Basic Trope: Intelligent children act a lot like adults.
- Straight: 7-year-old Susie is a Child Prodigy who has the interests of a College undergrad... despite being a second grader.
- Exaggerated: Susie is the boss of a large company at just age 7, and is hypercompetent to boot.
- Downplayed: Susie has some interests above her age, but other than that she likes cartoons, dolls and sugary snacks, and throws tantrums when she doesn't get her way.
- Justified:
- Susie got moved up several years in school because of her intelligence, and acts older than she is to fit in.
- Susie is an alien whose species' brains develop fast by human standards.
- Susie's behavior is enforced by her parents, who push her to act mature beyond her years due to their own aspirations or expectations.
- Inverted: Susie is a chronological adult with below average intelligence, and acts like a child.
- Subverted: When Susie is introduced, others describe her as a 30 year old in a 7 year old's body. It turns out this is only true about her intellect; she has the same interests and mannerisms as most children.
- Double Subverted: She only acts childlike to avoid getting bullied. When she's alone, she'd rather read philosophy than play with toys.
- Parodied: While her classmates put their coats on a rack when going into class, Susie swipes a time card like she's clocking in at a workplace. Not only that, but she uses sodas as a substitute for beer.
- Zig-Zagged: Susie acts mature in some aspects and immature in others (eg one moment she's discussing philosophical concepts that go over even her parents' heads, the next she's playing at the park).
- Averted: Susie has the interests and maturity of a typical 7 year old.
- Enforced: The author, not knowing how real children think and behave, wrote Susie (the only non-background child in the story) as a miniature adult.
- Lampshaded: "Not only does she have the IQ of an adult, she acts like one too."
- Invoked: Susie deliberately chooses to act like an adult to gain respect and avoid being treated as a child.
- Exploited: Susie uses her adult-like behavior to manipulate situations or gain advantages over others.
- Defied: Susie's parents worry she's missing out on her childhood and teach her there's no shame in being a kid.
- Discussed: "You know, Susie, sometimes I forget you're seven years old." "Sometimes I forget I am too. Now that's an interesting psychological and sociological phenomenon to research."
- Conversed: "I've known some plenty smart kids, but none of them act like Susie."
- Implied: Susie's advanced intellect and maturity are implied through subtle hints or references, but not explicitly shown on screen.
- Deconstructed:
- Susie has significant trouble relating to other children. She ends up looking down on them and becoming an Insufferable Genius, which bites her in the ass when she's an actual adult and her peers have caught up with her in terms of intelligence and maturity.
- Susie's disinterest in children's hobbies and lack of outward emotion are in fact signs of depression due to the academic pressures heaped on her, but nobody notices because she comes across as mature instead.
- Reconstructed:
- Susie has a stronger bond with her parents and older siblings than most kids do because of her intelligence and maturity, and/or gravitates towards other exceptionally smart kids.
- The adults do notice, and she gets treatment. However, she finds only adult activities are mentally stimulating enough to ward off relapses.
- Played for Laughs: Susie is far more mature than her silly parents, to her constant embarrassment.
- Played for Drama: In a misguided attempt to nurture Susie's considerable intellect, her Education Mama Alice forbids anything she deems childish, forcing her to focus only on her studies and preparation for adulthood.
- Played for Horror: Susie's adult-like behavior becomes increasingly unsettling and disturbing as the story progresses, causing fear or unease among those around her.
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