despite being a grown man, has an extremely petty motivation: unlike the teenaged protagonists, he is bitter about the harsh but true reality that sometimes, Hard Work Hardy Works and that there will be people who are better than you without really trying. He commits two murders and tries to bring the end of the world simply because he feels the world owes him success and relationships because of his hard work, something the teenaged protagonists call him out on.
• Ratchet & Clank: Rift Apart: Emperor Nefarious is contrasted as the Childish Villain to Ratchet, Clank, Rivet, and Kit (in a standard case of this trope) and his Alternate Self Dr. Nefarious (in a villain-to-villain variant of this trope).
  • Ratchet, Clank, Rivet, and Kit all have their personal flaws (Ratchet can be sarcastic and hot-blooded, Clank can be naive, Rivet has I Work Alone tendencies and a Fantastic Racism towards robots, and Kit suffers from a Guilt Complex for taking away Rivet's arm), but they are still good people who do what's right in the end and help other people during their quests. Dr. Nefarious, while a childish villain himself, is still far more mature than Emperor Nefarious since he’s willing to accept and learn from his defeats, be happy with the victories he does get, and will also fight his enemies when the going gets tough.
  • Emperor Nefarious, on the surface seems like everything Dr. Nefarious wanted to be as a successful villain and conqueror, but ultimately turns out to be a bully with a fragile ego that Dr. Nefarious can't stand at all once he gets to know him. He also believes in winning above all else, which Dr. Nefarious points out has left him miserable because he equates happiness with success and achieving absolute victory has left him without a purpose now that he's conquered his entire dimension. Instead of taking the time to consider that he should stock happiness in more than just conquest, he concludes that he hasn't conquered all dimensions and thus hasn't truly won. While Dr. Nefarious is so used to defeat that he's satisfied to get at least one victory, Emperor Nefarious is so used to winning that he can't even consider the possibility he could lose and undergoes a Villainous Breakdown and Suicidal Cosmic Temper Tantrum when he finally suffers his first true defeat. And while Dr. Nefarious is determined and willing to get his hands dirty when the situation calls for it, Emperor Nefarious is a Dirty Coward who will only fight battles he thinks he can win, and when he's finally being dragged down by a Kraken, he shamelessly and pathetically begs his counterpart to save him, with Dr. Nefarious refusing to help him.
• Sonic the Hedgehog: Dr. Eggman is this to Miles "Tails" Prower. The former is a Psychopathic Manchild who is prone to temper tantrums when he loses or things don't go his way, and is full of hubris. The latter, by contrast, is Wise Beyond His Years, often acts as the mediator between Sonic's friends, and is a Humble Hero.
• Tales of Symphonia: The Big Bad, Mithos Yggdrasil, initially acts as the composed and calm leader of Cruxis, but it's later revealed that the death of his sister, Martel has driven him over the edge that for all of his power and intelligence, he never grew up mentally. He becomes so determined to bring Martel back to life that he'll cross any lines to get her back. When Martel finally intervenes and calls out Mithos for his actions, pointing out that this goes against everything they fought for, Mithos refuses to accept her words and goes Laughing Mad, and then deliberately misinterprets her last request to restore the world to the way it was by taking her soul and the Great Seed to Derris-Kharlan just to be with his sister forever, no longer caring about the world. When he's finally put down, he states that he doesn't regret any of his actions and he would do them all over again if he could. Lloyd Irving on the other hand, while his ideals also clash with the way the world works, is willing to yield when it's clear he's in the wrong and actually learn from his mistakes, allowing him to undergo Character Development and become an All-Loving Hero. Lloyd's party members also share some of Yggdrasil's insecurities, but they are able to overcome them by choosing not to go with the easy solution like he has.

Visual Novels

• Danganronpa: Trigger Happy Havoc: Junko Enoshima's overall goal is to create a world of despair out of a combination of simple boredom and her belief that despair is something that one should wallow in rather than try to overcome. Her beliefs are contradictory, she hates being argued with, changes personalities on a dime, and is an overall childish individual. Makoto Naegi, by contrast, while optimistic, is the Only Sane Man of the group, is willing to engage in logical debates and understands despair as a fact of life to be dealt with rather than some insurmountable obstacle.

