History Main / ChildrenAreInnocent

* A strongly held belief of Jesse's in ''Series/BreakingBad'', and in the early seasons, a sign that he isn't just a stupid, jerky, gangsta-wannabe type that his first impression gives off. He destroys a joint that he finds in his little brother's possession, and in a later season, [[spoiler: attempts to kill two drug dealers that killed an 11-year boy. ]] This trait also [[spoiler: eventually ends his partnership with Walt, when a "co-worker" of theirs murders a boy during one of their operations, and Jesse realizes that only he is really horrified and disgusted by it.]]
* ''Series/GameOfThrones'': Played with. Westeros certainly considers childhood to be special, but it also ends much earlier than the modern norm. Boys become legal adults at 16 and girls at their first menstruation, but Bran is taken to his first execution at 10.
** The Stark kids all start this way before their respective BreakTheCutie arcs. Rickon Stark, in particular, is this way in one of the creepiest ways possible. He seems completely oblivious to what's happening at first - a fact which Robb painfully informs Catelyn about. He also parrots some of the more offensive Wildling stories that Old Nan told him to Osha, who is a Wildling herself. However, Osha takes it in stride as Rickon clearly likes her.
** Played straight by Tommen and Myrcella Baratheon in contrast to their brother Joffrey. Tommen comes off as a genuinely sweet kid and is nice to Sansa. Myrcella is also nice to Sansa and seems genuinely excited to see her and Joffrey get married. In the 5th season, [[spoiler: Myrcella is killed by Ellaria Sand and the Sand Snakes for revenge on the Lannisters and the death of Oberyn]], even though she had very little involvement since she was in Dorne at the time [[spoiler:when Oberyn was killed]]. In the 7th season, Tyrion calls them out on it, saying that she was innocent and didn't deserve it.
** Despite being squires captured in battle, Willem and Martyn Lannister seem quite innocent in their concern that Robb Stark might actually turn into a wolf and eat them.
** Deconstructed in-universe by Varys, who determines that it is Ned Stark's concern for this trope that ultimately seals King Robert Baratheon's fate.

* An important subplot in the fifth season of ''Series/{{Lost}}'' involves a [[spoiler:time traveling]] Sayid [[HitlersTimeTravelExemptionAct shooting]] [[spoiler:Ben]] [[HitlersTimeTravelExemptionAct as a child]] to stop him from growing up and causing misery for everyone. However, Kate, Sawyer and Juliet choose to save his life, arguing that he shouldn't be punished as a child for things he will do as an adult.
-->'''Jack:''' That kid is ''Ben''.\\
'''Juliet:''' That's not Ben yet. He's just a kid.

* At first, ''Series/AmericanGothic1995'' appears to subscribe to this trope: [[MoralEventHorizon Buck is proven to be absolutely evil]] by [[strike:murdering]] [[MercyKill mercy-killing]] Merlyn in the first episode, and most of the first half to three-quarters of the series is devoted to protecting the innocent Caleb from the sheriff's vile influence. Then, as Caleb [[StartOfDarkness gradually falls deeper and deeper under his father's thrall]], starts taking lessons from him, and absorbs some of his powers, he becomes more disturbingly amoral, wicked, and heartless. By the end of the series, it is Buck who must actually save Trinity from ''Caleb''.
* In an episode of ''Series/{{Angel}}'' in which a young boy is being possessed by an evil demon we eventually learn that [[spoiler:the demon is actually trapped inside the boy's body and the boy in question has no soul and is pure evil, shown by his actions after he is exorcised of the demon, when he burns down his house while his parents and younger sister are still inside, starting in his sister's room to make sure she cannot escape.]]
* ''Series/CriminalMinds'' doesn't believe in this trope.
** One episode has a twelve-year-old serial killer.
** Another had a sociopathic young boy who [[spoiler:murdered his younger brother, then stuffed pieces of a model airplane down his throat]].
** Another had a thirteen-year-old family annihilator.
** In fact they frequently make the argument that [[DistinctionWithoutADifference all minors are at least somewhat sociopathic so there is no point in calling them that]].

* In the ''Series/{{Supernatural}}'' episode [[Recap/SupernaturalS02E22AllHellBreaksLoosePartTwo "All Hell Breaks Loose, Part Two" (S02, Ep22)]], Dean explains that he did not want to answer Sam's questions about their parents because he wanted him to be a kid for just a little longer.
* [[PlayingWithATrope Played with]] in ''Series/The100''. While most of the 100 are in their late teens, it's twelve-year-old Charlotte, seemingly the youngest of the group, who's the first to commit murder on the Ground. However, while the 100 are ready to lynch Murphy (who appears to be sixteen or seventeen) when they think he's the murderer, they're suddenly not so willing when they find out it was Charlotte. Murphy thinks this is unfair and demands Charlotte be executed just like he almost was. Much of an episode is spent trying to protect her from Murphy; even friends of the person she killed come to her defence. Charlotte, however, doesn't think she deserves this protection, and ultimately kills herself.
* ''Series/TheTwilightZone1959'': In "[[Recap/TheTwilightZoneS3E97TheGift The Gift]]", Pedro immediately becomes friends with Williams because, as a mistreated orphan with no friends, he can relate to the stranger. Other than the doctor, he is the only person in Madeiro who believes that Williams is no threat to the village.
* ''Series/DoctorWho'': In "[[Recap/DoctorWhoS24E4Dragonfire Dragonfire]]", the writer Ian Briggs intended the little girl to represent innocence but was dismayed by the choice to put her in a Mini Pops-Esque dress which caused controversy in both fan and media reviews.

* Both PlayedStraight as well as averted on Music/JohnZorn's ''Music/MusicForChildren''. The dolls in the album artwork all have an UncannyValley creepiness to them, while the liner notes make a stance for the benefits of childish innocence:
-->Rich ground for love and enthusiasm, innocence is delight in the natural charm of being and the unconscious experience of contradictions which no longer have a tragic character. To attain the virginal joy of innocence, one must not live contradictions consciously, or know tragedy and thoughts of death, because such knowledge is baffling, complex, and requires disjunction. Innocence resists tragedy but welcomes love, because the innocent, never troubled by inner contradictions have generous impulses.
* Music/{{Eminem}}'s work has a complex relationship with this trope. In his world, Slim Shady is only able to be [[CorruptionOfAMinor the corrupter of children]] because [[TeensAreMonsters there are kids out there as stupid and violent as Slim]]. He also acknowledges the importance of his very child-unfriendly music to the kids who will listen to it anyway, viewing them as his primary audience. However, he views these fucked-up kids as being the result of a horrible environment of abuse, poverty, broken homes and ambiently depraved pop culture, taking from his music how to stand up for themselves and protect themselves from a world that is already trying to corrupt them. And then there is his daughter, Hailie - she is the emotional heart of his music and represents innocence, with him admitting he wouldn't let her listen to his music either (he would record special Clean versions for her). He wouldn't allow swearing inside the house and, hilariously, worried about Music/BritneySpears's sexualised image on his little girl. And then puts her to sing on some of his most below-the-belt, depraved songs ever.

