History VagueAge / VideoGames

* Many in ''Franchise/{{Pokemon}}'', especially the protagonists:
** For a very long while, the only protagonist with a confirmed age was [[VideoGame/PokemonRedAndBlue Red]], who's 11 in the first games [[AllThereInTheManual according to the manual]] and presumably their remakes, presumably 14 in ''VideoGame/PokemonGoldAndSilver'', ''Crystal'', and their remakes, at the very least 19 by the time of his reappearance in ''VideoGame/PokemonBlackAndWhite2'', and at the very least 21 by ''VideoGame/PokemonSunAndMoon''. According to the same manual, [[TheRival Blue]] is the same age as Red, and [[DistaffCounterpart Leaf]] can be presumed to be the same age as well. [[VideoGame/PokemonColosseum Wes]] is stated to be around seventeen to eighteen, and Lucy Fleetfoot from ''VideoGame/PokemonTrozei'' is said to be just a bit older than him.
** The ''VideoGame/PokemonBlackAndWhite'' protagonists are stated to be 14 years old by WordOfGod during a fan meeting. The sequel protagonists are even worse, looking younger than Hilda and Hilbert but older than characters like Red or May.
** Many people assume the player characters are around 10 thanks in part to the anime making Ash 10, but again, the only protagonists in the games with outright stated ages are older than that. Also, Michael is identified as "an unknown teen" in ''VideoGame/PokemonXDGaleOfDarkness'', so he could be at least 13, yet he looks about the same as the characters from the main games (not to mention he's about a head shorter).
** Thanks to the VirtualPaperDoll feature of ''VideoGame/PokemonXAndY'', the protags (who, by default, appear to be teenagers) can ''look'' older or younger depending on their clothing and hairstyles. On one extreme, "cute" outfits can make them look like the ten-year-olds everyone associates with Ash and Misty (Serena even getting some Misty-like outfit options), while on the other end of the scale, outfits from Snowbelle or Lumiose can make them look like early college students. Even more confusing is that your character has to bend down to talk to young children, but not ''all'' children.
** ''[[VideoGame/PokemonRubyAndSapphire Pokémon Omega Ruby and Alpha Sapphire]]'' averts this with many characters, as the news you see on the [=PokéNav=] confirms ages for several characters (for example Wally is 10 and Professor Birch is 35). The protagonists' age is still mysteriously absent despite the news discussing them quite often. However, due to the unselected player character being indicated as 12, the player can be presumed to be 12 as well.
** There is also a set of protagonists with a confirmed age, and in-game at that; the protagonists of ''VideoGame/PokemonSunAndMoon'', who are 11, just like Red was at the start of his journey. This is confirmed by Wicke asking you at one point if you are "around eleven", with both dialogue options basically amounting to "yes".
** The ''Pokemon'' games never keep track of the ages of individual Pokemon, making it impossible to tell how old it is. Evolution is also not an indication of age, as they can evolve whenever the correct trigger is hit, and can easily prevent it from occurring. The closest thing to aging is that Baby Pokemon are incapable of breeding unless they evolve into a higher form and even that means little because only a select few Pokemon are considered "Baby Pokemon".
** Many younger [=NPCs=] are this way. For example, Misty seems to be around Red's age judging from an early Gen 1 art of them together and adaptations portraying them as the same age, but Misty's post-timeskip design arguably looks older than Red.
** The Alola games have Hapu and Gladion. Hapu's short height and proportions makes her look far younger than the protagonist, but trainers in Alola go on journeys at eleven and she has the vocabulary of someone at least eleven as well. Gladion is presumably 11-year old Lillie's older brother but their age gap isn't clarified. Lillie is slightly taller than Gladion and he's still a child, so the age difference isn't too large. Some fans even interpret them as HalfIdenticalTwins.
** The protagonists of ''VideoGame/PokemonSwordAndShield'', Victor and Gloria, look older than the Alola protagonists but younger than the Unova or Kalos protagonists. Much like the Kalos protagonists mentioned above, the lack of a confirmed age combined with VirtualPaperDoll features means that certain clothes make them look older or younger.
** Rei and Akari, the protagonists of ''VideoGame/PokemonLegendsArceus'', look to be about the same age as [[VideoGame/PokemonDiamondAndPearl Lucas and Dawn]], their modern counterparts. Because Rei and Akari are stated to be 15, it can be presumed that Lucas and Dawn are as well.
** The protagonists in ''VideoGame/PokemonScarletAndViolet'' seem to be in the younger side of the spectrum, but still is unclear how old are they, with their VirtualPaperDoll tendencies making them capable of looking between pre-teens and young teenagers. You'd think that being in an AcademyOfAdventure could give you a clue, but nope! Naranja/Uva Academy accepts students of all ages, from kids clearly on the single digits, all the way to the elderly and you'll often find yourself sharing the same class as people of very different ages.

