Follow TV Tropes

Following

Context Main / AgeLift

Go To

1%% Image selected per Image Pickin' thread: https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/posts.php?discussion=1493311901028902700
2%% Previous thread: https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/posts.php?discussion=1366810810086907000
3%% Please do not replace or remove without starting a new thread.
4%%
5[[quoteright:314:[[Franchise/SpiderMan https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/aunt_may_age_lift_37.png]]]]
6[[caption-width-right:314:Above: Aunt May in [[ComicBook/SpiderMan the comics]].\
7Below: Aunt May in ''Film/SpiderManHomecoming''.]]
8
9->''"But we see our main innocent, and, of course, her dad too''\
10''This is Cindy Lou Who, who is no more than two...welve, but we'll give 'em a little leeway."''
11-->-- '''WebVideo/TheNostalgiaCritic''', in his review of ''Film/HowTheGrinchStoleChristmas2000''
12
13An Age Lift is when the age of a character is modified for the sake of an adaptation. A young child is aged into a teenager, or an elderly individual is downscaled to just a middle-aged one. Often the exact age is not that important to the character so long as retains some relative qualities, if you're still living at home the difference between teen and pre-teen doesn't matter much. Among the exact reasons it may be due to a SettingUpdate and the character is no longer tied to a particular time period. This may help consolidate a story that [[ComicBookTime takes place over a long period of time]], avoid issues of a less than wholesome relationship or give two characters more of a connection by making them contemporaries (not necessarily a friendly one; it can be used to emphasize a {{Foil}}). And maybe it doesn't fit their target audience, hoping for a YoungerAndHipper or HotterAndSexier vibe.
14
15In live action, it can be a PragmaticAdaptation to take into account factors such as child labour laws and how demanding a role may be for a younger actor. It is also likely to occur if something happens to the character within the source material which makes keeping them at their original age problematic even with DawsonCasting, but, because the event in question is essential to the plot, leaving it out isn't an option either. If a story takes place over a decade it's typically easier to keep a consistent actor rather than [[TimeShiftedActor recast three times]]. The two most common forms of this appear to be aging pre-teen characters to teenagers so twenty-somethings can feasibly play them and aging thirty-something parents by about a decade to counter the potential ValuesDissonance relating to young parents.
16
17Compare ArtisticAge (where the appearance is more important than the number of years), DawsonCasting (which leaves the age of the character the same but casts an older actor for the part anyway), HollywoodOld (which does likewise with younger actors), UnderAgeCasting (same), SoapOperaRapidAgingSyndrome (where the character's age inexplicably changes in the original work itself) and YoungerAndHipper. VagueAge is when the viewers [[ShrugOfGod and often the creators]] don't really know exactly how old a character is, and it's a great excuse for why the show might make a specific claim that seems like a [[{{Retcon}} change]] to some previously established fact. Seeing as age brings experience with it, this might also cause an AdaptationalSkill.
18
19ThreeMonthOldNewborn is a meta subtrope that results from the logistical issues of using actual newborns to play young babies.
20
21----
22!!Examples with their own subpages:
23
24[[index]]
25* AgeLift/AnimeAndManga
26* AgeLift/ComicBooks
27* AgeLift/FanWorks
28* AgeLift/LiveActionFilms
29* AgeLift/LiveActionTV
30* AgeLift/WesternAnimation
31[[/index]]
32
33!!Other examples:
34[[foldercontrol]]
35
36[[folder:Asian Animation]]
37* ''Animation/PleasantGoatFunClass'':
38** In the original series ''Animation/PleasantGoatAndBigBigWolf'', Wolffy is an adult while the goats are kids. In ''Pleasant Goat Fun Class'', however, he is a young kid just like the goats.
39** Slowy [[AvertedTrope averts]] this, as he remains the same age as he was in the original series even though the other characters are now younger than before.
40* ''Animation/YamuchasKungFuAcademy'': Rudy, Masa, Obby, and Artee are grown teachers in the TV show, but in the web shorts that came before, they are children like the rest of the cast. Possibly also applies to Bomi who is a merchant.
41[[/folder]]
42
43[[folder:Films -- Animation]]
44* ''Franchise/DisneyAnimatedCanon'':
45** Literature/SnowWhite is seven in the original story (with some versions aging her up to fourteen). In [[WesternAnimation/SnowWhiteAndTheSevenDwarfs the Disney version]] she's twice her original age, being fourteen.