* The Arthur Miller play ''Theatre/TheCrucible'' uses this trope as a plot point -- the children would never lie about who the witches of Salem are, right? Not even if one of them's 17 and wants to bone the main character, and [[spoiler: [[EvilPlan concocts the entire crisis]] in order to [[MurderTheHypotenuse take his wife out of the picture]].]] The reality was even worse: the aforementioned 17-year-old was actually ''eleven'' (although her true motives are unknown).

* Surprisingly touched upon in ''VideoGame/Killer7''. When assassin [[spoiler: Jean [=DePaul=]]] brings up MASK de Smith's popularity with children, MASK responds by declaring that children's purity makes them the most objective judges in the world. Turns out they're right.
* Played straight in ''VideoGame/NightmareRealm'' for Emily and most of the children that appear.
* One of the few survivors from Cabadath's blood trail in ''[[VideoGame/ChzoMythos Trilby's Notes]]'' is the woodcutter's son. According to the Evil Bible within the game, it is because he is innocent, but the book tends to downplay the bloodshed, to say the least.
* A set of twins, Mireille and Mischka, can join you in ''VideoGame/ValkyrieProfileCovenantOfThePlume''. They're both 12 years old and take much joy in killing, yet don't see what's wrong with killing other people after they have surrendered. Their reasoning is that since they signed up in the first place, they should be prepared to die. Their dialogue is completely 100% innocent.

* Played with in ''VideoGame/{{BioShock|1}}'':
** The little sisters will original call for the protectors to kill you, but then seem more friendly and innocent once restored to 'normal' however later they will [[spoiler: stab the final boss to death with syringes]] Although genetic engineering and behavioural programming gets most of the blame.
** In [[VideoGame/BioShock2 the sequel]], we discover how they've been programmed to see [[CrapsackWorld Rapture]] - to them, the whole thing is elegant and beautiful (except for the occasional lapse into reality), with "angels"(read: corpses) lying on the ground waiting for them to gather their ADAM. They completely trust "Daddy" whatever he does to them (although they may be scared of him if you go the evil route, they'll still go with him and gather for him).
* ''VideoGame/ManaKhemia2FallOfAlchemy'': Puniyo starts as a straight example but [[CharacterDevelopment grows out of it]]. She takes on [[MrImagination Lily's]] active imagination throughout the game, along with showing hints of being able to become a MagnificentBastard, despite being only five years old.

** Regina Berry is so innocent [[spoiler: she doesn't even know what the word "death" means]]. ''Ace Attorney'' plays this trope straight and ''yet'' also plays with it.
* While played mostly straight in ''Nightmare Realm'', there is exception for [[spoiler:Jeff and Phillip, who are both BigBad in different ways: the latter is a BrokenBird while the former is implied to be one: Phillip wants to maintain the Dream World (later transformed into Dark City) because he doesn't want to go back to being sick while Jeff wants to be [[IJustWantToBeSpecial talented in something]].]]
* Nick Valentine mentions this in ''VideoGame/{{Fallout 4}}'' when discussing his past; when he first arrived in the Commonwealth, people regarded him with caution, since synths were an unknown entity back then and people didn't fear them as the boogieman. People didn't really trust him until a young boy named Jim approached him.
* ''Franchise/TheElderScrolls'':
** During the ''VideoGame/TheElderScrollsIVOblivion'' quest, [[Creator/HPLovecraft Shadow Over Hackdirt]], Jiv Hiriel cites the reason he decided to help you rescue a young Argonian as "she's so innocent."
** ''VideoGame/TheElderScrollsVSkyrim'' has several orphaned children whom the player can [[HappilyAdopted adopt]]. Skyrim is considered one of the darker games in the series and one of the reasons is that [[FantasticRacism racism]] plays a larger role in the game world. However, the orphaned children of Skyrim are perhaps the kindest NPC's in the game because don't care if you're a [[HumansAreSpecial human]], [[OurElvesAreDifferent elf]], or a {{beast|man}}, they're just happy that you've adopted and love them.

* ''VideoGame/SilentHill2'' features Laura, an innocent, if [[BrattyHalfPint bratty]], child that wanders into Silent Hill, yet the town does not manifest as a dangerous and hellish place to her the way it does to the adults she interacts with. This is due to the town being a PsychologicalTormentZone that projects and manifests the personal horrors of those [[DarkAndTroubledPast with serious sins to confess]] -- Laura has none, and thus just sees Silent Hill as a weirdly empty city, [[IgnoranceIsBliss reacting to James' astonishment of her being totally unharmed with confusion]].

* ''Webcomic/KaitenMutenmaru'': As little children, [[spoiler:Sick Solitude]] and [[spoiler:Anne Bran]] were the only good people in the town of Throne from the start. [[spoiler:Anne]] was also the only commoner to oppose violence and to value Sick as a person rather than judge him solely based on the decadence and tyranny of his parents.
* In ''Webcomic/ElGoonishShive'', Akiko doesn't quite have the capacity to grasp the complexities of sexuality, bigotry, and prejudices.

* Too damn innocent in [[http://akaichounokoe.deviantart.com/art/Landmines-are-not-Toys-329199767 Landmines Are Not Toys]], as Toki didn't know landmines were dangerous, something that you were supposed to stay away from, rather, she seemed to like what they do and went to her 'playground' and her fascination is what lost her leg. Then again, this can be justified as she hasn't encountered landmines up until that point, thus she wouldn't have otherwise known they were dangerous, as she hasn't learned to fear them from prior experience, and had, at the time, the overall mindset of a small child.

* Disclaimer: All of this is in spoilers cause it is a ''major'' plot twist. [[spoiler: Subverted in]] ''WebVideo/ThereWillBeBrawl''. [[spoiler: At first, it had been the main motivation for Luigi to keep fighting: that as long as there was one child laughing in the world, there was hope for it. When he started to lose his focus, he saw Ness and Lucas playing, and that motivated him to go on. Come the final episode though, and he finds out that the murderers are ''[[CreepyChild Ness and Lucas]]''. They are such pure evil that even ''Ganondorf'' wonders how heroes can exist in the face of it.]]
* The ''Website/SCPFoundation'' likes to play with this trope. While many of the child SCP items, such as [[http://www.scp-wiki.net/scp-053 SCP-053]], [[http://www.scp-wiki.net/scp-040 SCP-040]] and [[http://www.scp-wiki.net/scp-239 SCP-239]], are dangerous and almost all of them are [[CreepyChild creepy]], almost none of them are out-right [[EnfantTerrible hostile or malevolent]], even the ones who are have been altered or manipulated by an external force, such as [[http://www.scp-wiki.net/scp-993 SCP-993]], [[http://www.scp-wiki.net/scp-204 SCP-204]] or [[http://www.scp-wiki.net/scp-899 SCP-899]].

** [[http://notalwaysright.com/blowing-things-out-and-up-of-proportion/23416 “How come you said she planted a bomb? She didn’t!”]]

* ''WebOriginal/MommySleepsInTheBasement'': Paisley. Good God, poor Paisley. She ends up revealing some incredibly dark stuff to her teacher and classmates in a poem about her family, oblivious to how abnormal this all is. Many of her classmates are oblivious as well, with only Mrs June (and the reader) being fully aware of what's going on.

