Basic Trope: A cute kid character who tends to act like an adult.
- Straight:
- Michael, a 10-year-old boy, feels that he has adult responsibilities to uphold. He occasionally lapses into childish behavior, though.
- Michelle is a young girl that feels the need to act more mature.
- Exaggerated: Michael is a toddler that feels the need to be the head of his household. His behavior relapses to that of an infant.
- Downplayed: Michael is noticeably more mature than the other characters his own age, although he doesn't quite behave like a fully grown adult.
- Justified: Michael is faced with a situation such as Parental Abandonment that would require him to behave more like an adult.
- Inverted:
- Michael is an adult that tries to embrace his youth, but his adult tendencies get in the way.
- Michael is a rather endearing Manchild.
- Subverted:
- Michael never seems to lapse into childish behavior, making him wise beyond his years instead of this trope.
- Michael is an Adorably Precocious Child... at first glance. He's actually 21 years old.
- Double Subverted: Michael never seems to lapse into childish behavior... until you take him to a toy store.
- Parodied:
- Michael and Michelle have a schedule plan so they don't end up being childish at the same time.
- Michael wears a suit and behaves like a stereotypical adult. Anyone who mentions his age is met with a childish outburst.
- Zig Zagged: Depending on the Writer, Michael can act very mature and adult-like, or he can act just like any other kid.
- Averted: Michael does not try to act older than he actually is.
- Enforced: Kid-Appeal Character.
- Lampshaded: "For such a little kid, he sure does act grown-up..."
- Invoked: Michael deliberately tries to act more like an adult in order to get people to gush over how cute he is.
- Exploited: Despite acting like an adult, Michael still doesn't like doing chores. His parents appeal to his need to look mature by telling him "that's what a responsible adult would do". It works like a charm.
- Defied: Michael hates the idea of growing up, so he refuses to act like one.
- Discussed: ???
- Conversed: ???
- Deconstructed: Michael is frustrated because absolutely no one will take him seriously, even when it's crucial. He begins to hate himself for his childish tendencies.
- Or worse Michael's parents emotionally abused him to suppress his more childish attributes and tended to exploit his intellectual gifts, causing him to be a Stepford Smiler.
- Reconstructed: His parents begin to listen to him more and treat him more like an adult after seeing how he takes care of himself.
- Played For Drama: Michael remains baby-faced despite going through, if not having gone through puberty believing he has come of age. He ends up becoming jaded, cynical and nostalgic because of this. He strives to achieve something great so people will take him seriously.
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