46** Ronno in the ''WesternAnimation/BambiII'' midquel film. In [[Literature/{{Bambi}} the novel]], Ronno is implied to be several years older than Bambi. In the film, he is the same age as Bambi. He appeared as a young buck in the [[WesternAnimation/{{Bambi}} first film]] as well. Bambi's father is also significantly younger than in the book as he's [[CompositeCharacter combined]] with the Great Old Prince of the Forest (who is unrelated to Bambi).
47** Alice from ''Literature/AlicesAdventuresInWonderland'' is a few years younger than her [[WesternAnimation/AliceInWonderland movie]] counterpart. She's seven in the book but the design was based on the actor her voiced her, Kathryn Beaumont, who was ten when she was cast.
48** Literature/{{Rapunzel}} is quite young in her original fairy tale, possibly fourteen to sixteen. ''WesternAnimation/{{Tangled}}'' takes place on her 18th birthday, and during [[WesternAnimation/TangledTheSeries the series]], she turns 19.
49** The real UsefulNotes/{{Pocahontas}} was in her pre-teens when she met John Smith, her lover in the film. The [[{{WesternAnimation/Pocahontas}} Disney film]] ages her up to about sixteen.
50** Esmeralda from ''Literature/TheHunchbackOfNotreDame'' is a sixteen-year-old girl. The [[WesternAnimation/TheHunchbackOfNotreDameDisney Disney adaptation]] never [[VagueAge specifies]] her age, however, she doesn't seem nearly that young and in fact is rather big-sisterly to twenty-year-old Quasimodo. (The animators considered her to be in her late twenties to very early thirties, at least.)
51** Gerda and Kai are children in ''Literature/TheSnowQueen'', while Anna and Kristoff from ''WesternAnimation/{{Frozen|2013}}'' are eighteen and in their early twenties respectively. On the other side of the spectrum, the Snow Queen is a Really700YearsOld [[TheFairFolk Fair Folk]], while Elsa is a twenty-one year old human with [[AnIcePerson ice powers]]. Originally the film kept the original ages, but Gerda and Kai were revamped and Elsa became Anna's older sister. There are two side-characters called "Gerda" and "Kai" as a MythologyGag, but they're middle aged.
52** In ''WesternAnimation/TheSwordInTheStone,'' Kay looks like he's at least eighteen, while the book begins with him fourteen, two years older than Wart. He's also an AdaptationalJerkass, which this trope exacerbates--it's one thing for an insecure kid to act like a BigBrotherBully, but another thing to see a grown man being so petty to a twelve-year-old.
53* The Disney version of WesternAnimation/PeterPan he looks and sounds like he’s in his early teens, Bobby Driscoll was 15 at the time he voiced him, in the original story Peter was a younger child around 7 or 8 years old.
54* Astro is thirteen in the 2009 ''WesternAnimation/AstroBoy'' film. In the ''Manga/AstroBoy'' manga he is drawn far younger and seems to be of elementary age.
55* ''WesternAnimation/TheLEGONinjagoMovie'' sees Misako aged down to a more middle-aged appearance rather than the more 60+ appearance of ''WesternAnimation/{{Ninjago}}'', making it more believable that she's Lloyd's mother. Additionally, Lloyd himself seems to legitimately be high school aged rather than mystically aged-up to be a teenager as in the series proper.
56* The title character in ''WesternAnimation/{{Anastasia}}'' is portrayed as eight years old when the Russian Revolution breaks out and eighteen throughout the bulk of the film. The real Anastasia was sixteen when the Revolution broke out, seventeen when she was killed, and if she had lived she would have been twenty-five in 1926, when most of the film takes place. The [[Theatre/{{Anastasia}} stage version]] lifts her back up to her historical age, though.
57* ''WesternAnimation/LovingVincent'' has an example of this. In real life, Adeline Ravoux (the innkeeper's daughter) was 13 when Van Gogh died. In the film, she appears to be about the same age as Armand, who is 20.
58* Contemporary material for ''WesternAnimation/TheLittleMermaid1989'' had Aquata (the one in blue) as the oldest of Triton's daughters, presumably because she's the first to be [[ThemeTuneRollCall named]] in the "Daughters of Triton" song. ''WesternAnimation/TheLittleMermaidIIIArielsBeginning'' changes the birthing order of everyone except Ariel. Aquata is now the third oldest while Attina (the one in orange with the crown headdress) is the heir.