--> '''Paige:''' ''[After Owen tells her what happened]'' How did he handle it? Was he freaked out?\\

* In ''WesternAnimation/TheLegendOfKorra'', Tenzin's children Jinora, Ikki, and Meelo are playful and sweet characters who have a PluckyComicRelief role in the story (Though occasionally they have a couple of BadassAdorable moments)
* ''WesternAnimation/MoralOrel'': Orel is so trusting and naive that he takes everything he learns from the adults at face value. Lampshade at one point.

* ''WesternAnimation/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagic''

* In ''WesternAnimation/AvatarTheLastAirbender'', flashbacks show that Zuko, Mai, and Ty Lee were all nice kids, but ''Azula'' was an EnfantTerrible. [[spoiler:According to her, her own mother saw her as a monster.]] This trope comes up again when Katara finds a painting that she believes to be a Zuko as a baby. Zuko responds that it isn't him in the painting; it's his father, Firelord Ozai, the BigBad. The group find themselves disturbed looking at [[UsedToBeASweetKid this innocent, happy child while knowing the monster he'd one day grow up to be]].

* Spoken word for word in one ''WesternAnimation/RobotChicken'' short where a bird is teaching his son how to poop on things. He asks the son to pick a target, and when the son chooses a baby's carriage:
-->'''Father:''' No, son. For he is a child, and children are innocent.

* On ''WesternAnimation/PeterRabbit'', whenever one of the show's predator characters goes after Peter Rabbit's [[BunniesForCuteness cute little sister]] Cottontail, wanting to eat her, she generally doesn't get it and treats it as a fun game. She thinks it's great fun when an owl swoops her up and takes her for a flight and usually the predators have to act very overtly mean for her to get scared, and even then it doesn't last long, assuming she even recognizes it for what it is. When Mr. Tod the fox places her in his cookpot with Shrew, she spends most of her time in it giggling and when he tosses in vegetables for flavoring, she eats some of the carrot slices.
* ''WesternAnimation/EdEddNEddy'':
** Jimmy is a CheerfulChild who loves fairy tales and engaging in [[InTouchWithHisFeminineSide feminine make-believe]], cementing him as the most innocent member of the Cul-de-sac.
** Jonny is another one who's devoid of malice intent in that he usually observes natural surroundings and talks with his CompanionCube, often because he has NoSocialSkills.
* ''WesternAnimation/CodenameKidsNextDoor'': All of the KND are rather innocent and naive in that they hang around in a treehouse behaving like typical kids who love soda pop and refuse to eat vegetables. They also dominate against the adult population--who generally fall under the HumansAreBastards and AdultsAreUseless categories--using make-believe weapons, while recruiting teenagers as their personal minions, who typically fall under the HormoneAddledTeenager and TeensAreMonsters categories.
* All of the ''WesternAnimation/{{Recess}}'' gang are friendly kids who dread adults and academia, and live for the moment once recess time approaches.
* ''WesternAnimation/{{Kaeloo}}'': While the trope is usually heavily averted, it is occasionally played straight:
** Stumpy is the closest thing to this trope, as he has no idea how babies are made and still believes in things like magic and Santa Claus.
** Kaeloo has no idea how to even ''tell a lie'' until Mr. Cat gives her lessons on how to lie to people.
** Even ''Mr. Cat'' has shown signs of this from time to time; one episode had him wear a Nazi costume when playing the bad guy in a game and suggested that he had no idea what his costume actually represented and got the idea from watching a movie.

-->'''Goku''': This is weird... they're all naked, even though they aren't taking any baths...
-->'''Bulma''': '''''KIDS AREN'T SUPPOSED TO LOOK AT THESE!!!'''''

* A recurring element in ''ComicBook/StrontiumDog'' is that children are (usually) not [[FantasticRacism prejudiced against mutants]], and often cheer them on even when their parents complain about how freaks should stay out of sight of decent folks. One particular story deserves special mention - a kid was caught in the crossfire between Johnny and a criminal. Johnny was wracked with guilt and chased away from the funeral, so in desperation to make amends, he dug up the corpse and brought it to a necromancer to be revived. This didn't end well.
* Subverted in a scene when ''ComicStrip/{{Rudi}}'' talks with a mother who believes in this trope, while at the same time the kids play with UsefulNotes/AdolfHitler dolls and throw [[AtomicFBomb atomic]] {{Cluster F Bomb}}s at each other.
* Infuriatingly subverted by a young girl in ''ComicBook/DCTheNewFrontier''. [[CaptainEthnic John Henry]] lays dying after taking a beating from the UsefulNotes/KuKluxKlan. A little girl appears in front of him and he begs her to help him. Her response is "[[KidsAreCruel He's here! He's here! The nigger's over here!]]"
* In ''ComicBook/CastleWaiting'', we heard that TheDevil has objections to {{curse}}s on babies.

* ''ComicBook/WonderWoman1987'': Diana is angry and upset about everyone Medusa killed, but she is only upset at ''Athena'' for not interfering to save the one child Medusa murdered, [[spoiler:Martin Garibaldi]].

* In Creator/TheBrothersGrimm' ''The Children Who Played Butcher'', some kids watched a farmhand slaughter a pig, then cut it up. They decide to play this "game" and slit the throat of the child picked to be the pig, killing him. Before they can cut up the body one of the mothers come across them and drag them before the magistrate. The magistrate, with the help of the local elders, comes up with a way to determine if they are innocent or guilty. Each child is offered an apple and a silver coin. If they took the apple then they are innocent of the ways of the world and didn't intend to kill the other child. However, if they took the coin then they were wise to the ways of the world and intentionally killed the other child and will be hung for murder. It never said which they chose. This is one of their tales that appeared only in the first edition.

