History Main / ActingYourIntellectualAge

* [[StarTrekTheNextGeneration Wesley Crusher]] is actually an aversion. Although he is a technical genius who understands the Enterprise as well as many of the crew, his emotional maturity is more like a typical 17 year old. This combination, along with the allowances Captain Picard gives him, are probably what made him [[TheWesley so annoying]] to many viewers. However, he is one of the more believable depictions of a gifted child in fiction.

* Egghead, Jr. in the WesternAnimation/LooneyTunes ''FoghornLeghorn'' cartoons. He was always reading books and otherwise acting in an intelligent manner, and didn't want to do the childish things Foghorn Leghorn wanted him to do.

* Thomasina in ''Arcadia'' by TomStoppard. She functions as a child with regards to romance and sex, and an adult with regards to intellectual matters (Classics scholar, mathematical genius). Which serves as a reflection of the Central Theme of the conflict between Romanticism and the Enlightenment.

* Van from ''HarvestMoon'': Animal Parade prefers studying to playing, and always wants to know if your kid likes to read/go to school/do homework. He even teaches some of the other kids during events!

* River Tam from ''Series/{{Firefly}}''. She's shown, in flashbacks, to have been so smart that she could spot flaws in the textbooks Simon was studying from and uses surprisingly advanced terminology ("that whole section is fallacious"). Of course, she's also shown as being quite willing to be silly and engage in age-appropriate activities (like pretending she's an Alliance soldier who has gotten cut off from her squad when the Independents brought in dinosaurs).

Often, a character who acts their intellectual age is, supposedly, more sophisticated than the adults, even the educated ones, and will not hesitate to point out grammatical errors, logic flaws, or to criticize behavior. Often may grow into an InsufferableGenius, if they are not one already. If they're lucky, they may instead outgrow their uptight arrogance and wind up a RecoveringInsufferableGenius.

* Manny from ''Series/ModernFamily''. In one particular episode, he has been having conversations with a grown woman online and arranges a date, neither suspecting an age difference.
** "He's an old soul."

** In an episode of TheWB show ''{{Everwood}}'', Ephram talks about a young child and notes that she's mature "but without having that creepy Dakota Fanning '45-year-old-lady-trapped-in-a-10-year-old's-body' vibe."

* Charles Wallace from ''AWrinkleInTime'', which leads to him overestimating his capabilities, and gets him ensnared by IT.
** Charles Wallace is a little different, though. He wishes to be accepted by his peers, but finds that he cannot hide his intelligence, and gets bullied for it.
* Literature/ArtemisFowl...most of the time. {{Subverted|Trope}} in the beginning of ''The Lost Colony'', when among his greatest nemeses is the distraction that is puberty.

* ''HarryPotterAndTheMethodsOfRationality'': Harry James Potter-Evans-Verres.
** And most of the other children, who act 3-10 years older than their physical age, depending on just how much training they've had.

* In ''Daria'', flashbacks and conversations of the title character as a young child often portray her as this, with little interest in playing and interacting with the other kids.

* AmethystPrincessOfGemworld is a more subtle case of averting the trope, and then playing it straight, than Captain Marvel. Like Marvel, she was a 12-year-old who gained powers and age when she travels to a magical kingdom. Played less childishly than Captain Marvel, Amy still had a tendency to be emotionally immature at certain moments, and the original creative team had to remind certain readers in the letters pages that it was because Amy was still emotionally a 12-year-old, whatever she looked like. And then the creative team was kicked off the book and the "Amy Winston" aspect of Amethyst's character was basically dropped.

'''Young Barry:''' ''(enthusiastic)'' I'm at the Bottom!

Contrast InnocentProdigy.

* Dexter in ''DextersLaboratory'' adheres to the trope, except that his attitude toward girls remains entrenched in normal 9-year-old mode.

One common effect of this 'adult-in-a-child's-body" phenomenon is that characters who act their intellectual age have no interest in kids who are their actual age. They may look down on kids their own age as savage or barbaric, and would rather associate with their intellectual peers, even if those peers are 4 or 5 times the character's age. Strangely, in the world of TV and media in general, neither party seems to care about the age difference, and the kid genius in question thinks nothing of it to discuss the latest political development with someone old enough to be their father/mother. Thus, of course, they are likely to be construed as [[TeachersPet teachers' pets]] in any academic setting. This aspect is only occasionally {{Truth in Television}}, as there are many cases of highly intelligent students deliberately [[ObfuscatingStupidity dumbing themselves down]] in order to fit in.

Note that this refers to kids who more or less behave like adults while still functioning in the world of kids, and having a normal childhood (or as close as a {{child prodigy}} can get to normal). If they are highly intelligent but thrust into an adult role, or otherwise traumatized into maturity, then they are WiseBeyondTheirYears.

[[AC: Comic Books]]

* [[AmethystPrincessOfGemworld Amethyst, Princess of Gemworld]] is a more subtle case of averting the trope, and then playing it straight, than Captain Marvel. Like Marvel, she was a 12-year-old who gained powers and age when she travels to a magical kingdom. Played less childishly than Captain Marvel, Amy still had a tendency to be emotionally immature at certain moments, and the original creative team had to remind certain readers in the letters pages that it was because Amy was still emotionally a 12-year-old, whatever she looked like. And then the creative team was kicked off the book and the "Amy Winston" aspect of Amethyst's character was basically dropped.

* River Tam from ''Series/{{Firefly}}''. She's shown, in flashbacks, to have been so smart that she could spot flaws in the textbooks Simon was studying from and uses surprisingly advanced terminology ("that whole section is fallacious"). Of course, she's also shown as being quite willing to be silly and engage in age-appropriate activities (like pretending she's an Alliance soldier who has gotten cut off from her squad when the Independents brought in dinosaurs).
* Manny from ''Series/ModernFamily''. In one particular episode, he has been having conversations with a grown woman online and arranges a date, neither suspecting an age difference.
** "He's an old soul."
* Micah in ''Series/{{Heroes}}''.