59* ''WesternAnimation/SpiderManIntoTheSpiderVerse'':
60** When the Peter Parker of the ''ComicBook/UltimateMarvel'' universe died, he and Mary Jane Watson were 16. The film's version of ''Ultimate'' Peter dies around the age of 26, with MJ likewise being around that age.
61** Peter (B.) Parker, despite being based on [[Franchise/MarvelUniverse Earth-616]] Spider-Man, is '''3'''6 years old, far older than the mainline comics have ever allowed Peter to age.
62** Peter Parker from the ''ComicBook/SpiderManNoir'' comics is no older than his early 20s ''at most''. His counterpart here, however, is implied to be at least middle-aged.
63** In the ''ComicBook/SpiderGwen'' comics, Gwen Stacy got her powers around her senior year of high school and has since graduated. Here, she's only about a year older than middle-schooler Miles Morales.
64** Peni Parker, as befitting being influenced by ''Anime/NeonGenesisEvangelion'', was a teenager in the comics. Here, she's a preteen.
65* In the stage musical of ''Theatre/TheKingAndI'', Prince Chulalongkorn is a child, and the real Chulalongkorn was 9-15 during the six years the musical's action {{compress|edAdaptation}}es. In the very [[{{Disneyfication}} Disneyfied]] [[WesternAnimation/TheKingAndI animated adaptation]], he's portrayed as a young man in his late teens or early 20s. This is so he can serve as a CompositeCharacter, replacing the AdaptedOut character of Lun Tha as the ingenue Tuptim's forbidden love interest.
66* Damian Wayne was introduced during ''ComicBook/BatmanGrantMorrison'' as a 10 year old. The Robin in ''WesternAnimation/BatmanUnlimitedMechsVsMutants'' is Damian, but he's depicted as a teenager like the other Robins before him.
67* Whereas ''WesternAnimation/JusticeLeague'' halved ComicBook/VandalSavage's age from 50,000 years old to 25,000, ''WesternAnimation/JusticeLeagueDoom'' tacked on another 25,000 years to his life, making its Savage 75,000 years old.
68* In ''WesternAnimation/DorothyMeetsOzmaOfOz'' Dorothy's aunt and uncle look younger than they are in the book.
69* Even with the simplified art style, Manchester Black in ''WesternAnimation/SupermanVsTheElite'' is clearly younger than his comics counterpart, who once implied his father died during UsefulNotes/WorldWarII when Black was a kid.
70* In ''Animation/AdventuresOfCaptainVrungel'' by Andrey Nekrasov, Captain Vrungel, retired, narrates the main story to his student from the naval school, but the story takes place when he is younger. In the animated adaptation, the story itself begins when Captain Vrungel is already long-retired and teaching at the naval school.
71* In ''WesternAnimation/TheSuperMarioBrosMovie'', Cranky Kong could easily pass for middle-aged and doesn't need a cane like his [[VideoGame/DonkeyKongCountry game]] counterpart, who is a grumpy old man.
72[[/folder]]
73
74[[folder:Literature]]
75* ''Literature/GodzillaAndGodzillaRaidsAgain'': Shinkichi Morita was a young teenager in the film version of ''Film/{{Godzilla|1954}}'', but in the novella is around the same age as Emiko Yamane--in his late teens to early twenties--and a childhood friend of hers, having met her when they were evacuated during World War II.
76* ''Literature/GoToSleepAJeffTheKillerRewrite'': Downplayed, this rewrite slightly increases the characters' ages.
77** In the original story, Jeff is 13 while Liu's age is uncertain. In this rewrite, Jeff's entering freshman year at 14 while Liu is starting grade 8, presumably being a year younger than Jeff.
78** The bullies are approximately 12 in the original story, while in this story they are all in senior year with Randy being 17.
79* Nowadays, Literature/{{Goldilocks}} is usually portrayed as a little girl, but in the original version of the story, she was an old lady named Silverhair.
80* Downplayed in ''Literature/TheLittleWitch''. The Czechoslovak-German animated series keeps the little Witch's vast age but changes her appearance to that of a little girl.
81* ''Literature/TheLostYearsOfMerlin'' include a version of [[MerlinAndNimue Merlin's romance with Nimue]]...except here, they meet when Merlin is thirteen and she's a few years ''older'' than him. Interestingly, the fourth book (which involves TimeTravel) indicates that she'll [[ImmortalityBeginsAtTwenty still look like a young woman]] when Merlin's an old man, which might explain why the legends got things wrong.