* One of the biggest focuses in ''Fanfic/AGladDay'' is how all babies and non-brainwashed children are innocent and in need of protection. Ultimately the goal of the good guys is [[spoiler: to save the unborn Trunks, reincarnated Goku, and ten thousand toddler Saiyans whose infant conditioning was sabotaged by Bulma and the resistance]] specifically because of this trope.
* Played with in ''Fanfic/LostFound'', with Ryuuko and Nui, who have very little understanding as to why they were being experimented on and can only speculate, along with knowing the consequences. While they do have some understanding of how wrong their treatment was, they could do very little to affect it. In a later chapter, Nui, when telling of her (and Ryuuko's) experiences at the "orphanage", she describes a vivisection before asking what it was, however, she seems to have a clue as to what "euthanasia" was (or, at least, what the idea entailed), as she mentioned, “I got to stay because they were low on kids.”
* ''Fanfic/RainbowDoubleDashsLunaverse:''
** Sceptre (Flicker to his friends, and anyone who isn't his great-grandmother) tells his great-grandmother, Vicereine Puissance, all the things his dad said about her - like how great-grandma's an evil pony who's lived too long, and is a spiteful monster - right to her face, not getting ''why'' it might be a bad idea to tell her all this.
** From one non-canon story, there's Thesis, who doesn't seem to get how blatantly suspicious (if not definitely villainous) her "big sister" is. [[spoiler:Being only a few days / weeks old has something to do with that.]]
* In ''Fanfic/NeitherABirdNorAPlaneItsDeku'', Inko Midoriya believes that the alien baby she and her husband Hisashi found to be innocent since he's just a baby. Hisashi is convinced that the baby is somehow an EnfantTerrible. Inko's assumption proves to be true once they start raising the baby as their son Izuku.
-->'''Inko:''' So what if he's an alien? It's not like all aliens are evil. The Martian Manhunter certainly wasn't evil. Besides, he's just a baby, and babies can't hurt people.\\
'''Hisashi:''' Yeah, but the people they grow up to be can! Besides, how do we even know he's even actually a baby? ''[steps over to Inko and peers at the baby]'' For all we know, he comes from a planet of beings that just look like babies, and they all try to use their overwhelming cuteness to infiltrate societies and destroy them from the inside! ''[baby giggles and squeezes Hisashi's nose]'' That doesn't disprove the theory. ''[removes baby's hand from his nose]''
* In ''Fanfic/TheOneToMakeItStay'', even after all of Chat Noir's [[EntitledBastard unsavory actions]] come to light, Ella and Etta are still huge fans of him, even wanting him to team up with Ladybug and Viperion. Alya doesn't have the heart to tell them the truth.
* ''Fanfic/TheOutside'':
** Played with in regards to Ryuuko is more naive than the usual child (we don't know exactly how old she is but the story implies that she's about 12), however, this is because Satsuki forbade her from going outside and raised her isolated, so she doesn't really know how the world works or what things are. Special points of this are when she refers to an [=RV=] as a "house car", didn't know what snow was and asked what it was, couldn't understand exactly how someone as nice as Rei could be a wanted fugitive (her reasoning is that "nice people don't go to jail"), or what miscarriages are.
** This is equally played with with Nui, though, to a lesser extent, as, despite being about six, she's [[WiseBeyondTheirYears knows more than a six-year-old would]] but she, like Ryuuko, doesn't know what a miscarriage is.

* In ''Fanfic/FinalToll'', the CheerfulChild Romani has no idea what's going to happen in a few hours and is just happy that she's old enough to drink Chateau Romani. She doesn't realize that everyone is going to die before sunrise.
* In ''Fanfic/BuckyBarnesGetsHisGrooveBackAndOtherInternationalIncidents'', most people seem to be under the [[SubvertedTrope breathtakingly mistaken]] impression that ComicBook/CaptainAmerica's childhood was pure character-building Dickensian poverty that helped turn him into the moral paragon that he is now. Not only is Steve Rogers, as a man, not even close to a paragon of anything save for maybe stubbornness, he and Bucky spent their childhoods aiding against Prohibition. Steve kept books for multiple speakeasies, and Bucky's family auto shop used to serve bootleggers on the down-low, where he'd help install secret compartments for contraband and learned how to soup up engines a bit. Given that Prohibition wasn't lifted until both were in their late teens, they were both minors when they were breaking the law, and Bucky could have been helping out with bootleggers' cars as young as elementary school-age.
* ''Fanfic/TheMiraculousWorldOfCalineBustier'': Sabine Chang and Caline Bustier take up the Ladybug and Cat Miraculouses temporarily when the normal bearers are incapacitated. [[MamaBear They nearly beat Mayura to death with their bare hands for threatening their kids]]. Caline admits after that maybe the reason teenagers are chosen for this duty is that they are innocent enough not to jump straight to using their superpowers for brutal murder.

* Pixar plays with this trope in some films: In ''WesternAnimation/MonstersInc'' it is played straight with Boo, in ''WesternAnimation/FindingNemo'', Darla's innocence make her unable to realize that she terrifies the fishes (who consider her a "fish-killer" [[spoiler:after she accidentally killed a goldfish by constantly shaking the bag.]] In ''WesternAnimation/{{Up}}'', Russell's innocence [[spoiler: made him reveal Kevin's existence in Muntz's airship.]]
* In the film version of ''Le magasin des suicides'' (Literature/TheSuicideShop) [[CheerfulChild Alan]] and his friends watch Alan's sister [[BigBeautifulWoman Marilyn]] get changed and dance around her room naked. Unlike his friends, Alan doesn't see anything sexual about this. He just likes watching his sister dance.
* This is an important plot point from the ''WesternAnimation/RiseOfTheGuardians'' film, where the power from the guardians depends on the belief of the human children in them.

* In ''Franchise/StarWars Episode III: Film/RevengeOfTheSith'', Anakin Skywalker's [[JumpingOffTheSlipperySlope falling off of the slippery slope]] was killing younglings when Sors Bandeam, one of them, asked him what they were going to do during his attack on the temple. This trope is also the reason why on Naboo [[AChildShallLeadThem the monarchs are generally elected from amongst pre-teens and teenagers]] for the Naboo people believe that children have an uncorrupted kind of wisdom. Padmé Amidala, one of the most beloved queens Naboo ever had, began her reign at age 14. One of her successors, Apailana, was elected at only 12.
* The orphans in ''Film/TheDevilsBackbone'' might be a bunch of little kids who love comic books and grossing each other out with slugs, but they're a complex bunch, and by the end, perfectly capable of [[spoiler:killing Jacinto like [[ChekhovsClassroom a pack of hunters taking down a mammoth.]]]]
* ''Film/HotelRwanda'' has terrified children who simply cannot understand the concept of genocide. One of the most heartbreakingly memorable lines in the film comes when a [[UsefulNotes/TheRedCross Red Cross]] worker recalls being ForcedToWatch as the Hutu militia [[WouldHurtAChild slaughter Tutsi children]], and one of the children says "Please don't let them kill me. I promise I won't be Tutsi any more". She is killed anyway.
* Being a PaedoHunt[=/=]TooSmartForStrangers PublicServiceAnnouncement, ''Film/TrickyPeople'' plays this straight. Particularly {{anvilicious}} is Carmen's tearful confession to Yello Dyno of "not [being] a little girl anymore".
* ''Film/TheProfessional'':
** This trope is used to differentiate the two killers. [[HitmanWithAHeart Léon]] refuses to kill children (or women), while [[NaughtyNarcs Norman Stansfield]] has no problem gunning down a four-year-old child.
** Mathilda Lando curses a lot, smokes, and has a disturbingly sexual mind for someone as young as she is, but despite all the outward appearance, she is just an innocent kid, especially when compared to Leon (a ProfessionalKiller) and especially Stansfield (an AxCrazy DirtyCop DEA agent).

* Also averted in ''Film/{{Mikey}}'' where the titular VillainAntagonist is an abused orphan who kills entire adoptive families if they don't love him enough.