[[AC: {{Literature}}]]
* Charles Wallace from ''AWrinkleInTime'', which leads to him overestimating his capabilities, and gets him ensnared by IT.
** Charles Wallace is a little different, though. He wishes to be accepted by his peers, but finds that he cannot hide his intelligence, and gets bullied for it.

* Wensleydale in ''Literature/GoodOmens'': His parents "called him 'Youngster'. They did this in the subconscious hope that he might take the hint; Wensleydale gave the impression of having been born with a mental age of forty seven." His favourite "comic" is ''Wonders of Science and Nature'', and he insists on being the OnlySaneMan in the face of Adam's ideas.
* Aaron Fidget in ''Discworld/{{Hogfather}}'':

* Thomasina in ''Arcadia'' by TomStoppard. She functions as a child with regards to romance and sex, and an adult with regards to intellectual matters (Classics scholar, mathematical genius). Which serves as a reflection of the Central Theme of the conflict between Romanticism and the Enlightenment.
* John Green's ''AnAbundanceOfKatherines'' has Colin Singleton, who started reading at 3, loves anagrams, and creates a mathematical theorem to detail his relationship with all of his 19 girfriends (all of whom are named Katherine).

* ''HarryPotterAndTheMethodsOfRationality'': Harry James Potter-Evans-Verres.

[[AC: VideoGames]]
* Van from ''HarvestMoon'': Animal Parade prefers studying to playing, and always wants to know if your kid likes to read/go to school/do homework. He even teaches some of the other kids during events!

[[AC: WesternAnimation]]
* Egghead, Jr. in the LooneyTunes ''FoghornLeghorn'' cartoons. He was always reading books and otherwise acting in an intelligent manner, and didn't want to do the childish things Foghorn Leghorn wanted him to do.
* Subverted with Polly from ''StickinAround''. She plays off this trope accordingly, though it doesn't stop her from playing with the other kids.
* Stewie in ''FamilyGuy'' tends to zig-zag this trope.
* Dexter in ''DextersLaboratory'' adheres to the trope, except that his attitude toward girls remains entrenched in normal 9-year-old mode.
* {{Lampshaded}} in an ''WesternAnimation/AmericanDad'' episode with a flashback of Steve's friends as toddlers:

* John Green's ''An Abundance of Katherines'' has Colin Singleton, who started reading at 3, loves anagrams, and creates a mathematical theorem to detail his relationship with all of his 19 girfriends (all of whom are named Katherine).

One common effect of this 'adult-in-a-child's-body" phenomenon is that characters who act their intellectual age have no interest in kids who are their actual age. They may look down on kids their own age as savage or barbaric, and would rather associate with their intellectual peers, even if those peers are 4 or 5 times the character's age. Strangely, in the world of TV and media in general, neither party seems to care about the age difference, and the kid genius in question thinks nothing of it to discuss the latest political development with someone old enough to be their father/mother. Thus, of course, they are likely to be construed as [[TeachersPet teachers' pets]] in any academic setting. This aspect is only occasionally {{Truth in Television}}, as there are many cases of highly intelligent students deliberately dumbing themselves down in order to fit in.

* Manny from ''ModernFamily''. In one particular episode, he has been having conversations with a grown woman online and arranges a date, neither suspecting an age difference.

* Micah in ''{{Heroes}}''.
* The "Dakota Fanning" series of skits on SaturdayNightLive is made of this trope. An actress portraying a fictionalized version of Fanning behaves this way.
** In an episode of TheWB show {{Everwood}}, Ephram talks about a young child and notes that she's mature "but without having that creepy Dakota Fanning '45-year-old-lady-trapped-in-a-10-year-old's-body' vibe."

* ArtemisFowl...most of the time. {{Subverted|Trope}} in the beginning of ''The Lost Colony'', when among his greatest nemeses is the distraction that is puberty.

'''Young Barry:''' ''(enthusiastic)'' I'm at the Bottom!

* Dexter in ''DextersLaboratory'' adheres to the trope, except that his attitude toward girls remains entrenched in normal six-year-old mode.

* John Green's 'An Abundance of Katherines' has Colin Singleton, who started reading at 3, loves anagrams, and creates a mathematical theorem to detail his relationship with all of his 19 girfriends (all of whom are named Katherine).

* AnAbundanceofKatherines has Colin Singleton, who started reading at 3, loves anagrams, and creates a mathematical theorem to detail his relationship with all of his 19 girfriends (all named Katherine).

* Thomasina in ''Arcadia'' by TomStoppard. She functions as a child with regards to romance and sex, and an adult with regards to intellectual matters (Classics scholar, mathematical genius). Which serves as a reflection of the Central Theme of the conflict between Romanticism and the Enlightenment.

'''Death-as-Hogfather:''' Ah. So I don't exist?\\

* {{Lampshaded}} in an ''AmericanDad'' episode with a flashback of Steve's friends as toddlers:

* Egghead, Jr. in the LooneyTunes ''Foghorn Leghorn'' cartoons. He was always reading books and otherwise acting in an intelligent manner, and didn't want to do the childish things Foghorn Leghorn wanted him to do.

* River Tam from ''{{Firefly}}''. She's shown, in flashbacks, to have been so smart that she could spot flaws in the textbooks Simon was studying from and uses surprisingly advanced terminology ("that whole section is fallacious"). Of course, she's also shown as being quite willing to be silly and engage in age-appropriate activities (like pretending she's an Alliance soldier who has gotten cut off from her squad when the Independents brought in dinosaurs).