82* Various scholars have noted that depictions of ''Literature/{{Momotaro}}'' have gradually decreased his age of departure over the centuries, with the oldest depictions showing him in his 30s, up to modern depictions of him in his teens or even as a child.
83* The ''Literature/WorldsOfPower'' adaptation of ''VideoGame/NinjaGaidenNES'' ages down Ryu Hayabusa, who is depicted in-game as a young adult, to [[KidHero 13 years old]]. Irene Lew, who was also a young adult in the original game, is similarly aged down to around the same age as Ryu.
84* In an extreme example, the novel ''Nutshell'' by Ian [=MacEwan=] is a SettingUpdate of ''Theatre/{{Hamlet}}'', whose Hamlet character (who is also the narrator) ''hasn't been born yet''.
85* The ''Literature/TanteiTeamKZJikenNote'' series begins with adopting an old LightNovel series for [[MiddleGradeLiterature tweens]] [[{{Shoujo}} girls]]. As a result, the age of the cast was moved down by several years; fortunately, elementary schoolers go to CramSchool as well, keeping a key premise element intact. As a side effect, sometimes the cast don't act like 12-year-olds; for example, [[spoiler:a 12-year old boy made a big marriage proposal to a girl of the same age ''through her parents'', and the said parents ''do not object''.]]
86[[/folder]]
87
88[[folder:Music]]
89* The protagonist of the novelty song "The Thing" is usually an adult, but Johnny Restivo did a cover of the song in 1959 where the main character was implied to be a child. Aside from the first verse describing the protagonist finding the box on his way to school, the protagonist being a child in this version is also suggested by the verse about taking the box to a shopkeeper only for the shopkeeper to kick the protagonist out and threaten to call the police being changed to be about the boy taking the box with him to school only to scare away his classmates and get expelled after the teacher saw what was in the box as well as the verse about the man showing the box to his wife being changed so that the boy got kicked out of home for trying to show the box to his father (and mentioning that he waited at the playground until sundown following his expulsion from school).
90[[/folder]]
91
92[[folder:Radio]]
93* ''Radio/DimensionX'''s "[[Recap/DimensionX37PebbleInTheSky Pebble in the Sky]]": In the [[Literature/PebbleInTheSky original novel]], Dr Shekt is 58, but in this [[AdaptationDistillation much shorter adaptation]], he is 62 instead. This difference is significant because it means he is in violation of [[DystopianEdict The Sixty]]; [[WeWillHaveEuthanasiaInTheFuture mandatory euthanasia]].
94[[/folder]]
95
96[[folder:Tabletop Games]]
97* ''TabletopGame/CandyLand'':
98** Queen Frostine is no longer a Queen. She's younger and is a princess. As a result of her age decreasing, she is no longer married to King Kandy (he is her father now) and she is Lolly's sister, instead of her mother.
99** The age of Princess Lolly has zig-zagged over the years. As of 2013 she looks much older than her traditional design.
100** In the '80s and '90s King Kandy became a younger man with red hair. He has since returned to his older, grey-haired version.
101* ''TabletopGame/{{Ravenloft}}'': Originally, Strahd von Zarovich was 52 when he turned into a vampire. In [[TabletopGame/DungeonsAndDragonsFifthEdition 5th edition]], he was 45 when he turned.
102[[/folder]]
103
104[[folder:Theater]]
105* ''Theatre/{{Hamlet}}'', the former TropeNamer, is a tough call. The play has contradictory lines about the prince's age - some evidence suggesting he's thirty or older, other lines indicating he's a fresh-faced college undergrad. Plus, the role has acquired a reputation as being the "crown jewel" of an actor's career, so you'll find men cast as Hamlet when they're in middle-age, usually at the height of their fame.
106* The ScreenToStageAdaptation of ''Literature/TheSecretGarden'' ages Dickon Sowerby from 12 to a young man.
107* In the stage production of ''Theatre/TheAddamsFamily'', Wednesday's age is changed from 10 or so to about 18, with the main plot being about her romance with an ordinary young man and wish to marry him. (Pugsley, however, is still a young child.)