* In ''Film/TheWildBunch'' children are shown to be among the most violent characters in the film, and in a Peckinpah film that's impressive. A child smiles as he watches the Mexican Army (which his father is the general of) get massacred by rebels, and later lands the killing shot on Warren Oates, still smiling. In the first 25 minutes, a group of children are shown torturing scorpions (who only LOOK scary) by trapping them and coating them with fire ants, and later setting the cage ON FIRE, and, after the massacre in town, run around pretending to shoot the corpses, yelling "Bang! Bang!" in a way that will make anyone feel chills.
* Downplayed in ''Film/ToKillADragon''. The children already show signs of being corrupted by the Dragon. However, it is implied that they can have their free will restored, whereas most of the adults are too far gone and will forever remain slaves at heart.
* In ''Film/MyLifeAsADog'', 12-year-old Ingemar goes to visit his ill mother in the hospital. Not realizing she is terminally ill, he asks her what she wants for Christmas in a heartbreaking scene.
* Stated word-for-word in ''Film/TheHunt2012''. All the movie's [[PaedoHunt problems]] are based on a [[FalseRapeAccusation single lie]] from little Klara. Her words turn out deadly (for the protagonist's dog anyway) and if Klara was an adult, we would see her action as a wicked attempt to manipulate others for her own satisfaction. But at her age, Klara was simply confused and misinterpreted Lucas' rejection. All adults in the movie accept this fact when the truth is revealed. The only person not actually buying into this trope is 16-year-old Marcus, who is in such a rage about Klara's lie that he spits her in the face.

* ''Film/TheSapphires'': The only IneptTalentShowContestant who doesn't seem racist is a young boy who claps for the sisters.

* [[PlayedForHorror Played for dark tension]] in ''Film/{{Skinamarink}}'', which follows a four-year-old boy and his six-year-old sister waking up to find that their father is missing, [[SealedRoomInTheMiddleOfNowhere the windows and doors to the outside of their house have vanished]]. Both of them are [[UnusuallyUninterestingSight remarkably blasé about these discoveries]], but it's all but directly stated that it's because they're simply too young to understand how abnormal and ominous this situation is. It's not until they realize that [[EldritchAbomination something else]] appears to be in the house with them does their mild confusion turn into fear for their lives.

* ''Literature/EndersGame'' plays with this trope. Valentine and Peter are angel and demon, respectively. Ender is [[WoobieDestroyerOfWorlds Ender]].

* ''King Matt the First'' by Janusz Korczak is all about this trope. It basically preaches that if kids are given power, there will be no evil.
* In ''Literature/TheSecretGarden'', Mary and Colin are both {{Spoiled Brat}}s when they first appear. However, the causes are delineated: Mary's mother neglected her, and the servants learned to indulge Mary to keep her from coming to her mother's notice, and Colin's father had neglected him after his mother's DeathByChildbirth. Letting them play together and experience the beauties of the garden and nature causes them to shed the characters and become their true, innocent selves.

* In Creator/PoulAnderson's ''Literature/OperationChaos'', the narrator and his wife have many run-ins with evil forces. The final one, which shocks them to the core despite all they have seen, is the kidnapping of their baby daughter to Hell.
* In Creator/DanAbnett's ''Literature/GauntsGhosts'' novels, the Ghosts on several occasions make special provision for children. In ''Necropolis'', Criid takes two children, total strangers, under her wing when their mother dies, and when Caffran sees that a child and a woman are looting, he brings out what they had intended to steal, and gives them a gun as well. In ''Sabbat Martyr'' Criid opens a deserted building to shelter children and stands down the ObstructiveBureaucrat who objects; later, the Ghosts are particularly protective of the children among the refugees. [[spoiler: This lends particular horror to Caffran's death at the hands of a child in ''The Armor of Contempt''.]] Subverted during the siege of Vervunhive in ''Necropolis''. The narration briefly mentions that the Chaos army is made of all people available, including elders and children.

* Simon Spurrier's Literature/NightLords novel ''Lord of the Night'': Sahaal captures a child who cries for its mother and then, when he's close enough, tries to stab him; even a [[spoiler:Chaos Space Marine]] such as Sahaal reflects that there is no place for innocence in the underhive. Later, when he orders Chianni to kill child hostages, she merely nods, and he is impressed that it does not perturb her.

* In Creator/PiersAnthony's ''Literature/IncarnationsOfImmortality'' books, the souls of infants are pure -- except, in some ''interesting'' theology where they can be tainted down to "in balance" by such things as the circumstances of their conception, or by their deaths owing to genetic disease precipiating their mother's suicide.
* ''Literature/SongsOfInnocenceAndOfExperience'': Children are portrayed this way in ''Songs of Innocence'' and they are not portrayed this way in ''Songs of Experience'', in the poems "NURSE'S Song" and "Infant Sorrow".
* In Creator/TerryPratchett's ''Literature/UnseenAcademicals'', Vetinari speaks coldly of killing children; those he is addressing counter that they had exterminated pups -- which only makes them look bad. Then we learn they are speaking of [[spoiler:orc]] children which is just as bad.
*** Lampshaded and mocked in ''Hogfather'', with the comment that the sound of children at play is a wonderful thing to hear, ''provided you're too far away to make out what they're saying''.
* In Creator/JRRTolkien's ''[[Literature/TheLordOfTheRings Two Towers]]'', Theoden throws off Saruman's charming voice citing the children who died from his attack (plus their [[DueToTheDead mutilation of the dead]]).

* Creator/LewisCarroll's ''Literature/SylvieAndBruno''
-->''In each such glimpse, the face seemed to grow more childish and more innocent: and, when I had at last thought the veil entirely away, it was, unmistakeably, the sweet face of little Sylvie!''
* In Creator/JohnCWright's ''[[Literature/TheGoldenOecumene The Golden Transcedence]]'', Ungannis declares that humanity is unspeakable and only was endurable when mortal, because then those guilty of crime would die and the children, temporarily innocent, took their place. Then, she's TheResenter.
* In Ben Aaronovitch's ''Literature/RiversOfLondon'' (known as ''Midnight Riot'' in the US), getting a warrant for a ghost who murdered his wife and child is complicated by the ghostly magistrate asking whether the woman was a shrew. The quick-thinking narrator tells him that she was a terrible shrew but the baby was innocent, which gets the warrant.

* In Teresa Frohock's ''Literature/MiserereAnAutumnTale'', a character warns not to be deceived by a child's innocence -- since she was drawn to a man they know is a traitor, she must be as bad.

* In Creator/PoulAnderson's ''Literature/TimePatrol'' stories:
** In ''Brave To Be A King'', Manse prevents an infanticide by telling the king that, among other things, that he must not shed the children's innocent blood.
** In ''Delenda Est'', when they threaten revenge, Deirdre pleads not the children, they had nothing to do with it.
* In Creator/PatriciaAMcKillip's ''Wonders of the Invisible World'', Cotton Mather cites this.
* In Creator/SeananMcGuire's ''Literature/VelveteenVs The Junior Super Patriots'', at one point, going up against the Junior Super Patriots leads to reflections that they are as innocent as those fighting them were, when they were recruited.
* In ''Literature/Coda2013'' Alpha and Omega are very innocent, which is why Anthem works so hard to protect them from the Corp.
* ''Literature/HisDarkMaterials''. Children are immune to the Spectres, and can have special affinity to the Alethiometer, and have transforming daemons symbolizing their infinite potential - but one of the main themes of the books is that children have to grow up, and it's not a bad thing. Neither Will nor Lyra takes direct part in the war against the Authority; they don't share Lord Asriel's RageAgainstTheHeavens - they're just trying to survive. [[spoiler:They do end up killing the Authority, but it's not an act of violence; they didn't know who he was, and were trying to help him.]] Then again, one is a murderer, and the other is 'only' a sometimes foul mouth brawler who prides herself in her ability to lie to anyone and approves of the other being a murderer. Most other children are likewise depicted similarly, so 'innocence' is a relative concept.

