Line #10 PlayingWith/Manchild


1	'''Basic Trope''': An adult with a childlike personality.
2	* '''Straight''': Bob is a grown man in his 30s, who acts like a preteen boy by being very excitable and playing with toys.
3	* '''Exaggerated''':
4	** Bob is a [[ReallySevenHundredYearsOld centuries-old immortal]] [[ImmortalImmaturity who behaves like a small toddler]].
5	** The entire adult cast act like young children. This means that offices, factories, and even the government seem to be run like elementary schools with no adult supervision.
6	* '''Downplayed''':
7	** Bob is a young man in his 20s, who is actually quite competent, intelligent, and self-reliant in most circumstances; he just has some emotional immaturity, so he acts like a moody teenager in social situations.
8	** Bob is a man who acts mature, but is afraid of change, and self-sabotages any chance he has at growing up and learning how to take responsibility.
9	** Bob has childlike interests, but they don’t interfere with his adult life because he keeps them under control.
10	** KiddieKid: Bob is a teenager or kid who acts younger than he really is.
11	** Bob is a grown man in his 30s, who acts like a TeenRebellion.
12	* '''Justified''':
13	** Bob [[FreudianExcuse was raised by]] [[AntiRoleModel very immature or irresponsible parents]]; who had either [[AbusiveParents abused]], [[ParentalNeglect neglected]], [[HelicopterParents overbeared]], or {{spoiled\|Brat}} him without bothering to teach him any real-life lessons or proper social skills.
14	** Bob suffers from a severe mental illness or developmental disability, which may or may not be accompanied by intellectual impairment; thus, permanently arresting his mental age at early childhood.
15	** Bob still enjoys many things from his childhood and sees no reason to drop them as long as they don't cause significant problems with his adulthood.
16	** Bob had a DarkAndTroubledPast and never got to have fun or enjoy the things most kids do. Now that he's an adult and can do whatever he wants, he's making up for lost time.
17	** Bob [[RipVanWinkle spent most of his childhood in a coma and wakes up in his adult years]].
18	** Bob ReallyWasBornYesterday, with insufficient time to develop emotionally.
19	* '''Inverted''': Bob is an AdorablyPrecociousChild who is WiseBeyondHisYears. In fact, he's probably more levelheaded and mature than most people who are twice his age.
20	* '''Subverted''':
21	** Bob [[CharacterDevelopment starts acting his age]].
22	** Bob seems to be a man in his 30s acting like a preteen. Then it's revealed that he actually ''is'' a preteen, either by being far YoungerThanHeLooks or due to "Bob" actually being an OlderAlterEgo.
23	** Bob ''does'' [[BasementDweller still live at home]], but it's because the cost of living where he lives is prohibitively high (even with roommates), and he doesn't have the means to relocate, either. For what it's worth, he ''does'' have a job, and he ''does'' do things like help his parents out with chores, errands, and cooking, and he ''does'' pay rent and/or help out with household bills.
24	** Bob is ''still'' a virgin at 35 but that's mainly because the opportunity never came up. In his teens and twenties, he was kind of dorky-looking (gangly, pimply, wore NerdGlasses and the BracesOfOrthodonticOverkill), and now that he's in his 30s, he just assumes that no woman will ever want to be with him because he is (or thinks he is) such a StrawLoser.
25	** Bob plays a Manchild character on TV, but in RealLife, [[MeanCharacterNiceActor he has a steady job, a hobby (or two), he owns a home (maybe even more than one home), he helps out with chores, and has a wife and kids]].
26	** Bob lives with his mother, but only because his house burned down.
27	** Bob lives with his mother, but that's so that he can take care of her, because she's elderly and she needs some extra help.
28	* '''Double Subverted''':
29	** He was only acting like that for a job interview.
30	** He still acts like this when he gets older.
31	** He has a large collection of action figures and comics, and spends a large amount of time playing video games when he isn't working.
32	** He ''really, really'' wants a girlfriend, and wishes for [[PerverseSexualLust a real-life, aged-up version of the anime girl on his poster]], someone who wants only him, rather than actually going out and finding ''real'' women.
33	** He gets angry at women in general, because he was always taught that being nice and doing heroic deeds would get him the girl of his dreams... but the real world doesn't work that way.
34	** He eventually becomes LostInCharacter as the Manchild.
35	** He only does things around the house when his wife asks him to, often more than once. He'd much rather play fantasy football. His wife ends up [[ParentingTheHusband parenting him]] as much as their children.
