This trope is a good idea. However I strongly believe the definition is a bit confusing and in fact is hard to understand what the author meant. Because it can be interpreted in many ( but incompatible) ways.

1. First paragraph implies a person that refuses to mature like Peter Pan that believes that Growing Up Sucks

2. Second paragraph implies that a character is clumsy like The Ditz. There is also some complaining here.

3. Third paragraph implies that the character is an Adult Child

4. Fourth paragraph implies that this applies to characters that pretend being "childish" like Obfuscating Stupidity or Beneath the Mask.

For example Interpretations 1 and 4 are incompatible as well as 2 and 3

For this reason I believe that a clarification of the trope definition is  needed.

Paragraphs

1. "there's a good number who never want to grow up and don't. They want nothing except to be young and perpetually cute"

2. .."at best comic relief and at worst annoying yet color-coordinated whining."

3. The Cutie can be either a full-grown woman or a teenager, but insists on dressing, speaking and acting like a child, sometimes to a sickening degree, or at least much younger than she is in order to be cute and "get dates".

4. She is the cute counterpart of the Stepford Smiler, and may even be her daughter.

edited 22nd Jul '11 6:22:25 PM by FallenLegend

There's also the fact that this really doesn't have that much to do with the various Break (Kill, Corrupt) The Cutie tropes, which generally refer to characters such as the Wide-Eyed Idealist rather than this trope.

I recall bringing this up on here a long time ago not because of the unclear definition, but because of the misleading name. So far as I can tell, it's about characters who fake being cuter and more innocent than they really are for varying reasons. Thus, I think it would be best to rewrite the trope accordingly as well as change the name to something more appropriate along the lines of Fake Cutie.

Agreed.

If other tropers agree I could change the definition and propose a Crowner for a name change.

I don't see that as the main thrust of the definition. I don't think it fits many of the examples, but I don't know many of the examples.

That's the problem it's not possible to know the correct one.

That's what the description is mostly about, though. While a lot of the examples don't fit that, that would be due to misuse. People think it means 'The sweet adorable innocent character who is just made of huggableness' more or less. That's because that is the definition that would fit with the titles such as Break the Cutie.

• "While most girls and young women want to grow up as soon as possible, there's a good number who never want to grow up and don't. They want nothing except to be young and perpetually cute, much like a bug trapped in a heart-shaped and well-accessorized piece of amber. Thus, the Cutie is born."
  • Someone being cute and acting younger than they are intentiontally.
• "Usually she's The Chick. Her chief contribution to a given show is (usually) at best comic relief and at worst annoying yet color-coordinated whining. The Cutie can be either a full-grown woman or a teenager, but insists on dressing, speaking and acting like a child, sometimes to a sickening degree, or at least much younger than she is in order to be cute and "get dates". "
  • Mixed bitching and confirmation that the character is acting younger and more innocent than they truly are.
• "Occasionally, the Cutie is actually camouflage to hide her intelligence, her true self, her nefarious intentions, or her insane jealousy, but for the most part she is usually just an archetypal character designed to either be damaged or destroyed in order to provide the protagonists with motivation."
  • First half is confirmation that the trope can include those who are doing it for motives that are not necessarily just sweetness and light. Second half is the only part that includes the commonly used part of the trope that indicates that this is the character who is often just around to get broken or hurt or simply be cute. I do not recall this originally being part of the trope, but I admit it's been some time since I read the article.

Thus I say rewrite to 'Someone who fakes being childish and innocent intentionally, either for good or bad reasons.' Cut out the whining about how they're annoying. Rename to something like Fake Cutie. Run a new The Cutie trope to match that last sentence and also fit into the snowclone of Break the Cutie and Corrupt the Cutie etc.

edited 23rd Jul '11 5:49:07 AM by Arha

For reference, here's the 10 Oct 2007 version from the Internet Archive — the earliest they have on file.

Looks fairly similar, except that it explicitly mentions Break the Cutie, which the current version doesn't.

Honestly, I have to say that what I think we're seeing here is an excessive of snark being misinterpreted as an excess of precision. I can almost imagine the conversation:

Troper A: "A young girl who..."
Troper B: "It's not always a young girl! Sometimes they just want to appear young."
Troper C: "Yeah, it's someone who is obsessed with looking young and cute."

And a bad trope definition is on its way to being born.

Note that the current definition doesn't exclude those who are young. It just leads with the fact that some woman don't want to grow up. I think it's just poor writing/misleading emphasis.

If Break the Cutie came first, which the Archive version suggests (though that may just be because older versions aren't archived), then The Cutie was almost certainly intended to be the character from that trope.

I admit that I'm engaging in quite a bit of speculation here, though.

edited 23rd Jul '11 1:45:03 PM by Xtifr

Okay. Fits in with what I think we should do anyway. This trope seems to think it's two different things at the same time. I'll go make a crowner. Here. Crowner for a split.

Nice just one question. The cutie will be about a girly woman or a woman that pretends being girly?

The Cutie will be retooled to fit with the tropes like Break the Cutie. The trope that is apparently described now will be split off into something like Fake Cutie, which will be about characters who aren't really like that but pretend that they are.

Sounds great. I will work in a fake cutie article later. It sounds very interesting

I support a split because I think there is a significant difference in terms of storytelling impact between someone who often fits into the Break the Cutie mold and someone who just does not want to grow up or who wants to be cute.

I agree with that.

I agree. Pro-split here.

The Fake Cutie (or whatever it gets called) trope has a lot in common with Kawaiiko. Not enough for a lump, I'd say, but the relation should probably be noted in the descriptions.

I agree. It's enough for a mention.

So, who wants to start the new YKTTW?

I will start the Fake cutie one.

We have the fake cutie one. That's this page. It just needs to be transferred. We need the real cutie one.

Oh I see sorry I will YKTTW that one

Make sure to pull the examples off this page that fit better on that one.

As far as the rename, I'd almost want to name it 'Fake The Cutie', to fit the other names.

I don't think it's really supposed to be related to those the way you're thinking. It's just someone who acts either really innocent or childish when they're secretly not. Outright pretending to be The Cutie as matching the others is optional. For example, Ilya von Einzbern in Fate Stay Night intentionally acts like a little girl to match her appearance, but it's both a defense mechanism and something of a weapon. There's never any implication that anything like Break the Cutie would apply to her because she's highly antagonistic.

Yeah "The Cutie Act" is quite common. I mean even brats like Sarah in Love Hina did it [1][2]for kicks till she was found out.

(Ok gd that translation is so bad I will upload the better one later tonight when I am home..)

edited 1st Aug '11 11:16:10 PM by Raso