* Played with in Creator/RayBradbury's ''The Small Assassin'', in which a mother becomes convinced that her newborn baby will ''kill'' her. [[spoiler:She's right. And the father too.]] A very similar short story is "Baby Hate" by Elizabeth Fancett, where a father believes his newborn son cannot stand to be around him. We are initially led to believe that he is simply projecting his own psychological issues onto the baby - [[spoiler:until the baby horrifically and gruesomely murders his father.]]
* Played every way but straight in the ''Literature/{{Gone}}'' series by Michael Grant, where every character is a child. On one end of the scale, you've got the evil, malicious kids: a BigBad, an AxCrazy sadist, a manipulative SmugSnake, a DarkActionGirl who can make people see monsters, an [[FightingAShadow avatar for the alien monster]], and a [[FantasticRacism racist]] [[ANaziByAnyOtherName cult leader]]. A little bit lighter gray, you've got a lot of kids who are only looking out for themselves, a [[TechnoWizard techie genius]] who is [[ChronicBackStabbingDisorder forever changing sides]], a greedy teenage businessman, and a hypocritical [[TheFundamentalist Christian fundamentalist]] who will lie when it suits her but won't tolerate it in others. For the lightest gray, our heroes are a few well-meaning kids who crack under pressure. All under 15 years old at the start of the series. It's a world of GreyAndGrayMorality, with no room for innocence.
* Creator/SergeyLukyanenko's ''Literature/KnightsOfTheFortyIslands'' is a case of PlayingWithATrope. Aliens abduct teenagers ([[spoiler:duplicates, actually]]) and distribute them among the forty islands connected by bridges. They are told that the group that manages to conquer all forty islands gets to go home. The kids are supplied with wooden swords that turn into metal whenever they get aggressive (i.e. fight). Dima quickly learns that this is not a game, and people really die here. Very quickly, the teens realize that it is simply impossible to conquer all forty islands, as each island only has no more than a dozen people. Eventually, the protagonist suggests allying with the nearby islands in order to be able to achieve their goal. While this works at first, it later turns into a disaster, as their former allies turn on them, kill the boys, and {{rape|AsDrama}} the girls. In fact, they find remains of children from UsefulNotes/WorldWarTwo era who have tried the same thing with identical results. This novel seems to be about breaking every child stereotype to claim that, under the right circumstances, even a child is capable of anything. The worst thing is, [[spoiler:[[TheCakeIsALie the aliens never planned to release anyone]]]].
* Deconstructed in Creator/JoeHill's ''Literature/NOS4A2'' where the children of Christmasland are innocent forever, which means they never learn or gain experience or develop empathy. As one character states, "Innocent little kids rip the wings off flies because they don't know any better." In other words, perpetual innocence means no CharacterDevelopment, for good or ill.
* In ''Literature/CharlieAndTheChocolateFactory'', it turns out that Willy Wonka launched the Golden Ticket contest (which was specifically aimed at children) as a way of finding an heir via the Wonka Factory tour. He specifically wants "a good sensible loving child" to become his heir because "A grown-up won't listen to me; he won't learn. He will try to do things his own way and not mine." In the novel, 2005 film, and the 2010 opera adaptations, Charlie is the one nice, perfectly behaved kid of the five ticket finders. The others are {{Spoiled Brat}}s who are only innocent in the trope's negative aspects: self-centered, naive, and prone to foolish behavior because they think they know better. The 1971 film and 2013 stage musical adaptations avert this trope by making Charlie flawed but still good at heart and possessed of a huge sense of innocent wonder (and, in the musical's case, creativity) that the other kids lack.

* ''Literature/WarriorCats'':
** Most kits are portrayed as innocent, energetic young cats who contrast with the hardened, shell-shocked, and weary warriors. Even Tigerstar (basically cat Hitler) was adorable and innocent as a kit. It's only when the kits start training to become warriors that they lose their innocence.
** Subverted with Brokenstar in ''Yellowfang's Secret'' and Shrewclaw in ''Tallstar's Revenge''. You can see the seeds of Brokenstar's evil right from his kithood, and Shrewkit is a bully who picks on Tallkit and calls him a worm.
* In ''Literature/TheDivineComedy'', Beatrice says that only children are innocent among humanity and that as soon as they mature they become ravenously evil. She goes so far as to say that a child will learn to speak intelligently at the same time they first hope to see their mother dead and buried.
* Deliberately exploited by a villain in ''Literature/HiveMind2016''. [[spoiler:Rose is only 10, and uses that to both conceal her murders and attempt to evade responsibility for them.]]
* ''Literature/MercyThompson'' plays this straight with Jesse, who tries her best to be plucky and upbeat even while living with a divorced father and in a world where there is tension between humans and supernatural beings.
* ''Literature/SpinningSilver''
** Miryem's view of [[TheFairFolk the Staryk]] shifts radically when she learns that they have children and her servant introduces her daughter. This is the reason [[spoiler:she defies Irina and frees the Staryk King from Chernobog]].
** Stepon, the youngest viewpoint character, is a small boy who is perceptive to the feelings around him (even though he doesn't understand what is happening or why) and just wants the people he cares about to be safe and not scared. Zigzagged with the other village children, however; several of them bully him and are being raised to be just as antisemetic as their parents.
* Subverted by ''Literature/PeterPan'', which says "children are innocent" a lot, but always adds "and heartless". According to Barrie, this trope and KidsAreCruel are the ''same thing''; children don't have enough experience to really understand why you ''shouldn't'' be cruel. This is particularly noticable with Peter himself, who thinks the entire world is laid on for his amusement.

* ''LightNovel/NoGameNoLife'': Izuna Hatsuse isn't exactly "innocent" as she swears constantly in the light novel (she does little swearing in the anime though), but that doesn't mean she's a bad person, As she's only 8 years old and as long as it's not a game (or petting), she barely cares of things the others do and has to ask many questions to understand. In the film, When Tet told her of the Great War and how the Exceeds killed one another for thousands of years, she cannot comprehend why people would want to do that.

* ''LightNovel/TorturePrincessFremdTorturchen'': At seventeen, Kaito Sena is a little on the old side for this trope, but is still referred to as a "Sinless Soul" after being murdered by his abusive father and then [[ReincarnateInAnotherWorld summoned into the world where the story takes place]].

* ''WesternAnimation/SouthPark'':
** The show runs on inverting this trope for BlackComedy. Even the good main characters are foul-mouthed and mean to each other. The creators even mention their disbelief in this trope in the commentary.

** Played straight in some episodes ''even by Cartman'', like the one where the kids simply cannot fathom that people kill each other for having different-coloured skin, or when they use "fag" without implying gay (for obnoxious Harley riders), or when they run around town trying to buy a "nerection" for [[TheLoinsSleepTonight Kyle's dad]] so that Kyle's parents will stop fighting.
** Played straight in ''Chef Goes Nanners''. The boys were so un-racist that they had no idea that the town flag was racist and simply thought the flag represented capital punishment.

