History Main / VagueAge

* The main cast of ''WesternAnimation/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagic'' seem to draw together adolescent and adult qualities. They all live independently and most work professionally, but also often act like teens (with things like slumber parties). Their interactions with explicitly pre-adolescent characters seems to vacillate between slightly older sibling to responsible adult figure. It's complicated even further by one minor who apparently has an explicit "teen as distinct from adult" stage.
** The main cast's age was given in one episode by showing Applejack as a baby at the Apple reunions (held every 100 months, with the reunion in the third season), leading to a large in-fandom argument about whether the ponies are 17 or 25. Their maturity level indicates the lower number, while their roles in society clearly requires the older, especially as that would require three of the main 6 to be business owners at 15.

* Nobody knows how old the villainous Doctor Eggman from ''SonicTheHedgehog'' is supposed to be. Going by his appearance, voice, and personality, he could anywhere from 35 to 65.

* In ''ComicBook/PocketGod'', : The pygmies appear to be young adults, but Nooby has the mindset of a child and Linsee drinks. They don't even know their own ages or how long they've been around; probably as a side effect of their ResurrectiveImmortality.

Compare SuspiciouslyVagueAge (characters whose age is vague because they get involved in adult activities), MistakenAge.

** The main cast's age was given in one episode by showing Applejack as a baby at the Apple reunions (held every 100 months), leading to a large in-fandom argument about whether the ponies are 17 or 25. Their maturity level indicates the lower number, while their roles in society clearly requires the older, especially as this was set two years after the series's start.

** Throughout the series itself ''Franchise/MyLittlePony'' has fit this. Characters are explicitly referred to as adults and several of them even have children, however they're notoriously immature and love playing with toys.. Then again they ''are'' horses.

* ''LupinTheThird'': The characters of are certainly adults, but beyond that it's anyone's guess. The fact that they have been having adventures since TheSixties can be ignored since the series runs on ComicbookTime. However, Lupin himself is canonically the [[IdenticalGrandson grandson]] of Literature/ArseneLupin, who first appeared over a century ago, already an adult. At this point, the timeline would make a lot more sense if it were called Lupin the Fourth or even Lupin the Fifth.

* Applied to Luna the cat in ''PrettyGuardianSailorMoon'', who despite sounding identical to the version in ''SailorMoon'' (who was a VagueAge full grown cat until she briefly became a [[HumanAliens human(oid)]]), was given the body of a young girl as a occasional human form. She was described by the mangaka as being a year younger than the lead character and became a teenaged girl when human, but also has been alive since the Silver Millenium.

* Levi (and a few others) from ''Manga/AttackOnTitan''. Levi is noticeably smaller than many character, including the 15 year old protagonists, and looks younger than a few of the trainees, but in reality he has to anywhere from three to ten years older than them.

*** Which is further complicated by the fact that Spike is constantly referred to as a ''baby'' dragon.

* Made a plot point in ''VideoGame/GoldenSun: The Lost Age''. After visiting his homeland, where [[ReallySevenHundredYearsOld people age extremely slowly]], the characters start asking Piers about his age. [[CrowningMomentOfFunny Piers refuses to answer, and gets upset when the others start pressing the issue]], because [[JustifiedTrope he's worried that knowing his age will change how his new friends will see him]] (and likely also because he's just embarrassed about it). Fans consequently tend to assume he's [[OlderThanTheyLook significantly older]] [[IntergenerationalFriendship than the rest of the cast]], possibly bar [[CoolOldGuy Kraden]].

* Levi (and a few others) from ''ShingekiNoKyojin''. Levi is noticeably smaller than many character, including the 15 year old protagonists, and looks younger than a few of the trainees, but in reality he has to anywhere from three to ten years older than them.

* Played with in ''[[JungleWaItsumoHaleNochiGuu Haré+Guu]]''. When attending [[{{Eagleland}} The City's]] school, Haré immediately notices all the kids are separated by grades. His own school is a literal [[TwoTeacherSchool one-teacher]] and his homeroom consists of ''every'' non-adult in the series, including teenagers. [[hottip:*:Which incidentally is TruthInTelevision for extremely low population density areas; a single teacher is able to give individualized assignments for each student based on their age, when there's only a handful of them to begin with.]]

** Regarding the casserole dish, it was implied that she was squashed in there. The previous book said that she was too large to fit in a shoe and pretend to only have one foot (don't ask), leading Klaus to comment that it had been quite a while since she was that small.
* ''DirkGentlysHolisticDetectiveAgency'': Professor Chronotis is described as "pick a number and he was probably a little older than that." [[spoiler: He later assures people that he doesn't know his age, due to time travel and an unstated method of longevity. He's a CaptainErsatz [[DoctorWho Time Lord]].]]

* [[FriendlyNeighborhoodVampire Garrid]] from ''Tales of the Frog Princess''. Yes, we know he's old, at least a few centuries, but we don't know ''how'' old, and he still looks like a young man.
* Justified in-universe for the [[Really700YearsOld Aes Sedai]] in ''TheWheelOfTime'' as their long use of the [[MagicByAnyOtherName One Power]] ([[spoiler:actually, it's from using the Oath Rod]]) causes them to have "ageless" faces. One second she looks 25, but blink and maybe she's 65. Or anywhere in between.