108* In the National Theatre's 2014 production of ''Theatre/{{Treasure Island|2014}}'', the proprietor of the Admiral Benbow Inn is significantly older (and is Jim's grandmother instead of mother). On the other hand, Ben Gunn is much younger, being near Jim's age; it's said that he was Captain Flint's cabin boy before he was stranded.
109* Dorothy is a teenager in ''Theatre/TheWiz'' instead of the prepubescent child she is in the books. For TheMovie, a thirtysomething Music/DianaRoss took on the role, making it a pretty clear case of DawsonCasting as well.
110* In ''Theatre/ThePhantomOfTheOpera'' musical, Christine and Raoul are traditionally played by thirtysomething performers with only a few exceptions. In the book they’re both barely out of their teens at 20 years old and have childish moments. Little Meg is 15 years old but is usually [[DawsonCasting played by young adult women]]. The reverse is starting applies with the usually older Phantom, e.g Ramin Karimloo was 33 when he played the titular character in the 2011 production at Albert Hall.
111* For the musical version of ''Theatre/TheBridgesOfMadisonCounty'', Francesca and Robert are aged down from middle age to approximately 40.
112* In ''Theatre/TheCrucible'', Abigail Williams is seventeen years old, while her real-life counterpart was only about twelve at the time of the Salem Witch Trials. The opposite is true for John Proctor, who was sixty in real life but is in his thirties in the play. This is pretty much entirely in service of the (entirely fictional) plot arc involving [[PromotedToLoveInterest an affair between Proctor and Williams]].
113* In the original production of ''Theatre/{{Grease}}'', Teen Angel was ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin – a guardian angel in teenage form, played by an only slightly [[DawsonCasting Dawson Cast]] singer in his early 20s. In [[Film/{{Grease}} the movie]], however, the part was taken by 38-year-old Frankie Avalon, who had been a teenage star in the late 1950s when ''Grease'' takes place. Many subsequent stage productions have also cast older singers in the role.
114* In ''Literature/{{Matilda}}'', Michael Wormwood is stated to be five years older than his sister Matilda, making him 10 in the book. [[Theatre/{{Matilda}} The musical adaptation]] makes him a teenager played by an adult, presumably to have one less child role that would need to be double cast.
115* At the start of ''Theatre/RomeoAndJuliet'', Juliet is ''turning'' fourteen soon. This contrasts with the earlier ''Romeus and Juliet'' where she was fifteen-going-on-sixteen and in Matteo Bandello's novels where she was eighteen. One interpretation on why Shakespeare made Juliet only fourteen was to make the story a cautionary tale against marrying too young. At any rate, it makes her all the more vulnerable and her [[DrivenToSuicide ending]] more tragic.
116* In the ''Theatre/{{Wicked}}'' musical, sisters Nessarose and Elphaba begin going to Shiz at the same time. In [[Literature/{{Wicked}} the book]] Nessarose begins a year after Elphaba. In the musical, their father says he's only sending Elphaba to Shiz to look after Nessarose, so presumably the musical's Elphaba is starting college late, making her a year or two older than the book's Elphaba is when she starts.
117* In ''Theatre/TheSoundOfMusic'', the ages of the two eldest Von Trapp children are reversed. In real life, the firstborn boy, Rupert, was 16 when Maria first joined the household, while his sister Agathe was 14. In the musical, sister [[AdaptationalNameChange Liesl]] becomes the 16-year-old firstborn, while brother [[AdaptationalNameChange Friedrich]] becomes the 14-year-old. This is so Liesl can have her romantic subplot with Rolf, who [[CanonForeigner didn't really exist.]]
118* ''Theatre/TheMerchantOfVenice'': Some productions attempt to [[FlatCharacter flesh out the]] [[PrinceCharmless Prince of Arragon]] by portraying him as an adolescent schoolboy who is accompanied by his mother and his tutors when he arrives at Portia's home to attempt her EngagementChallenge.
119* Lampshaded in ''The Creator/WillRogers Follies'' when Will and Betty's children are still portrayed as small children when historically they should have been older. Since the whole musical is a ShowWithinAShow, Will [[BreakingTheFourthWall tells the audience]] that this is done so they won't need [[TimeShiftedActor Time Shifted Actors]] in the roles. The youngest son Freddy is also portrayed as old enough to talk and sing, and SparedByTheAdaptation (per his own request), when he actually died in infancy.