-->-- '''[[Literature/TheFourGospels Matthew 18:3-4]]''', ''Literature/TheBible''

* ''Film/IndianaJonesAndTheTempleOfDoom''. Mess with kids and Indy will '''[[PapaWolf END YOU.]]'''
-->'''Indiana Jones''': "They're innocent children.... Mola Ram, prepare to meet Kali... IN HELL!!"

* ''Fanfic/AbraxasHrodvitnon'': In this ''Franchise/{{Godzilla}}'' Franchise/MonsterVerse fanfiction, [[Characters/AbraxasHrodvitnonTitansAndOtherCreatures Manda]] is a baby {{Protectorate}} who is adorably innocent and sweet-natured. He'll still try and stand up for others if need be and potentially end up picking a fight with something seriously dangerous.
* ''Fanfic/AGrowingAffection'' has Minato cite this as one of the reasons he sealed the Nine-Tails in Naruto; as an innocent baby/child, he would be more resistant to the demon's influence.

* Played with in the ''[[Anime/NeonGenesisEvangelion Eva]]'' fic ''Fanfic/NobodyDies''. The Ree, the Reego, and the Keiworu are all innocent... by which we mean they do not seem to have a good grasp of morality. They tend to think that killing and violence, especially if explosions and/or knives are involved, is '''FUN'''. However, they also have very strict prohibitions against killing humans, because humans, like them, are "people", and harming people is a bad thing according to their parental figures. Kaworu speculates that they may be closer to what humanity was like before the "Fall": uninhibited and unaware of Good and Evil.

* In the Franchise/MassEffect's ''[[Fanfic/CrucibleMassEffect Crucible]]'''s companion fic, ''Interference'', the adult characters enforce this trope onto their hybrid children which causes more harm than good in the long run. Instead of telling the kids that there're are [[HalfBreedDiscrimination bad people out to use and kill them simply for being Hybrids]] and prepare the children for the worse, the parents shield them from everything with "you will understand when you're older" or [[JustAKid dismiss that they're just kids and won't be able to understand anything]]. This attitude causes misunderstanding from the hybrid children and thus makes them unprepared when the brutal truth catch up to them in the form of [[OrphanageOfFear Mondala]].
** Alt!Jane and Garrus were a big offender of this trope. [[DarkAndTroubledPast Her loss of innocence from a young age]] caused her to be overprotective to their son Gaius so when they had to explain Alt!Garrus's constantly away for his work of reforming the Hierarchy, instead of exposing the truth to Gaius that "your dad does it because he's fighting against the people who want to hurt or even kill you and your kind", they just went with "I will explain it when you're older". This made Gaius misunderstood that his father hated and wanted nothing to do with him. Had they just gave Gaius the truth, the child would have felt less hurt and be more understanding of the situation.
** Alt!Victus also did it to Tiberius. He overcompensated for his son lack of motherly affection by shielding the child from every bad thing, even the flaws of others. But by constantly telling the child stories about Tarquin's heroic deeds without revealing anything bad about his deceased older brother, Victus has effectively put Tarquin on a pedestal, made Tib seeing himself as unworthiness and thus damaged his self-esteem beyond repair when he grew up.
*** Victus being into this trope also cause him to not believe Tib when the kid tried to tell him that he was being bullied at school, it wasn't until Alt!Shepard confirmed it to him that Adrien realized that [[KidsAreCruel he was wrong]].
* Invoked in ''Fanfic/GinnyWeasleyDoubleLife''; the talking snake Milikan has grown used to using her HypnoticEyes to get friends, such as with Ginny, but when Ginny introduces Milikan to her infant daughter Lily, Milikan is truly touched to realise that Lily shows no fear of her.
* ''Fanfic/ItsNotTheRaptorDNA'':
** Rosie, Owen's niece, who is an adorable little girl who does not know of the terrible things Elise did prior to her HeelFaceTurn. The adults also have to tiptoe around why Elise's sister Small One isn't around anymore.
** Love, a baby ''Apatosaurus'' that wanders into Elise's room at the vet's after her run-in with [[SeaMonster Lilly]]. While Elise is a GentleGiant, she's still a predatory dinosaur that killed several of Love's kind during her rampage, but Love shows no fear with walking up to Elise.

* ''Fanfic/TheOutside'':
** Played with in regards to Ryuuko is more naive than the usual child (we don't know exactly how old she is but the story implies that she's about 12), however, this is because Satsuki forbade her from going outside and raised her isolated, so she doesn't really know how the world works or what things are. Special points of this are when she refers to an [=RV=] as a "house car", didn't know what snow was and asked what it was, couldn't understand exactly how someone as nice as Rei could be a wanted fugitive (her reasoning is that "nice people don't go to jail"), or what miscarriages are.
** This is equally played with with Nui, though, to a lesser extent, as, despite being about six, she's [[WiseBeyondTheirYears knows more than a six-year-old would]] but she, like Ryuuko, doesn't know what a miscarriage is.

* So far, ''Fanfic/BornOfHellsKitchen'' has three child characters. Two of them are the epitome of cheerfulness and optimism, and while the third is rather traumatized by repeated ParentalAbandonment, he still manages to be an utter cutie winning his entourage through his sweetness.
** ''Innocence'' is actually discussed between Matt and Foggy -- Matt equates it with ''ignorance'', insisting his son won't be happy to learn his parents are leading double lives in which they commit violence and bring various villains' attention upon them. Foggy firmly disagrees and claims it's a matter of ''idealism'', believing Matt's son Peter would be awed to learn his parents are superheroes doing their utmost best to protect people. The narration itself leans more towards Foggy's argument.

* Because Laura of ''VideoGame/SilentHill2'' is an innocent, if [[BrattyHalfPint bratty]], child, the town does not manifest as a dangerous and hellish place to her the way it does to the adults she interacts with.

* Most mainstream Christian Denominations believe that children are incapable of committing major sins by virtue of their youth. It is also generally believed that all baptized children who die immediately go to Heaven (what happens to unbaptized children is debated). In the Catholic Church, those who have not yet reached maturity are considered to be unable to commit mortal sin on the basis that they lack reason (and by extension lack full knowledge, one of the requirements necessary for a sin to be mortal). Additionally, the Catholic Church holds that any baptized person who dies before attaining reason goes to Heaven. The Catechism of the Catholic Church concludes that while it can't be said for sure what happens to baptized children, there is good reason to believe that God has mercy on them (perhaps even letting them into Heaven) on the basis that Jesus was a FriendToAllChildren. Other denominations that don't practice infant baptism believe instead that all people are born sinful, and accepting salvation is a private, personal decision, of which baptism is merely a symbol. However, those who die without having the faculties to make such an important decision (namely, children and the mentally handicapped) are still believed to get a pass.

