History OlderThanTheyLook / VisualNovels

* ''VisualNovel/SteinsGateZero'': Maho Hiyajo being constantly mistaken for a middle schooler despite being a 21-year-old university student is a major RunningGag.

* ''VisualNovel/{{Ever17}}'':
** The Cure-infectees; their bodies keep aging for five more years until the cells in their bodies have been replaced with infected cells, and then their SuperHealing prevents any aging whatsoever. This is why [[spoiler:Tsugumi]] looks no older than [[ArcNumber 17]] [[spoiler:in either time period]].

*** In ''LightNovel/FateZero'', when Ilya is actually around 8 years old, [[spoiler:Kiritsugu]] is worried because her growth is so slow that she only weighs about twenty pounds! Even without modifications she wouldn't have matured normally.

** Ryoma Hoshi. His dwarfism and [[NonStandardCharacterDesign extremely cartoony]] face makes him look even ''younger'' than Hiyoko. However, his status as a DeathRow inmate means he would have to be at least 18, most likely in his early twenties, and therefore one of the ''oldest'' students in the class. His voice reflects his real age, speaking in a deep BadassBaritone that [[VocalDissonance further contrasts his childlike appearance]]. As with Chihiro and Hiyoko above, late-game reveals throw his apparent age into question, [[spoiler:namely that he might not have been on death row at all]], but he's still at least 17 years old.

** Himiko Yumeno deserves mention as well, especially as unlike Ryoma she has a very immature personality to go with her looks, she loves sweets, stuffed animals, frequently tells people when she's going to the bathroom and childishly insists [[{{Chuunibyou}} magic is real]] even when admitting how she performed a trick is [[SkewedPriorities crucial]] ''to a murder investigation'', but she is 17-18 like the rest of the cast. In fact, the GentleGiant Gonta is actually younger than her!

* Natsuki from ''VisualNovel/DokiDokiLiteratureClub'' is short, petite, and looks barely like a middle school student, but she's in high school and 18 years old just like the rest of the cast. There's some UnfortunateImplications that the reason she looks like this is due to malnutrition.

* Arisa of ''VisualNovel/TrueLoveJunaiNonogatari'' looks young enough to be in elementary school but is actually a teenager. The main character even worries that if he pursues her, people will think he's a lolicon.

** Her cousin, Pearl Fey also qualifies after the seven year TimeSkip. Despite being 17-years-old, she is often mistaken for a young child. It doesn't help that the person who mistakes her for a child actually knew her when she ''was'' a child, and also that she hardly grew during the time gap[[note]]According to the [[AllThereInTheManual official guidebooks]], she was only 125 cm (4'1") tall when she was 8, and 140 cm (4'6") tall when she was 17[[/note]].
** VisualNovel/{{Apollo Justice|AceAttorney}} is 22-years-old. However, in the second case of the game, the police seem to be under the impression that he's the same age as Trucy (who's 15), shooing him away from the crime scene telling him to "go play somewhere else." Lampshaded in a playable flashback seven years before that, where you can get a picture of Apollo...who looks exactly the same at age 15 as he does at 22.
** Likewise, Lamiroir's age is 40-years-old according to her profile in the Court Record, despite her looking like a woman in her mid-twenties. Most likely a side-effect of being [[spoiler:Apollo's mom.]]

** Phoenix Wright himself in ''[[VisualNovel/PhoenixWrightAceAttorneyDualDestinies Dual Destinies]]'' is 34-years-old, but the game recycles his old design when he was in his twenties. Which is amusing because he ''did'' look his age in ''Apollo Justice: Ace Attorney''; shaving and an attorney suit seem to make someone look a lot younger.

* In ''VisualNovel/Danganronpa2GoodbyeDespair'', Hiyoko Saionji is around 17- to 18-years-old like the rest of the cast, but can easily be mistaken for an elementary school student at first glance. It doesn't help that she acts like one from time to time too. This is all deliberate though as her innocent appearance is meant to contrast with [[FaceOfAnAngelMindOfADemon her really bratty, sadistic, and overall nasty personality.]] During the final chapter of the game, [[spoiler:a newspaper clipping reveals that Hiyoko went through a [[SheIsAllGrownUp growth sprout]] during her time at Hope's Peak Academy, and the only reason why she still looks like a child is because the simulation in which the game takes place in kept Hiyoko's avatar with the same appearance she had when she first started attending Hope's Peak, just like everyone else.]]

** Saber is about 25-years-old (i.e. not counting the centuries since [[spoiler:King Arthur's death]]), but fifteen in appearance (when she stopped physically aging).
** Ilya looks about 10-years-old but is actually older than the 17-year-old Shirou. The Einzberns modifications to her body made her the perfect Master but also halted her physical growth.
*** In ''LightNovel/FateZero'', when Ilya is actually around 8-years-old, [[spoiler:Kiritsugu]] is worried because her growth is so slow that she only weighs about twenty pounds! Even without modifications she wouldn't have matured normally.

* In ''VisualNovel/{{Narcissu}}'', the female lead Setsumi is 22-years-old, but the 20-year-old male lead often comments that she looks considerably younger than him. For Setsumi, whose life consists of a hopeless cycle of hospitalization and release, "time has stood still" ever since she was first hospitalized in middle school.

* In ''VisualNovel/DanganronpaTriggerHappyHavoc'', Chihiro Fujisaki, having a small stature, a petite appearence, and a very sensitive personality, could easily pass as a middle school student. [[spoiler:Taking into account that [[WholesomeCrossdresser he]] must have been around seventeen when he first entered Hope's Peak Academy and the two years worth of memories that Monokuma took from him and his classmates, that means that he is ''19-to-20 years old'']].
* In ''VisualNovel/Danganronpa2GoodbyeDespair'', Hiyoko Saionji is around 17- to 18-years-old like the rest of the cast, but can easily be mistaken for an elementary school student at first glance. It doesn't help that she acts like one from time to time too. This is all deliberate though as her innocent appearance is meant to contrast with [[FaceOfAnAngelMindOfADemon her really bratty, sadistic, and overall nasty personality.]] [[spoiler: During the final chapter of the game however, a newspaper clipping reveals that Hiyoko went through a [[SheIsAllGrownUp growth sprout]] during her time at Hope's Peak Academy and the only reason as to why she still looks like a child is because the simulation in which the game takes place in kept Hiyoko's avatar with the same appearance she had when she first started attending Hope's Peak, just like everyone else]].

** Ryoma Hoshi. His dwarfism and [[NonStandardCharacterDesign extremely cartoony]] face makes him look even ''younger'' than Hiyoko. However, his status as a DeathRow inmate means he would have to be at least 18, and therefore one of the ''oldest'' students in the class. He's also most definitely ''not'' older than he ''sounds'', speaking in a deep BadassBaritone that [[VocalDissonance further contrasts his childlike appearance]].

* Natsuki from ''VisualNovel/DokiDokiLiteratureClub'' is short, petite, and looks barely like a middle school student, but she's in high school and in the same age range as the rest of the cast. There's some UnfortunateImplications that the reason she looks like this is due to malnutrition.