120[[/folder]]
121
122[[folder:Video Games]]
123* Many video games from Japan released in the west will age the characters up to at least 18 for the same reason. If that's not enough, female characters of questionable age with {{Stripperific}} outfits whether it's a customized clothing option [[DigitalBikini will be more covered up]] or removed completely.
124* Lyn was 15 (at the start of) the original Japanese version of ''VideoGame/FireEmblemTheBlazingBlade''. The localized version aged her up to 18 for some reason, despite her acting basically the same age as her co-leads Hector and Eliwood (about 17, following the 1-year TimeSkip and a vague number of time during gameplay). It's likely due to her looks/curves, YoungerThanSheLooks in short.
125* In the original Japanese version of ''VisualNovel/SweetFuseAtYourSide'', Saki is 17 years old and Wakasa is 15. Since ''Sweet Fuse'' is a RomanceGame and Saki's other prospective love interests range in age from 22 to 32, the English localization by Aksys Games nudges her age up to 18 and Wakasa's to 17.
126* ''VideoGame/BravelyDefault'': Releases outside of Japan aged up the protagonists from 15- to 16-year-olds to 18. This is mainly due to the more {{Stripperific}} outfits the girls get to wear (some of which were also toned down a little), and the game's very dark themes - particularly [[spoiler:a rather infamous side-quest that [[DoesThisRemindYouOfAnything very closely resembles a]] [[RapeAsDrama date-rape plot]], which one of your female party members has to fall victim to in order to progress]].
127* ''VideoGame/PuzzleQuest: Challenge of the Warlords'': Princess Seraphine, introduced as the player is to escort her to her ArrangedMarriage, is 16 in the original PC version. She's 18 in the subsequent console and portable ports.
128* ''Franchise/SonicTheHedgehog'': Sonic's original age was either a "15~16" estimate or 18 depending on the source, Tails and Amy were 8, and Knuckles was 15. When ''VideoGame/SonicAdventure'' was released, Sonic was narrowed to 15, Tails stayed 8, Amy became 12, and Knuckles became 16.
129* In the original ''VideoGame/HarvestMoonAWonderfulLife'' Lumina is a fourteen-year-old girl with a PrecociousCrush on the protagonist. In ''Another Wonderful Life'', where you play as a woman, she was made into a rival for Rock, who is in his twenties. Lumina was upped to sixteen in Japan, eighteen internationally, and that has been her starting age in every game she's appeared in since.
130* ''VideoGame/BatmanArkhamSeries''
131** The Tim Drake version of ComicBook/{{Robin}} is older than his comics counterpart, being closer in age to Dick Grayson and Barbara Gordon [[spoiler: and in the GoldenEnding of ''VideoGame/BatmanArkhamKnight'', ends up marrying Barbara]] instead of a teenager. The tie-in comics also reveal that Tim has a job as a schoolteacher in his civilian life, suggesting he’s likely in his early-to-mid-20s in this continuity.
132** ''Knight''[='=]s DLC expansion pack, "Season of Infamy", included ComicBook/TaliaAlGhul's sister, Nyssa Raatko, and has her as Talia's ''younger'' sister. In comics canon, Nyssa is a Holocaust survivor and Talia's mother met ComicBook/RasAlGhul at Woodstock.
133** In the comics, Lonnie Machin was a 12 year old kid when he became ComicBook/{{Anarky}}--which was shortly before a 14-year old Tim Drake assumed the Robin mantle[[note]]a month real time between Anarky's debut in ''Detective Comics'' #608 in November 1989 and Tim donning the Robin costume in ''Batman'' #442 in December of the same year[[/note]]. ''VideoGame/BatmanArkhamOrigins'' shows Machin as a teenager during Bruce's second year as Batman, thus making him older than Drake.
134** In the comics, Black Mask is around the same age as Bruce Wayne as they're old childhood friends. In ''Origins'', it's established that Roman Sionis is 38 when Bruce hacks into his files. While Bruce Wayne's age is never given in the Arkham series, he is presumably in his mid-20s, like he was in ''ComicBook/BatmanYearOne'', which this game is heavily based on.
135* For the English localization of ''VideoGame/TokyoMirageSessionsFE'' Tsubasa, Itsuki, and Touma were aged up from seventeen to eighteen.
136* ''VideoGame/BatmanTheTelltaleSeries'':
137** Traditionally in the comics, the Penguin has a few years on Batman, but here, Oswald Cobblepot is the same age as Bruce and [[EveryoneWentToSchoolTogether they even went to school together]].