* ''VideoGame/LiveALive'' Pogo, the protagonist of the Prehistoric chapter, is a big example. He's one of the shortest heroes, only taller than Cube, who is a small RobotBuddy, and his love interest, Beru, basicaly towers over him. His backstory establishes him as having just become of age and going on his first hunt, which is not really clear what it involves, considering they are cavemen. The artwork of the original game made him look like an extreme {{Gonk}}, which made it even harder to know, while the remake makes him look like a young boy and gives him a case of CrossDressingVoices. [[spoiler:The fact that in the golden ending he ends up having a child with his LoveInterest just muddles things even further]].

*** Riku and Manana don't appear on the affinity chart at all, meaning their ages are unknown. Manana could be pretty much anywhere from "older teens" into her 30s (or whatever the Nopon equivalent is). Riku is an even more extreme example, as he looks exactly the same in flashbacks to years earlier, and [[spoiler: he and Melia appear to recognize each other, which would only be possible if Riku is ''older the the world itself'']]. In the ''VideoGame/XenobladeChronicles3FutureRedeemed'' DLC, Riku is traveling with a different main gang, despite the expansion taking place ''centuries'' before the main game. This could imply that he's ReallySevenHundredYearsOld. On the one hand, this is a world where nearly everyone is explicitly reincarnating, but on the other hand the Nopon are explicitly exempt from that system.

* The ''VideoGame/JumpStart'' franchise zig-zags this trope. Token humans Polly Sparks and Jo Hammet are clearly a third grader and a fifth grader respectively. The original incarnations of Mr. Hopsalot and Frankie were obviously an adult rabbit and an adult dog. On the flip side, the FunnyAnimals in the 2001-2004 games play this trope straight. They all appear childlike, and this incarnation of Hopsalot mentions in Advanced 2nd Grade that finding clues "gives [him] an excuse to stay up past [his] bedtime". However, no parents are seen or even mentioned and they all seem really self-sufficient. The 1990s version of Jump Start Preschool also plays this trope straight; the featured FunnyAnimals speak in childlike voices, but Casey Cat wears a necktie, so it is difficult to tell whether they are supposed to be the students or the teachers.

** Your fellow villagers in are... mystifying, to say the least. They live on their own, so they're adults, right? But some of them mention still having allowance, and some of their birthday messages imply they're not yet adults. But there are no parents anywhere (and, in fact, the female kangaroo villagers ''have children of their own''). The "Grumpy" and "Snooty" villagers act older than the others, with some of their dialogue implying they're probably at the youngest, in their early 30's. With the rest of the clan, it's anybody's guess. It gets even more confusing with the bear villagers as there are both full grown bears and cubs ''and they're treated as different species''.

* ''VideoGame/MapleStory'' allows your character to marry ([[BribingYourWayToVictory For NX, of course]]), even if they look like they're not even close to maturity. Some of the quest givers give off the impression of being young (i.e. a student attending a magic school), but appear to be just as tall as your character and don't have a clear age either. In one questline, you begin by playing hide and seek with children. A few levels later, you're fighting in a revolution.

** Rosalina. She looks to be in her 20's or ''maybe'' early thirties, but visits the Mushroom Kingdom ''every 100 years''. She is implied to be immortal, but that doesn't explain why she physically appears younger in the optional flashback story.

*** Riku and Manana don't appear on the affinity chart at all, meaning their ages are unknown. Manana could be pretty much anywhere from "older teens" into her 30's (or whatever the Nopon equivalent is). Riku is an even more extreme example, as he looks exactly the same in flashbacks to years earlier, and [[spoiler: he and Melia appear to recognize each other, which would only be possible if Riku is ''older the the world itself'']]. In the ''VideoGame/XenobladeChronicles3FutureRedeemed'' DLC, Riku is traveling with a different main gang, despite the expansion taking place ''centuries'' before the main game. This could imply that he's ReallySevenHundredYearsOld. On the one hand, this is a world where nearly everyone is explicitly reincarnating, but on the other hand the Nopon are explicitly exempt from that system.

