Basic Trope: A character lies or hides their actual age in order to get around a social or legal boundary.
- Straight: 15-year-old Bob lies about being an 18-year-old in order to serve as a war soldier. He keeps quiet about the general subject for the whole time.
- Exaggerated:
- 10-year-old Bob lies about being 25 in order to serve as a war soldier and panics when someone asks him his age.
- 10-year-old Bob claims to be 90 trillion millennia old when he starts a therapy club.
- Downplayed: 17 year Bob lies about being an 18-year-old in order to serve as a war soldier.
- Justified: Bob's father is old and weak and Bob has no other choice but to join the army in honor of his family. Luckily enough Bob is part of a species in which young ones look like the adults.
- Inverted: Bob, an adult lies about being younger in order to serve as a war soldier.
- Subverted:
- It turns out Bob has an actual ID, proving he's an adult.
- Bob's 18th birthday was close enough to allow for processing time to make the issue moot.
- Double Subverted: It turns out to be a fake ID, pretty well made. He gets kicked out after his fellow troops figure this out.
- Parodied: Bob is a 5-year-old who lies about being 40 in order to serve as a war soldier. Even though he clearly doesn't look middle-aged, he still passes.
- Zig Zagged: Bob is a 13-year-old who lies about being 18 in order to serve as a war soldier. Turns out he's actually an adult. But he was lying. But then his wriggled back proves he's Really 700 Years Old.
- Averted:
- Bob is an adult.
- Nobody lies about their age in order to do something.
- Enforced:
- "Since we're basing a story off a true one, so why not add one of the events that actually happened?"
- It's a stock trope.
- Lampshaded: "Oh boy. This one lied about his age!"
- Invoked: Bob causes something that makes his father age and weaken in order to pursue his dreams of becoming a war hero.
- Exploited: Bob's mother suggests Bob go when his father is sick to join the war.
- Defied: In order to make sure nobody's a minor, the checkers give tests.
- Discussed: "I bet this kid's lying about his age."
- Conversed: "Remember that time Alice lied about being an older woman than she is?"
- Deconstructed: 15-year-old Bob lies about being 18 in order to have sex with Alice. They are caught by his parents, and because ignorance of her partner's age is not a valid legal defense, Alice goes to jail for statutory rape.
The page Really 17 Years Old? Oh, it's been around for 20 years by now. Or was it 20 decades?