138** The Riddler, as he appears in Season Two, is sixty years old and was a criminal back during Thomas Wayne's time.
139* Very early documents about the ''Franchise/SuperMarioBros'' call Mario a middle aged man (his preliminary design in ''VideoGame/DonkeyKong'' was even codenamed "''Ossan''"/"old man" in Japanese), but by the time the 1990s rolled around he had been aged down into his mid-twenties.
140* The various iterations of Impa from ''Franchise/TheLegendOfZelda'' have frequently had her age changed across the games (and it's more noticeable with her than with Link and Zelda, who are similarly {{Legacy Character}}s but who have more consistently been portrayed as pre-teens or teenagers). The [[AllThereInTheManual manuals]] for [[VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaI the first game]] and ''VideoGame/ZeldaIITheAdventureOfLink'' portray her as an OldRetainer, but in ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaOcarinaOfTime'' she's middle aged at the oldest (her former elderly version is referenced by reinterpreting her aged whitened hair as MysticalWhiteHair, a feature [[PlanetOfCopyhats later extended to the entirety of her Sheikah tribe]]). ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaSkywardSword'' made her even younger, barely older than the teenaged Zelda [[spoiler:though it's revealed the unnamed Old Woman who helps Link throughout the plot is actually a future Impa who took TheSlowPath to guard the sleeping Zelda in the Sealed Temple]]. She's back to being an old woman in ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaBreathOfTheWild'', though as shown in the game's prequel ''VideoGame/HyruleWarriorsAgeOfCalamity'', she's actually chronologically around the same age as Link and Zelda.
141* ''Franchise/{{Injustice}}'': In the comics, [[ComicBook/{{Robin}} Damian Wayne]]'s age is somewhat nebulous and depends on who is writing him, but he's usually depicted as a middle schooler at the absolute oldest.[[note]]''ComicBook/{{Robin 2021}}'' explicitly gives his age as 14, for instance.[[/note]] In ''VideoGame/InjusticeGodsAmongUs'', he's a grown adult and has taken on the ComicBook/{{Nightwing}} mantle. Even in ''VideoGame/{{Injustice 2}}'''s flashback to Damian's time as Robin ten years earlier, he's still clearly older than 13.
142* ''VideoGame/SpiderManPS4'':
143** ComicBook/SilverSable is a little older than Peter in the game, whereas in the comics, they're suggested to be around the same age.
144** ''VideoGame/SpiderManMilesMorales'' sees [[spoiler:the Tinkerer presented as a young [[RaceLift African-American]] [[GenderFlip girl]] as opposed to an old white man. Related to this, Rick Mason is the Tinkerer's older brother, not son.]]
145* ''VideoGame/DragonQuest'':
146** ''VideoGame/DragonQuestI'': King Lorik XVI, who is [[https://static.wikia.nocookie.net/dragonquest/images/9/97/DQKingLorik.png an old, white-bearded man]] in the original NES game, looks [[https://static.wikia.nocookie.net/dragonquest/images/e/e8/KingLorikArtwork.png twenty years younger]] in the remakes.
147** ''VideoGame/DragonQuestIV'': Orin goes from a relatively young man in the NES version to a middle aged man in the remakes.
148** ''VideoGame/DragonQuestV'': Tuppence looked to be around thirty in the original version of the game, while in the remake he is specifically stated to be about the same age as the Hero when he's recruited.
149* ''VideoGame/GianaSisters'': The titular character, who was a teenager (maybe even a young adult) in the original ''VideoGame/TheGreatGianaSisters'', is aged down to a little girl in the ''VideoGame/GianaSistersDS'' reboot.
150* All the characters from '''Literature/TheAdventuresOfPinocchio'' (save for Gepetto and Antonio's GenderFlip counterpart) are either aged up or down in ''VideoGame/LiesOfP''. Of particular note are P, Sophia and Eugenie whose literary counterparts were young children (P and Eugenie) and a grown adult (Sophia). In the game, P and Sophia are young adults while Eugenie is a grown woman.
151* As suggested by him looking up porn and drinking alcohol, the titular protagonist of ''VideoGame/{{Omori}}'' is in his late teens or early adulthood in [[Webcomic/{{Omoriboy}} the original webcomic]]. In the game, he is established as no older than 12 years old.
