History Main / FountainofYouth

[[caption-width-right:200: One little problem: [[spoiler: She didn't look like that when she was younger.]]]]

* Due to a quirk in their physiology, the Cheela in ''Literature/DragonsEgg'' can rejuvenate. Under particular conditions, when their body has been battered enough, it will revert to [[PlantAliens the plant the Cheela evolved from]] and heal itself, [[RipVanWinkle taking the best part of a lifetime]][[hottip:*:About half an hour -- the Cheela [[YearInsideHourOutside live on a different time frame]] than us in the process. Then the plant turns back into a Cheela in its prime. In the sequel, ''Starquake'', this very rare and risky process has been harnessed and rejuvenation machines are in use.

* Happens to Batman [[hottip:*: again]] in ''WesternAnimation/BatmanTheBraveAndTheBold'' after he was zapped by [[{{Shazam}} Dr. Sivana]] starting as a teenager, then a toddler, and then a baby.

* In an episode of ''BrigadoonMarinAndMelan'', Marine eats some weird chocolate that causes her to start hallucinating. Among other things, she imagines herself [[OvernightAgeUp growing into a young adult]], then regressing into a baby.

* In ''Manga/FairyTail'', [[spoiler: Erza reverts into a child in the Taiyou Village arc]].

** Happened for the third time in Chapter 239, with [[TheRival Tsubaki]]. Except this time he reverted both in physical ''and'' mental state. Everyone, including Bossun, gushes over [[CutenessProximity how cute he is]].

** In "King's Quest 2" you will stumble apon a youth potion. If you drink it, you will turn into a baby and it will be game over. At the end if you give it to the villain she will become a young woman again (good or bad depends on what you do).

** Speaking of this manga, it had a three-chapter spinoff called ''Magical Star Kanon 100%'', focused on, as the name implies, Kanon Nakagawa. In it, she is turned into a child by a Runaway Spirit and has to hide her identity and find a way to get back to her true age.

* In the recent ''{{Tekken}}'' games, Heihachi Mishima has found a way to rejuvenate himself back to his prime thanks to a serum made from Ogre's blood. This change has only shown in non-canon games so far, but given that it was induced by Creator/DaisukeGouri's [[RealLifeWritesThePlot unfortunate suicide]], it's likely to stick to the canon series as well.

* Ra's Al Ghul's Lazarus pits. While not -exactly- the same thing, the pits are used at one point in ''WesternAnimation/BatmanBeyond'' to restore elderly Bruce Wayne back down to his 40's (as part of a Ra's plot to put his mind into Bruce's body).

* Sort of happens in ''Manga/{{Bleach}}'': [[spoiler: Nel Tu originally had the appearance of a young woman, but after being attacked by her rival Nnoitra, she ended up reverting into a small child.]]

*** In the anime, two girls from the student council drink it on purpose, because "life is an adventure". Needless to say, it makes things even harder. In both versions, when the rejuvenated girls drink the antidote, they get ten years older than normal. And of course, by the time the next episode starts,
[[UnexplainedRecovery they're back to their normal ages again]].

*** In the anime, two girls from the student council drink it on purpose, because "life is an adventure". Needless to say, it makes things even harder. In both versions, when the rejuvenated girls drink the antidote, they get ten years older than normal. And of course, by the time the next episode starts, [[UnexplainedRecovery they're back to their normal ages again]].

* Beautifully played with in the finale of the [=IMAX=] short ''Film/CirqueDuSoleilJourneyOfMan'': When TheEveryman middle-aged hero accepts the old bowler hat of his youth from a little Vagabond Girl and ducks offscreen so she can put it on him, the voiceover narration explains "Years turned to dust. I was young again." [[spoiler: He rises back into frame as an ''old'' man but it's clear he's as full of life and joy as he's ever been.]]

* The MacGuffin in ''TheNuttyProfessor 2''. Professor Sherman Klump created the fountain of youth formula which lasts temporarily.

* Beautifully played with in the finale of the [=IMAX=] short ''CirqueDuSoleil -- Journey of Man'': When TheEveryman middle-aged hero accepts the old bowler hat of his youth from a little Vagabond Girl and ducks offscreen so she can put it on him, the voiceover narration explains "Years turned to dust. I was young again." [[spoiler: He rises back into frame as an ''old'' man -- the performer was about 67 at the time of filming -- but it's clear he's as full of life and joy as he's ever been. In fact, the guardian Flounes (clowns) who hadn't seen him since he was an adolescent recognize him instantly.]]

* The finale of the early CirqueDuSoleil show ''Nouvelle Experience'' had the inhabitants of a MagicalLand change TheEveryman hero back into a child before he returned to the world he came from.

** From the twelfth movie ''One Piece Film Z'', Ain's Modo Modo no Mi powers allow her to rejuvenate her opponents. Unlike Bonney's powers, however, it works on inanimate objects too, and it can only work backwards, whereas Bonney can also age her opponents. [[spoiler: Nami, Chopper, Robin and Brook all got hit by it, regressing the former two into children, Robin into a teenager, and... not altering Brook's physical appearance at all, [[DemBones since he's a skeleton]].]]

