Basic Trope: A character is the adopted child of another that isn't old enough to be their biological parent (at least not without Fridge Horror).
- Straight: Bob is a 25 years old man and has 12 years old Alice as adopted daughter.
- Exaggerated: 18 years old Bob adopts 17 years old Alice and act in ways more fitting to friends or siblings than parent and child.
- Downplayed: Bob is a 30 years old man and adopts 12 years old Alice during the plot.
- Justified:
- Bob always wanted to be a parent, but doesn't think he could handle a smaller child, so he adopted an adolescent.
- Bob himself has been through the foster system and knows older children have bad odds, so he was decided to take one in when he could.
- Bob and Alice are actually siblings, and Bob became her guardian at some point.
- Inverted: 38 years old Bob have a long list of physical problems - so 25 years old Alice lets him adopt her to facilitate her become his caretaker.
- Subverted:
- Bob looks like he's in mid-twenties, but turns out to be older than he looks and is more than 20 years older than Alice.
- People assume this is the case because of the small age gap, but turns out that Bob is Alice's biological dad -
Unfortunate Implications all true.
- Double Subverted: ... is what they say to mess with others.
- Parodied: ???
- Zig Zagged: Some characters are this case, others refuse to take in kids so little younger, others don't adopt ever.
- Averted: Nobody is adopted in the work.
- All parents are at least 20 years older than their children, adopted or otherwise.
- Enforced: Executives are reluctant to put a middle-aged person in the story, but don't want to include the Unfortunate Implications, so adoption is how they got both ways.
- Lampshaded: "Alice's adopted? Oh, good, I got scared for a moment."
- Invoked: Bob sees a sad, adolescent Alice, and decides to adopt her to at least give her a friend to be around.
- Exploited: The Big Bad uses the small age gap to drill on Alice that she never had an actual parent.
- Defied: The in-universe adoption agencies don't allow adoptions with less than 20 years of difference.
- Discussed: It's commented formally and casually that there's an overdemand for babies and more preteens and teenagers than people are willing to adopt, while agencies seek them so the older kids can have a chance.
- Conversed: "Isn't it crazy that you can adopt an adolescent before 30? Imagine explaining why your grandkid was born when you were on your thirties."
- Implied: Alice is a Happily Adopted adolescent with a dad that looks and acts (relatively) young, but nobody seens to mind.
- Played for Laughs: People mistaking Alice and Bob for siblings or dates (and their reactions) is a Running Gag.
- Played for Drama: Alice starts seeking for her biological parents as an adult and the small age gap is one of the reasons she doesn't feel like an actual daughter to Bob.
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