152[[/folder]]
153
154[[folder:Visual Novels]]
155* All Western-released materials of ''VisualNovel/FateStayNight'' come with a disclaimer that [[Totally18 all of the characters are 18 or older]] in order to make the sex scenes legal, despite Shirou, Rin, and Sakura being 17 and 16 respectively in the Japanese version with Saber being physically a year younger.
156* In the [[Literature/ALittlePrincess original novel]], the protagonist Sara Crewe was seven years old when she came to the boarding school. The VN adaptation, ''VisualNovel/ALittleLilyPrincess'' aged her up to fifteen alongside Ermengarde. Presumably to reduce the age gap between romanceable routes.
157[[/folder]]
158
159[[folder:Web Animation]]
160* ''WebAnimation/DCSuperheroGirls'', where dozens of 20-something and 30-something characters are aged down into high schoolers. It isn't terribly consistent with who gets de-aged though, as ComicBook/{{Batman}} and ComicBook/{{Superman}} are adults yet ComicBook/WonderWoman, [[ComicBook/TheFlash Barry Allen]], and [[ComicBook/GreenLantern Hal Jordan]] are teenagers.
161* In ''WebAnimation/EtraChanSawIt'', the characters' ages vary wildly from one story to the next, ranging from children to elders, depending on what role they're playing. Notably, Azami is the character whose age is the most consistent, with her being portrayed as an older woman in most of her appearances.
162[[/folder]]
163
164[[folder:Webcomics]]
165* In ''Webcomic/FiveKidsAtFreddys'', one of the missing children is actually a teenager, in order to make storytelling easier with a MinimalistCast.
166* The Lithuanian translation of ''Webcomic/{{Homestuck}}'' changes the ages of the main heroes from 13 to 16, explaining it by the fact that it began precisely three years after the original.
167* The author of ''Webcomic/BobAndGeorge'' treats the robot characters as if they're young adults, rather than the children/teenagers they are in canon Megaman games.
168* Most interpretations of Zeus, Hades and Poseidon depict them as being [[GrandpaGod middle-aged to relatively old men with thick beards]]. However, in ''Webcomic/LoreOlympus'', a modern retelling of Greek mythology, they're depicted as clean-shaven businessmen who look and act like they're in their mid-thirties.
169* ''Webcomic/KiwiBlitz'': The major character Chandra is stated to be eleven years old. When she later makes a CrossoverCameo in ''Webcomic/SleeplessDomain'', WordOfGod is that she's been aged up slightly, to facilitate her being a MagicalGirl.
170[[/folder]]
171
172[[folder:Web Original]]
173* ''WebVideo/TheAutobiographyOfJaneEyre'' is a SettingUpdate of ''Literature/JaneEyre''. Lots of changes in characters' ages were done; mostly because the production team of the webseries were recent graduates when they started, and some of them were friends from school, which means they are more or less the same age:
174** Jane Eyre was 18 in the novel; here she's 21 and a college graduate with a degree in nursing. Her actress is 24.
175** Grace Poole is a CompositeCharacter, combining weird and mysterious Grace Poole with caring and friendly Mrs Fairfax. She's ''significantly'' younger than both women of the book, especially Mrs Fairfax who was probably in her fifties or sixties. It shouldn't hurt the story, though, except that the audience could cringe that there are no old people.
176** Mr Rochester is thirty-sh. He is younger than his book equivalent who was in his mid-to-late thirties. The age gap between him and Jane was important for the story; it's smaller here, but it still applies.
177* ''WebVideo/TheLizzieBennetDiaries'' is a SettingUpdate of ''Literature/PrideAndPrejudice''. Several changes regarding ages were employed, mostly to set some characters in graduate school or avoid unfortunate implications or plot holes. Some characters were still teenagers in the book. In the modern day States, a twenty-something is seducing or abusing a fifteen-year-old girl? Call the police and arrest that pervert.
178** Lydia Bennet turned 21 in the web series. In the book, she was 15.
179** Gigi Darcy is in her early twenties. Miss Darcy was 16 in the novel.
180** Elizabeth Bennet was 20, and it was lifted to 24 with Lizzie.
181** Charlotte Lucas was 27 in the book; Charlotte Lu is 24 as Lizzie: they are best friends ever and go together to graduate school.
182** Jane Bennet was 23 in the novel; here she's still the eldest sister, so she's obviously older. The writers have stated she's 'around thirty'.
183[[/folder]]

Top