* ''Manga/TheWorldGodOnlyKnows'': In the "Heart of Jupiter" arc, Keima is [[spoiler: sent back to the past via MentalTimeTravel and given a mission to save a cute but emotionless and mysterious young girl from commiting suicide. If she gets overtaken by despair, she starts getting younger until she's transformed into a baby, which triggers a ResetButton that sends Keima back to the start of the mission]].

* In the "King's Quest" aeries, there have been 2 cases of this trope.
** In "King's Quest 2" you will stumble apon a youth potion. If you drink it, you will turn into a baby and it will be game over. At the end if you give it to the villian she will become a young woman again (good or bad depends on what you do).

* In ''VisualNovel/RadicalDreamers'', this is an important plot point: [[spoiler: Kid is revealed to be Schala, who was transformed into a baby by the power of the Frozen Flame. It then sent her to the modern era, where Lucca found her and raised her]]. Granted, this game is not canon anymore, but an easter egg from ''VideoGame/ChronoCross'' implies that the events of ''Radical Dreamers'' actually happened in another dimension.

* [[VideoGame/TheSims The Sims 2]] had the Elixir of Life Aspiration reward, and the "milk" produced by the cowplant available in the ''University'' expansion after it eats a sim, which is a more potent version (making a sim 5 days younger per dose rather then three). The ''Generations'' expansion for the third game added the "Young Again" reward, which is ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin, and the Age Freeze reward, which is also ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin.

* Two instances happened in ''KimPossible''. The first was when in the MadeForTVMovie "A Sitch In Time" where the [[VillainTeamUp teamed up bad guys]], having possession of time traveling idol, used a device to make themselves toddlers so they could infiltrate the titular hero's youth.

* There have been a few episodes in "Webcomic/DarkwingDuck" that feature this.

* ''WesternAnimation/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagic'': Age spells can only be performed by the highest-level unicorns. Trixie is able to turn Snips into a baby and Snails into an old stallion with her magic boosted by an Alicorn Amulet; Twilight Sparkle, on the other hand, is unable to reverse it. Later on, Twilight manages to pull it off [[spoiler: by having Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle impersonate Applejack and Rarity respectively]].
* The second to last episode of Rugrats (AKA Fountain of Youth) has Tommy, Chuckie, & Kimi think that the fountain of youth exists. They are happy until Angelica tells them that she will be in charge when its powers take effect on the adults & tricks them into thinking that the fountain in the lake has said powers. After several unsuccesful attempts at preventing the adults from going into the lake, they decide to drain the lake...[[spoiler: by pulling on a chain which might actually be attached to a boat which is far too heavy for them to move by even an inch]].
* In a cutaway gag on ''FamilyGuy'', Ponce de Leon Griffin finds the Fountain of Youth and takes a dip, keeping his head above water. When he emerges, his body is the size of an infant, but his head is still adult-sized; he promptly topples over.

* In [[http://www.opplopolis.com/issues/4/5 issue 4]] of ''Webcomic/{{Opplopolis}}'' during Luke Duggans' interview with Shirley Kidd about a mysterious movie she appeared in called ''Marvedyne'' (that word being the series' MacGuffin), the latter suddenly goes from 60-ish to 20-ish with thus far [[LeftHanging no explanation]], though there was a [[SlippingAMickey conspicuous cup of coffee]] earlier in the scene.

* The second to last episode of Rugrats (AKA Fountain of Youth) has Tommy, Chuckie, & Kimi into thinking that the fountain of youth exists. They are happy until Angelica tells them that she will be in charge when its powers take effect on the adults & tricks them into thinking that the fountain in the lake has said powers. After several unsuccesful attempts at preventing the adults from going into the lake, they decide to drain the lake...[[spoiler: by pulling on a chain which might actually be attached to a boat which is far too heavy for them to move by even an inch]].

* In the children's series ''LazyTown'' it occurs in the episode "Little Sportacus" where Sportacus is de-aged by Robbie Rotten's machine. This episode shows Sportacus being just as active and agile as his adult self and sends the message to kids that its never too early and children no matter how young are capable of amazing things.

* [[VideoGame/TheSims The Sims 2]] had the Elixir of Life Aspiration reward, and the "milk" produced by the cowplant available in the ''University'' expansion after it eats a sim, which is a more potent version (making a sim 5 days younger per dose rather then three). The ''Generations'' expansion for the third game added the "Young Again" reward, which is ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin, and the Age Freeze reward, which is also ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin.

* In episode 16 of Kyodai Ken Bycrosser, the villains use a weird gun to revert a couple of children (Yeah, children of all people) to infancy, before turning them into old people with another gun. A young woman is also regressed into a baby. Obviously, all of them are eventually turned back to normal.