* During the ''VideoGame/TheElderScrollsIVOblivion'' quest, [[Creator/HPLovecraft Shadow Over Hackdirt]], Jiv Hiriel cites the reason he decided to help you rescue a young Argonian as "she's so innocent."
* ''VideoGame/TheElderScrollsVSkyrim'' has several orphaned children whom the player can [[HappilyAdopted adopt]]. Skyrim is considered one of the darker games in the series and one of the reasons is that [[FantasticRacism racism]] plays a larger role in the game world. However, the orphaned children of Skyrim are perhaps the kindest NPC's in the game because don't care if you're a [[HumansAreSpecial human]], [[OurElvesAreDifferent elf]], or a {{beast|man}}, they're just happy that you've adopted and love them.

[[folder:Webcomics]]

%%* ''WesternAnimation/WorldOfTomorrow'': Emily-Prime.

* Lampshaded and mocked by Terry Pratchett in ''Hogfather'', with the comment that the sound of children at play is a wonderful thing to hear, ''provided you're too far away to make out what they're saying''.

** Eren Yeager is shown to have [[ExploitedTrope used this to his advantage]] in an incident of TroublingUnchildlikeBehavior. Going on his own to rescue a girl (Mikasa) from a gang of criminals, he lulls the first man into believing he's just a scared, lost child...and then stabs him in the throat with the knife he'd been hiding behind his back. He then proceeds to brutally murder the second crook, revealing our hero was a very disturbed child long before [[TheCallKnowsWhereYouLive The Call knew where he lived]].

The age European culture has assigned to the end of "childhood" has grown over the years and an "inbetween" period was added in TheFifties or so — "teenage-hood" — but the meme remains: a child is a BlankSlate not yet sullied by the [[GrowingUpSucks evils of the world]]. Only upon [[ComingOfAgeStory coming of age]] do they lose this innocence and the protection it confers. A [[DeathOfAChild child's death]], [[MenAreTheExpendableGender even that of a boy]], is a tragedy; but a young man just a year older than him [[WeHaveReserves is in the most expendable demographic in the world]].

Frequently children CannotTellALie because they are too innocent to think of suppressing the truth. Children who do start to lie often show this is new to them by being momentually {{Bad Liar}}s. On the other hand, this very quality can lead to their being TooDumbToFool.

* ''LightNovel/NoGameNoLife'': Izuna Hatsuse isn't exactly "innocent" as she swears constantly in the light novel (she does little swearing in the anime though), but that doesn't mean she's a bad person, As she's only 8 years old and as long as it's not a game (or petting), she barely cares of things the others do and has to ask many questions to understand. In the flim, When Tet told her of the Great War and how the Exceeds killed one another for thousands of years, she cannot comprehend why people would want to do that.

[[folder:Real Life]]
* Most predatory species don't develop their predatory habits until they become adolescents or adults. In their infancy, Predators are more playful and only eat pre-killed prey or small insects. Their playfulness as children would eventually teach them how to hunt for themselves.
* Many countries have rules which exempt children and young teens from responsibility for their crimes. This is because children often lack a full understanding of what they're doing, and they certainly lack an adult's impulse control. Furthermore, imprisoning children with adult criminals would be a very quick way to get dead, molested, or [[HadToComeToPrisonToBeACrook further-corrupted]] kids. Juvenile sentencing laws exist for good reason.
* Corruption of a minor is a crime: It involves encouraging or aiding a minor to commit a criminal act (e.g. using drugs), or sexually abusing minors. In Canada, the maximum penalty is 2 years.
* Age restriction legislation exists in North America prohibiting minors from purchasing and partaking in tobacco, pornographic material, and liquor. Minor ages, however, differ, between states and provinces of Canada and America. However, the minor ages usually range from 18-21. Other countries in particular European countries have different laws permitting minors to consume liquor under the supervision of parents or caregivers. As with tobacco, the definition of minors differs. Cinematic content is also governed by similar laws, where minors may be permitted to view R-rated movies with the presence and supervision of an adult non-minor. Minor laws differ between jurisdictional countries. For violating the tobacco and liquor restrictions adults could be fined and imprisoned for 2 years as with corruption of a minor.
* [[ThinkOfTheChildren Children are often used]] by supporters to vindicate their ideology. The idea seems to be that if a child believes your view then that is because they are pure and innocent and not just because their parents told them what was "correct".
* The belief that children could not lie about terrible things led to the deaths of countless women, men, and even other children during the witch panic that swept mainly through Europe but also the US in the 17th century. Though it wasn't always the children's fault, mind you. Often times they were just saying what they thought the adults wanted to hear. The little ones often had no idea what they were even saying beyond "If I say this a person they're saying is bad will be punished."
** This same behavior led to the slew of [[https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Day-care_sex-abuse_hysteria child molestation allegations]] throughout the '80s and early '90s, the most infamous American example being the [[https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/McMartin_preschool_trial [=McMartin=] case]], in which investigators actually looked for secret tunnels under the daycare facility because children claimed that they'd been abused there.
[[/folder]]

* The theme of ''Freedom from Fear'' (of ''Art/FourFreedoms''). World War II is raging around the family, but the children are implied to be innocent of the horrors as they slumber peacefully.

* The ''Wiki/SCPFoundation'' likes to play with this trope. While many of the child SCP items, such as [[http://www.scp-wiki.net/scp-053 SCP-053]], [[http://www.scp-wiki.net/scp-040 SCP-040]] and [[http://www.scp-wiki.net/scp-239 SCP-239]], are dangerous and almost all of them are [[CreepyChild creepy]], almost none of them are out-right [[EnfantTerrible hostile or malevolent]], and even the ones who are have been altered or manipulated by an external force, such as [[http://www.scp-wiki.net/scp-993 SCP-993]], [[http://www.scp-wiki.net/scp-204 SCP-204]] or [[http://www.scp-wiki.net/scp-899 SCP-899]].

* ''WesternAnimation/ToyStory'': Sid tortures toys for fun. On one hand, it's easy to imagine this kid growing up to torture his fellow humans. On the other hand, he didn't know the toys were alive.

** The Doylist reason Cody Hackins was included as a witness in ''Turnabout Samurai'' is because of this trope; a child's reasons for lying are very different from an adults, so Cody can be a difficult witness without any malice, as he simply doesn't understand what he witnessed. [[spoiler: He initially conceals the fact that he saw Dahlia kill Jack Hammer, because Hammer was wearing a Steel Samurai costume, and he didn't want to admit that Steel Samurai could lose a fight. He never realized that he saw a murder, thinking that it was just another Steel Samurai performance.]]

** Pearl Fey's so innocent, she doesn't even notice [[spoiler: when her mother orders her to kill her cousin and best friend and heartbreak her aunt]].

* Young Link and Zelda in ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaOcarinaOfTime''. [[spoiler:Ganondorf exploits this by [[MacguffinDeliveryService waiting until they open the door to the Sacred Realm in their attempts to stop him]].]]
** The children of Ordon Village, particularly Colin, in ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaTwilightPrincess''.

* Surprisingly touched upon in ''VideoGame/{{Killer 7}}''. When assassin [[spoiler: Jean [=DePaul=]]] brings up MASK de Smith's popularity with children, MASK responds by declaring that children's purity makes them the most objective judges in the world. Turns out they're right.