History Main / AgeIsRelative

* The Knight Sabers in ''Anime/BubblegumCrisis''. Primarily in the characters of Linna and Nene, who despite being only a year apart in age, look nearly seven years between them.

* In the earlier ''Literature/HarryPotter'' books, when Ginny was outside the CompetenceZone, she was described as "little" and in general made to sound like she was practically still sucking on a pacifier, despite being only one year younger than the trio. This ended after she TookALevelInBadass. Lampshaded when Harry tries to keep her out of the [[Literature/HarryPotterAndTheOrderOfThePhoenix fifth book]]'s adventure, only to be reminded she's older than he was when he fought Voldemort over [[Literature/HarryPotterAndThePhilosophersStone the Philosopher's Stone]].

** In ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyXV'', Gladiolus and Ignis, the respective TeamDad and TeamMom, are both very tall and look and sound like fully-fledged adults, while Noctis (HeroProtagonist) and Prompto (PluckyComicRelief) [[TeensAreShort are shorter]] and look and sound like they're in their late teens. Noctis and Prompto are 20. Gladiolus and Ignis are 23.

* ''Series/DoctorWho''. The Doctor is, of course, ancient but is also characterised strongly by his physical apparent age in that incarnation. (This is further complicated by every actor to have taken the part deliberately playing the character with mannerisms that hint at ages of [[ManChild both ends of]] [[GrumpyOldMan the spectrum]].) For a few more specific examples:

* In the earlier ''Literature/HarryPotter'' books, when Ginny was outside the CompetenceZone, she was described as "little" and in general made to sound like she was practically still sucking on a pacifier, despite being only one year younger than the trio. This ended after she TookALevelInBadass. Lampshaded when Harry tries to keep her out of the fifth book's adventure, only to be reminded she's older than he was when he fought Voldemort over the Philosopher's Stone.

* ''WesternAnimation/StarWarsRebels'' has this between [[BadassPrincess Leia]] and [[StreetUrchin Ezra]], who are both sixteen when they first meet. Leia's been raised as a diplomat and rebel in a royal household while Ezra is physically and emotionally stunted from his time on the streets. As such, Leia comes off as much older despite actually being younger than he is.

* It's been said that Presidents of the United States age in dog years while in office. Compare current photos of UsefulNotes/BarackObama with those from the 2008 campaign.

** Clara's uncomfortable feelings towards the Twelfth Doctor in Season 8 are based partially on the fact that he appears drastically older than he had been when she'd first met him. "Deep Breath" even explained that his previous prettyboy {{Hipster}} incarnation was in part an act of denial - looking young allowed him to convince himself that he was, even allowing himself to think of himself as Clara's 'boyfriend'. His return to an older appearance was finally being honest to himself about his age, the stress of not living a lie giving him something of a new lease of [[NightmareFetishist Nightmare Fetish]].

!!Examples

[[AC:{{Anime}} and {{Manga}}]]

[[AC:{{Film}}]]

[[AC:{{Literature}}]]

[[AC:LiveActionTV]]

[[AC:RealLife]]
* It's been said that Presidents of the United States age in dog years while in office. Compare current photos of UsefulNotes/BarackObama with those from the 2008 campaign.

[[AC:VideoGames]]

[[AC:Western Animation]]

* ''WesternAnimation/StarWarsRebels'' has this between [[BadassPrincess Leia]] and [[StreetUrchin Ezra]], who are both fifteen when they first meet. Leia's been raised as a diplomat and rebel in a royal household while Ezra is physically and emotionally stunted from his time on the streets. As such, Leia comes off as much older despite actually being younger than he is.

* [[{{Moe}} Mikuru Asahina]] in ''LightNovel/HaruhiSuzumiya''. Though one year higher than the rest of the cast, she is often a victim of [[RealityWarper Haruhi's]] molestations, though [[CharacterDevelopment this decreases as the light novels go on]].
** Even [[DeadpanSnarker Kyon]] doesn't know Mikuru's real age, by virtue of her time traveling capabilities.
-->'''Kyon:''' "Please tell me your real age."\\
'''Mikuru:''' "That's classified."

* {{Eyeshield 21}} plays this trope to ridiculous extremes. Almost all of the cast is aged 15-18, yet you have characters like Komosubi who look and act like they're about 10 and characters like Mr. Don who look older then their ''own parents''.
* {{Slam Dunk}}: Done most obviously with Akagi, Uozumi, and Maki, who are all captains of their basketball team and all look about 30 (atleast). Subverted later on when the very boyish-looking Miyagi's made captain.

* In ''WorldOfWarcraft'', Thrall calls Garrosh Hellscream "boy" after he challenges him to a duel for the Warchief title. This fits with the roles of the two characters, with Thrall being the wise spiritual leader and Garrosh being the HotBlooded upstart warrior, however FridgeLogic dictates Garrosh is actually older than Thrall by at least a few years. Thrall was born on Azeroth after the end of the second war. Garrosh was born on Draenor, which means he must have been born or at least conceived before his father Grom Hellscream went through the Dark Portal at the start of the first war.