36	** Because he left the oven on while he went to the movies.
37	** He dumps most of the responsibility for caring for his mother onto his wife. And he didn't ask her if his mother could move into their spare bedroom. Nor does he help out when Alice's parents need extra care, or offer to take them in.
38	* '''Parodied''': Bob gets mistaken for a 10-year-old.
39	* '''Zig Zagged''': Bob starts acting his age. But that was just for a job interview. But even after he gets the job, he starts acting more mature...for the first couple weeks during probation. He gets too comfortable in his position and reverts to his usual behaviour, causing complaints and making his boss not want to keep him at the end.
40	* '''Averted''': Bob acts his age the whole time.
41	* '''Enforced''':
42	** "We need a grownup who acts like a little kid. This is a comedy show, after all."
43	** AnAesop describing how growing older is mandatory, but growing ''up'' is optional.
44	** AnAesop about how adults ''should not'' be acting like overgrown children.
45	** The story is written by a child who portrays adults how he thinks they act.
46	** He is a TokenAdult [[IntergenerationalFriendship best friend]] in [[OlderThanTheDemographic the show for young children]], so the creator makes him act like OneOfTheKids to help him relate with the target audience and to avoid risk of complaints from MoralGuardians.
47	* '''Lampshaded''': "How old are you?" "Physically 30, psychologically 10."
48	* '''Invoked''': Bob is thinking back to his childhood and remembers how unpleasant it was. Then he gets some ideas...
49	* '''Exploited''': Alice wins all arguments with Bob by acting like a stern parent.
50	* '''Defied''': Bob decides that even though his childhood was unhappy, he'll just work harder to have a pleasant adult life.
51	* '''Discussed''': "I don't want him around our children. He's giving them the wrong idea... in more ways than one."
52	* '''Conversed''': "Oh, geez, another adult who keeps acting like a kid. Oldest trick in the book."
53	* '''Implied''': Alice talks about her Uncle Bob who is never seen by the audience and mentions how much he loved playing with toys and making fart sounds.
54	* '''Deconstructed''':
55	** Bob's attempts to relive his childhood indicate some serious psychological problems on his behalf. He's never able to mentally "grow up", and remains distrusted by both adults and children alike.
56	** Because Bob is mentally immature, he is unable to comprehend the seriousness of adult life to the point where he cannot be relied on to handle big responsibilities, and depends on someone else to do it for him.
57	** Bob is [[BasementDweller still living with his parents]] because of his inability (or refusal) to take care of himself. Because his parents will eventually die someday, he has no choice but to move out of the house and fend for himself somehow, or [[DrivenToSuicide worse]].
58	** Bob has a severe developmental disability and deals with ableism every day, from [[BullyingTheDisabled others]] and from [[InternalizedCategorism himself]], which drives him to depression.
59	* '''Reconstructed''':
60	** Even though Bob is trying to relive his childhood, he still knows when to act like an adult, so there are no problems.
61	** Growing older is mandatory, but growing ''up'' is optional, and people are still able to accept him for who he is.
62	** Bob is provided a caregiver even when he decided to live on his own, who takes care of all his adult responsibilities without complaint until Bob is ready to do things for himself.
63	** Bob grieves deeply for his parents, but he eventually manages to bond with other people in his community.
64	** Bob has a support network to help him take on as much adult responsibility as possible. Plus when others mock him, he points out their hypocrisy, since bullying makes them more childish than he is.
65	* '''Played For Laughs''': Bob is a character in a zany comedy, and his antics are meant to be funny and endearing.
66	* '''Played For Drama''':
67	** Bob's childish behavior stems from having an [[FreudianExcuse unhappy childhood]] and/or an [[GrowingUpSucks unhappy adulthood]]. Bob desperately clings onto nostalgic memories of his youth, to the point of suffering severe depression, and being unable to actually live in the present.
68	** Bob's personality means he is unable to make or keep friends, or have a deep relationship with anyone; and since he has no ability to resolve his emotional problems on his own, he regresses even farther into his manchild state out of loneliness.
69	** Bob’s parents [[AbusiveParents intentionally stunted his mental development, giving Bob numerous psychological problems along with his childish personality.]]
70	* '''Played For Horror''': Bob is childish and immature to the point of being [[PsychopathicManchild very creepy, mentally unstable, or even violent]].
71	----
72	Oh boy, oh boy, oh boy! I can't wait to go back to {{Manchild}}!
73	----
74	%% Optional items, added after Conversed, at your discretion:

Context PlayingWith / Manchild