Web Animation

• Monirobo: Naoya and Kakeru were old classmates in high school who later began working at an IT company. Naoya often acted as a gofer for Kakeru, who was the typical Big Jerk on Campus; popular with girls, a star athlete, and a cocky attitude. Naoya, while unpopular in high school, managed to rise through the ranks at his company through hard work and maturity. Kakeru, as an adult, is a perfect example of someone who peaked in high school: acting like he's a big shot because he was popular as a teenager, looking down on his former victim Naoya, who is now his boss, on the "logic" that Naoya was a gofer in high school, trying (and failing) to seduce his adult, female coworkers by bragging about his highschool accomplishments, and overall being insufferable, arrogant and immature.
• Red vs. Blue: While the Blood Gulch Crew are guilty of indulging in childish antics when not involved in some form of galaxy-threatening plot, they prove themselves to be surprisingly mature and responsible fighters when the situation calls for it, even their more oddball members like Caboose. Meanwhile, three of their greatest foes, Felix, Temple, and Genkins, are varying levels of Psychopathic Manchild who are willing to go out of their way to commit crimes out of things like petty spite, boredom, etc. or constantly behave in theatrically over the top Card-Carrying Villain manners.

Web Videos

• Many of the protagonists and antagonists in Apple Texts have this dynamic; the protagonists are typically hardworking, responsible, loyal adults who manage to overcome life's setbacks in order to make something of themselves. The antagonists, by contrast, tend to be lazy, irresponsible, fickle Manchildren who are incapable of dealing with even the smallest setbacks, often expecting the protagonists who are mistreated to help them escape the consequences of their actions.