** Ozai, the BigBad, looks to be in his late thirties or early forties. Iroh, TheObiWan, looks like he's in his sixties or seventies. It's never stated exactly how old they are or how big the age gap between them is, but they're supposed to be brothers. They look more like a father and son.

* In ''TheGodfatherPartIII'' Mary Corleone is technically in her mid to late twenties (she's actually ''older'' than Michael was at the beginning of the first film). However she is portrayed very much as an innocent, wide eyed teenager (being played by the then 18-year old Sophia Coppala is also a factor.)

* ''WesternAnimation/AvatarTheLastAirbender'' has Sokka explicitly stating that he can't remember his mother without Katara's face, because she has been [[TeamMom acting as such]] since their mother's death. She is his ''younger'' sister.

* The Knight Sabers in ''BubblegumCrisis''. Primarily in the characters of Linna and Nene, who despite being only a year apart in age, look nearly seven years between them.

* ''DesperateHousewives'': In the later seasons, Bree started dating a younger man. The character was nominally in his mid to late 30's (like his actor Brian Austin Green) but in order to make the age gap seem a bigger issue he usually acted and dressed at least a decade younger, coming across as more like a twenty something {{Slacker}}.

** The Fourth Doctor, the youngest man cast at the time, was initially conceived as an 'eternal student' character to take advantage of the actor's youth (then considered a shock development). This goes some way to explaining the unusual outfit he wears in his first season (preppy Oxbridge by way of StarvingArtist and general tastelessness). This concept was dropped in favour of a [[ByronicHero Byronic]] aesthetic, but some elements of it stuck around, particularly in Season 17 which dealt a lot with his university education and had a story set in Cambridge. His personality was also much more childish than his predecessors - impulsive, petulant, prone to [[TheMoodSwinger mood swings]] and [[AttentionWhore attention-seeking]], with a childish disrespect for responsibility and a tendency to act cute to get his way.

* ''Film/XMenFirstClass'' does this in many ways with her. She is about as old as Xavier. But as a shapeshifter, she chooses to look younger, and she prefers to stay with the teenage recruits. And according to Hank, her body ages slower.

* ''Film/XMenFirstClass'' does this in many ways with Mystique. She is about as old as Xavier. But as a shapeshifter, she chooses to look younger, and she prefers to stay with the teenage recruits. And according to Hank, her body ages slower. Then, Magneto dumps her, and states that maybe he will be willing to sleep with her in ten years.

* Despite great variations in their appearance, most of the senshi in ''Manga/SailorMoon'' are aged within a year of each other, with any grade differences being a product of also being transfer students. This is obscured the fact artists draw Haruka and Michiru as much older looking than the other characters, who gushed about how mature they seemed. TheNineties [[Anime/SailorMoon anime]] even poked fun at the idea that Haruka's hobby of car driving doesn't really make legal sense.

** A non-animated example of the emotional maturity part (obviously physical maturity is probably not going to be fudged this way in a live action show): At the end of this show, Dawn was the same age Buffy was at the start of the series. Dawn was treated as immature and whiny, while Buffy was treated as justified in her conflict with adults and generally as fairly mature in most matters.

* Despite great variations in their appearance, most of the senshi in ''Manga/SailorMoon'' are aged within a year of each other, with any grade differences being a product of also being transfer students. This is obscured the fact artists draw Haruka and Michiru as much older looking than the other characters, who gushed about how mature they seemed. The show even poked fun at the idea that Haruka's hobby of car driving doesn't really make legal sense.
** For those who are unaware Usagi and the Guardian/Inner Senshi are 14 when the show starts (and 15 when the outers are introduced and 16 when the show ends) Uranus and Neptune are 1 year older, while Setsuna is hard to pin due to time travel but is physically in her 20s (and attends college). Hotaru is twelve years at the time of her introduction but due to age-downs and ups it's hard to pin. Chibiusa is physically around 5 then around ages to around 10. In the manga she's really 900 years old though.
** Chibiusa is justified: she physically cannot age until her senshi powers were awakened.

* It's been said that Presidents of the United States age in dog years while in office. Compare current photos of BarackObama with those from the 2008 campaign.

* In the earlier ''Literature/HarryPotter'' books, when Ginny was outside the CompetenceZone, she was described as "little" and in general made to sound like she was practically still sucking on a pacifier, despite being only one year younger than the trio. This ended after she TookALevelInBadass.

* Noted by Trian in the first book of TheDeathGateCycle. "Wars and kingship age a man. Magic does not." Zigzagged in that while he appears quite young, he has the power to act on behalf of the king, but he ultimately has very little power in the broader scope the series takes.

* A non-animated example of the emotional maturity part (obviously physical maturity is probably not going to be fudged this way in a live action show): At the end of ''Series/BuffyTheVampireSlayer'', Dawn was the same age Buffy was at the start of the series. Dawn was treated as immature and whiny, while Buffy was treated as justified in her conflict with adults and generally as fairly mature in most matters.

* In the later seasons of ''DesperateHousewives'' Bree started dating a younger man. The character was nominally in his mid to late 30's (like his actor Brian Austin Green) but in order to make the age gap seem a bigger issue he usually acted and dressed at least a decade younger, coming across as more like a twenty something {{Slacker}}.