History Main / InvisibleToAdults

There is also the idea, closely related with the concept of the {{Masquerade}}, that all the fantasies one had as a child were in fact real, but people started denying them to be as they grew older. This is usually seen as a natural process that all people are subject to, although [[{{Muggles}} some]] are more seriously affected than others. {{Imaginary Friend}}s and Santa Claus are typically presented as this. There is AnAesop about [[GrowingUpSucks losing something important part of yourself]] with losing [[ChildrenAreSpecial your inner child]] in stories that feature this idea. Occasionally you get a rare adult who is exempt from under the effect of this, usually because they have [[ManicPixieDreamGirl kept their childish demeanour and might be viewed as somewhat strange]] by normal society. Another grown-up who is affected by this but is still able to acknowledge the existence of the (to him) unseen world (out of faith or from second-hand experience) is also very common. Some coming of age stories present this as a tragic but inevitable process as the character is fully aware that this is happening to them, gradually losing their memory about how things used to be.

The son's response? "No dad, of course not, I'm actually wondering were you carrying mommy on your back since last week?"

->''"Duh! Why do you think I'm called "Youngblood"? Only the '''young''' can see me. Only kids!"''

* In the ''Series/BuffyTheVampireSlayer'' episode "Killed by Death", Buffy thinks that the MonsterOfTheWeek, which is killing off sick kids at a hospital, can only be seen by children. [[spoiler:In fact, it can only be seen by individuals with a high fever]].

* One episode of ''Series/{{Charmed|1998}}'' sees the sisters helping a young girl protect the fairy kingdom from trolls. Unfortunately, fairies can only be seen by children (or those who believe in them).

* The entire world "Nega Earth" is 'unavailable to adults in ''Anime/ElementHunters'' due to needing a particular portion of the brain which decays once they reach a certain age, and only shows up in a select few children. The adults are still far from useless though, as they're the ones sending children there in the first place.
* Only young children, such as Amu's sister, or those who have Guardian Characters themselves seem able to see the Charas from ''Manga/ShugoChara''. The only adults shown to be able to see Charas are those who had Shugo Charas themselves, such as Nikaidou and possibly Tsukasa. Yukari explains the reason she can see them as "Since I knew [Shugo Charas] existed, even I could see them".

* The angels and demons in ''ComicBook/PS238'', as confirmed [[http://ps238.nodwick.com/comic/03192012/ here]].

* ''ComicStrip/BabyBlues'' plays this trope forwards and backwards. Since the series is told from a couples' point of view, no one can see their imagination or their childrens' (usually Zoe) unusual forms. In some comics, adults are rarely seen to see the families' imagination. An example can be seen here. [[http://babyblues.com/comics/november-23-1997/]] Another example can be seen here. [[http://babyblues.com/comics/june-29-1997/]]

* A common trope, appearing in [[http://etc.usf.edu/lit2go/146/the-yellow-fairy-book/4820/the-witch-in-the-stone-boat/ The Witch in the Stone Boat]], [[http://www.surlalunefairytales.com/cinderella/stories/birch.html The Wonderful Birch]], and many other tales, is that [[LiminalTime shortly after the heroine gives birth]], the villain [[ForcedTransformation transforms]], kills, or abducts her, and substitutes her own daughter. No matter how good the illusion, it never fools the baby, who grows fretful.

* In ''WesternAnimation/ThePolarExpress'', the bell from Santa's sleigh can only be heard to ring by people (mostly little kids) who sincerely believe in Santa.

%%* Angels in ''Film/WingsOfDesire''.

* OlderThanRadio: Goethe's poem ''Der Erlkönig''... or, according to an alternate interpretation, the child was hallucinating the Erlkönig as he was dying.
* Inverted in the ''Literature/HisDarkMaterials'' trilogy; the Specters from Cittàgazze can only be seen once you reach puberty. Unfortunately, as soon as you can see them, ''they'' can see ''you''...

* ''[[http://www.readbookonline.net/readOnLine/7251/ Aladdin's lamp]]'', a poem by JamesRusselLowell.
* On the ''Literature/{{Discworld}}'', Death can only be seen by those whose minds haven't been socially programmed to edit him out. This mostly includes children, who see him as the skeleton he is instead of a really thin man. And cats.

* This becomes a minor plot point in the later part of Zilpha Keatley Snyder's ''The Changeling''. Little Josie, who is three and [[ChildMage sees all kinds of things]], says she saw and talked with [[NotSoImaginaryFriend the ghost mother Annabelle]] of the burnt-out BigFancyHouse, who gave her a bunch of dried flowers. Ivy and Martha didn't see her, although both had clearly visioned [[ImaginaryFriend Imaginary Friends]] when they were seven.

* A common trope, appearing in [[http://etc.usf.edu/lit2go/146/the-yellow-fairy-book/4820/the-witch-in-the-stone-boat/ The Witch in the Stone Boat]], [[http://www.surlalunefairytales.com/cinderella/stories/birch.html The Wonderful Birch]], and many other tales, is that [[LiminalTime shortly after the heroine gives birth]], the villain [[BalefulPolymorph transforms]], kills, or abducts her, and substitutes her own daughter. No matter how good the illusion, it never fools the baby, who grows fretful.

* The protagonist of ''The Curator's Friend'' by Creator/EMForster meets a [[SatyrsAndFauns Faun]] who can only be seen by certain people. He says that for years he only talked to children but they stop seeing him when they grow up.

%%* The forest spirits in ''Anime/MyNeighborTotoro''

* ''Anime/MyNeighborTotoro'': Only the kids have successfully seen the title character and the other fantastic creatures in the film (the soot gremlins, the cat-bus). At first, it's implied that they hide and cover up their tracks when the kids take adults to see them. Later, the cat-bus runs past two adults who don't bat an eye.

* ''Anime/SpiritedAway'' might fall under this, although it's difficult to say for certain since the only human adults around are completely oblivious at first and later under a spell.

* ''Anime/MyNeighborTotoro'': Only the kids have successfully seen the title character and the other fantastic creatures in the film (the soot gremlins, the cat-bus). At first, it's implied that they hide and cover up their tracks when the kids take adults to see them. Later, the cat-bus runs past two adults who don't bat an eye.

Where live-action tv and films are concerned, this trope becomes extremely convenient for [[NeverWorkWithChildrenOrAnimals young child and animal actors]]. Adult and older child actors can be told to pretend the invisible being is not there, but a toddler or animal will interact with it regardless.

* When Taiki, Akari, Zenjiro and Shoutmon return to the human world midway through ''Anime/DigimonXrosWars'', only the trio are capable of seeing Shoutmon's flickering miniature manifestation; Taiki's mother can't, even when Shoutmon is trying to talk to her. When Tactimon turns up and Shoutmon becomes capable of existing properly in the real world to fight him, though, people are able to see them.

[[quoteright:300:[[Webcomic/{{Optipess}} https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/rsz_2015_05_25_638_imaginary_friend.jpg]]]]

* In ''Film/ETTheExtraterrestrial'', Elliott first tries to convince Gertie that this is the reason she shouldn't tell their mom about the title alien hiding out in his room, but she's already too smart to fall for that. HeartwarmingInHindsight, though, that he doesn't want his five-year-old sister to find out [[TheyWouldCutYouUp the]] ''[[TheyWouldCutYouUp real]]'' [[TheyWouldCutYouUp reason he doesn't want adults finding out about E.T.]]

* The ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaTheMinishCap''. In this case, it's the Minish/Picori people.

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