Western Animation

• American Dad!: Jesus as portrayed in "Rapture's Delight" is a typical Action Hero who effectively performs his duties as a demon slayer and doesn't have much of a sense of humour. His nemesis, the Anti-Christ, is his opposite in every way, being an immature, flamboyant supervillain who keeps cracking unfunny jokes for his own amusement.
• In DuckTales (2017):
  • Scrooge and Glomgold's rivalry takes this form. Scrooge is a mature, frugal, Honest Corporate Executive who prefers to focus on running and expanding his business over satisfying petty grudges and rivalries. Glomgold on the other hand, is a hot-headed, wasteful, and dishonest duck who puts more energy into trying to kill, one-up, and annoy Scrooge than he does running his company. Their reactions to their life's setbacks push them further into the trope; whereas Scrooge used his misfortunes to shape himself into the great man he is, Glomgold sees his mishaps as an excuse to stay a bitter, miserable Psychopathic Manchild.
  • Mark Beaks is a joint Shadow Archetype to Scrooge, Huey, Dewey and Louie with his immaturity.
    • Unlike Scrooge, who is hard-working, prefers to let his actions speak for him, and cares little for fame, Beaks is a Lazy Bum who chases fame and would rather focus on looking good than being good.
    • Whereas Huey is orderly and selfless, Beaks is a selfish Control Freak who becomes furious when things don't go his way.
    • Dewey is Hot-Blooded and insecure, yet willing to overcome these flaws. Beaks, on the other hand, allows his emotions and insecurities to consume him.
    • Even Louie, who is similar to Beaks in his desire to become rich without work, eventually grows out of this behavior, while Beaks keeps trying to take the easy way out.
• Infinity Train: Used in Book 3 as part of Simon and Grace's wildly diverging character arcs. Grace is responsible for Simon turning into the person they are in the first place along with found The Apex to begin with, but when confronted on the the truth about the train, and the humanity of the "nulls", realizes how horrifying her actions are and tries to make amends for them and care for the children under her wing. In contrast, Simon is so emotionally dependent on both Grace and the narrative that's been fed to them that they deny blatant reality when confronted with their horrible actions, attempt to kill Grace multiple times, and take over the apex while posing as an edgelord fantasy villain before being horribly melted to death by a Ghom while incoherently laughing and crying from a mixture of shock, grief and terror like the small, scared little boy that he ultimately was.
• Miraculous Ladybug: Marinette and Chloé are opposites in many ways, with maturity being one of them. Whereas Marinette is responsible, hard-working, and is willing to put others' wants and needs before her own, Chloé is irresponsible, expects things to be handed to her with no work on her part, and thinks the world revolves around her. Given their upbringings, it makes perfect sense that they turned out this way; Marinette's parents are loving, yet willing to be stern with her, whereas Chloé's father simply gives her whatever she wants while her mother is outright emotionally abusive. This contrast even extends to their superhero identities: whereas Ladybug is a no-nonsense hero who views her superhero duties as a responsibility, Chloé thinks of being a superhero as an opportunity for fame and popularity, to the point she once derailed a train in order to receive praise for stopping it.
• Ninjago:
  • Season 4 introduces Master Chen, the former sensei of Garmadon who despite being a master manipulator often acts like a bratty child who throws tantrums when things don't go his way. This is in contrast to his ex-student and the ninja, who are usually level-headed, humble, responsible, and diligent in their duties to protect those around them.
  • Season 8 introduces The Quiet One, aka Harumi. Once Lloyd discovers her true nature, she reveals her demeanor to be that of a bratty child who throws tantrums when things don't go her way and gloats about her victories, real or presumed. It's revealed that Harumi was originally a fan of the Ninja until the Great Devourer's attack on Ninjago robbed her of her parents and she blamed the Ninja for failing to save them, while idolizing Lord Garmadon for being the one to kill the Devourer. This led her to secretly become founder of the Sons of Garmadon so she can resurrect him as a being of evil and stand at his side taking over Ninjago. Despite calling the Ninja "kids playing dress-up" because Ninjago nearly fell under their watch, Harumi fails to see her own immaturity and realize that her own actions will cause the same pain and trauma she suffered to befall onto other people. The Ninja, while not perfect, still do their best to protect Ninjago, and while they each suffered a painful experience, are able to learn from these experiences and keep moving forward rather than remain stuck in the past. Notably, while Lloyd matured and grew up loving his father for the good man he was, Harumi grew up only valuing the evil Lord Garmadon like a little kid indulging in an evil fantasy.
• The Owl House:
  • The episode, "Watching and Dreaming", contrasts Luz and the Collector, particularly the difference in their maturity. The Collector is a powerful Reality Warper, but also effectively a small child who can barely grasp the severe consequences of their actions, putting numerous lives at risk with their idea of a game. Luz, on the other hand, also entered the Boiling Isles under the belief that she could live out her fantasies but ultimately learned and matured as a person thanks to her friends and the challenges she faced. This enables Luz to help the entity make a Heel–Face Turn by showing him how what she, Eda, and King overcame shaped them.
  • Luz can also be contrasted in the Big Bad, Emperor Belos. Belos, or rather Philip Wittebane, fantasized of being a Witch Hunter who sought to destroy the forces of evil, similarly to how Luz wanted to be a good witch fighting evildoers. However, whereas Luz was able to live in her fantasies in a way that allowed her to mature and find friends who accept her for who she is, Philip refused to let go of his belief that all witches and demons are inherently evil despite being on the Boiling Isles for centuries, to the point that he was even willing to murder his own brother just for falling in love with a witch and create countless Grimwalkers in an vain attempt to make his idea of his brother a reality. Because of this, Philip had no real friends to bring him down to reality and he remained an immature, self-centered, and inculpable Knight Templar who became so lost in his witch hunter fantasy that he refuses to grasp the possibility that human values might change over the centuries.
• The Powerpuff Girls (1998): Although the titular girls and Princess Morbucks are both kindergarteners, the Powerpuff Girls, for all of their flaws and naivety, are ultimately good-natured and hard-working children who view being heroes as an important responsibility; while they do try to exploit their powers in some episodes, they always regret such actions upon realization. Princess, by contrast, is a Spoiled Brat who whines to her father whenever she wants something, thinks being a hero (as a former Loony Fan of the Powerpuff Girls who initially wished to join them) is all about the status and popularity, abuses her wealth at every opportunity, and doesn't grow an inch in terms of character over the course of the series.
• Samurai Jack: Samurai Jack is a humble, kind-hearted, honorable, and selfless man driven to help others out of a sense of responsibility. His patience, while not limitless, is also legendary. In contrast, Aku is petty, immature, callous, and selfish, only wanting to conquer the universe for the sheer fun of it, has a dark sense of humor, and tends to get bored and irritated easily. The episode, "Jack vs. Aku", examines Aku's immaturity further by showing that while Jack believes that fighting Aku is his life's mission and treats it with the utmost seriousness, Aku considers every battle with Jack to be some kind of game (one that is too long and repetitive for him). In Season 5, when Aku destroys every time portal only to discover that Jack can no longer age as a side-effect of his time travel spell, his inability to kill Jack leaves him depressed, but he comes off acting like a teenager or young adult who's simply become bored and confused about what to do with his life. Jack's depression, on the other hand, is seen as more justified, due to his life being full of tragic events (both before and during the series' events).
• Totally Spies!: The titular spies are this compared to almost every villain they face. While Alex, Sam, and Clover are teenage girls who often act just as immature as their age, they're otherwise decent people who are willing to mature and move on from any the misfortunes that they face. The villains, despite mostly consisting of adults, often resort to their evil acts and plans (including kidnapping, large amounts of property damage and mass murder, to name a few) over extremely petty grudges and desires (such as getting dumped by their romantic partner, being fired from their job, being rejected on social media, etc.).
• The Transformers: Optimus Prime is the compassionate, selfless Autobot commander who leads with dignity and wisdom, and acts like a father to his troops and human sidekicks Spike and Carly. In contrast, his Arch-Enemy Megatron is an ill-tempered Bad Boss who constantly gets into childish bickering with his treacherous second-in-command Starscream (himself a whiny incompetent who shrieks Once an Episode about his desire to be in charge) and frequently refuses to take responsibility whenever his Evil Plan of the episode fails. This continues in season 3, where Rodimus Prime tries his best to be a good leader despite his insecurities over replacing Optimus and Galvatron is a Psychopathic Manchild who's even more insane than his past self Megatron ever was.

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