* The party of ''VideoGame/XenobladeChronicles1'' had confirmed ages, but those of [[VideoGame/XenobladeChronicles2 the sequel]] don't. Rex seems to be in his young to mid teens (stated to be 15 in some sources), Nia treats Rex like he's around her age [[spoiler: but being a Flesh-Eater Blade muddies this]], Tora is younger than Rex but still the same size as Riki, a Nopon from the previous game who was 40 (but Riki's voice was notably deeper, at least in English), Morag could be anywhere from 20-30, and Zeke seems to be in his mid-20's.
* ''VideoGame/XenobladeChronicles3'': most characters have confirmed ages on the affinity chart, but there are a few unknowns:
** Triton's age is simply listed as "???", because he's so old he's forgotten his age. The fact that he's a Moebius lengthens the potential age range considerably as well, meaning he could theoretically be multiple centuries old.
** Riku and Manana don't appear on the affinity chart at all, meaning their ages are unknown. Manana could be pretty much anywhere from "older teens" into her 30's (or whatever the Nopon equivalent is). Riku is an even more extreme example, as he looks exactly the same in flashbacks to years earlier, and [[spoiler: he and Melia appear to recognize each other, which would only be possible if Riku is ''older the the world itself'']]. In the ''VideoGame/XenobladeChronicles3FutureRedeemed'' DLC, Riku is traveling with a different main gang, despite the expansion taking place ''centuries'' before the main game. This could imply that he’s ReallySevenHundredYearsOld.

** One of the few games where all of the characters have defined ages is the "Forget-Me-Not Valley" series of games (''[[VideoGame/HarvestMoonAWonderfulLife A(nother) Wonderful Life]], [[VideoGame/HarvestMoonDS DS (Cute)]]''), where [[AllThereInTheManual the manual]] gives the characters' ages. This can be especially confusing given that there are certain characters who state that they're older than the protagonist, [[AgeGap especially when they're romanced]], but who look exactly the same as everyone else due to [[PuniPlush the cutesy art style.]] A prime example is Muffy, who is in her early thirties but looks as young as the twenty-somethings. Celia and Nami look like they're in their early twenties as well, despite being in their late twenties; Celia is so youthful that it's even noted in-universe that [[OlderThanTheyLook she ages well]].

** Calvin from ''VideoGame/HarvestMoonTreeOfTranquility'' and ''VideoGame/HarvestMoonAnimalParade'' is an especially confusing case. When romanced, he alludes to there being an [[AgeGap age difference]] between him and the protagonist. However, his character profile explicitly refers to him as a ''young'' man. Either the protagonist is really, really young, or she's [[OlderThanTheyLook older than she looks.]]

** '''VideoGame/StoryOfSeasonsAWonderfulLife'', unlike the game it was remade from, doesn't specify any of the ages of the bachelors or bachelorettes. The manual included with the game only says that they're around your age and implies that Molly is old enough to be worried about not getting married—and Lumina is old enough to be married, even if she's one of the youngest.
* [[VideoGame/StyleSavvy]]: The characters' ages are not revealed in the series. The customers look like they are in their early teens to their late thirties, but not been confirmed by the publishers.

** One of the few games where all of the characters have defined ages is the "Forget-Me-Not Valley" series of games (''[[VideoGame/HarvestMoonAWonderfulLife A(nother) Wonderful Life]], [[VideoGame/HarvestMoonDS DS (Cute)]]''), where [[AllThereInTheManual the manual]] gives the characters' ages. This can be especially confusing given that there are certain characters who state that they're older than the protagonist, [[MayDecemberRomance especially when they're romanced]], but who look exactly the same as everyone else due to [[PuniPlush the cutesy art style.]] A prime example is Muffy, who is in her early thirties but looks as young as the twenty-somethings. Celia and Nami look like they're in their early twenties as well, despite being in their late twenties; Celia is so youthful that it's even noted in-universe that [[OlderThanTheyLook she ages well]].

** Calvin from ''VideoGame/HarvestMoonTreeOfTranquility'' and ''VideoGame/HarvestMoonAnimalParade'' is an especially confusing case. When romanced, he alludes to there being an [[MayDecemberRomance age difference]] between him and the protagonist. However, his character profile explicitly refers to him as a ''young'' man. Either the protagonist is really, really young, or she's [[OlderThanTheyLook older than she looks.]]

** [[VideoGame/StyleSavvy]]: The characters' ages are not revealed in the series. The customers look like they are in their early teens to their late thirties, but not been confirmed by the publishers.
** ''VideoGame/HarvestMoonIslandOfHappiness'' has Pierre. He outright looks like a ten year but is apparently of marriage age.