** But calling her a child may have just been a reference to the fact that the Shadow Queen is [[WeAreAsMayflies thousands of years old]].

* ''WesternAnimation/SpongebobSquarepants'': Spongebob who is sometimes portrayed as a kid, at others as a teenager, and at still others as being college-aged. He has an official birthday of July 14, 1986 that has appeared twice in the show, but it is never stated in what timeframe each episode takes place.
** WordOfGod is Spongebob is 26, making him age in real time.
* ''WesternAnimation/TinyToonAdventures'' had the main characters attend "Acme Looniversity"; however, it was never clear exactly what kind of school this was, with elementary, middle, and high schools all suggested by one plot or another, and the name of the school itself suggesting a college.
** It's vocational. It should be noted that the maturity and actions of the ''characters'' will sometimes range from child, pre-teen, or teenager depending on what a given cartoon needs.
** Furthermore, Babs specifically notes in the pilot episode that she's fourteen years old. Presumably, so are most of the rest of the cast.

** Granny Smith takes the cake, she's a founding member of Ponyville, a town that according to Twilight is ''hundreds'' of years old!

*** FridgeBrilliance: He had a full head of hair in early episodes. His baldness is from years of wearing a knit cap.
*** That could've easily been a severe case of premature balding.

* {{Averted|Trope}} in the ''FanFic/PaperMarioX'' series, somewhat: {{Kirby}} is explained as being 8 in his world, but since [[YearInsideHourOutside his world's time apparently moves slower]], he's 13 everywhere else. [[Franchise/SuperMarioBros Mario and Luigi]] are somehow 25 and 18 respectively, [[Franchise/TheLegendOfZelda Malon]] is 15-16, Link is 17 and [[{{Metroid}} Samus]] is 19.

* {{Medical Drama}}s and {{Law Procedural}}s:
** These shows in general are often populated by [[HospitalHottie extremely pretty]] [[HelloAttorney young people]] who look like they just graduated, but are apparently very experienced and often well known and highly regarded in their fields. You usually don't get a specific age for these characters.
** A SubvertedTrope in ''HarrysLaw'', where the young-looking characters have noticeably less experience than and not as much of a reputation as their older counterparts, even if their exact ages aren't given.

* The... questionable art skills of Zun, ''VideoGame/{{Touhou}}'''s creator have made the intended age of most characters unfathomable from their official portraits. Since WordOfGod stays extremely vague on the subject, this has left the fandom free rein on their age. Even more than the others, {{Catgirl}} Orin and CuteWitch[=/=]HotWitch Patchouli (who wears baggy clothes) have fallen victims to this trope, alternating between {{Token Mini Moe}}s and fully grown women, DependingOnTheArtist.
** To make matters worse, even WordOfGod on the characters chronological ages does little to help figuring out what their physical ages are supposed to be. You can count on one hand the number of characters who aren't Really700YearsOld.

* In a subversion of this, the personality of Stewie on ''WesternAnimation/FamilyGuy'' is [[PingPongNaivete constantly switching]] between a naive baby and essentially a forty year old man, despite the fact that everyone around him (with the occasional exception of the dog) consistently treats him like a baby.
-->'''Brian''': Aren't you a little old to have a teddy bear?
-->'''Stewie''': I'm one.
-->'''Brian''': Still?
-->'''Stewie''': What?

-->'''Barbie:''' Starting today, I'm officially [[spoiler: ''[[TheUnreveal (gets drawn out by the vacuum)]]'']]

* {{Medical Drama}}s and {{Law Procedural}}s in general are often populated by [[HospitalHottie extremely pretty]] [[HelloAttorney young people]] who look like they just graduated, but are apparently very experienced and often well known and highly regarded in their fields. You usually don't get a specific age for these characters.
** Somewhat subverted in HarrysLaw, where the young-looking characters have noticeably less experience than and not as much of a reputation as their older counterparts, even if their exact ages aren't given.
* Most of ''TheMuppets'', since they tend to have abstract appearances anyway. For ''Series/SesameStreet'' characters, this is done for psychological appeal; the regulars are supposed to emulate different stages of childhood development, and each character's 'official' age is just a reflection of that.
* Lex Luthor of ''{{Smallville}}'' has the ability to somehow blend in with high school students.

* Abed of ''Series/{{Community}}'' is somewhere in his twenties, but where is anyone's guess.
* Kenneth from ''Series/ThirtyRock'' appears a bit too old to be in the age bracket likely to work as a network intern, but there's also quite a bit of evidence that he might actually be [[OlderThanTheyLook older than he appears]]. No definitive answer has ever been given. Seriously, just check out the OlderThanTheyLook section on the series' main page. If he's to be believed, Kenneth has been working for NBC since '''''[[spoiler:1936]]'''''.
* ''WesternAnimation/BluesClues''. How old are the live action cast supposed to be? Apparently Steve is an adult, maybe a [[DawsonCasting late teenager]], but what about his brother?
* ''Series/{{Merlin}}'' has never given any definitive ages for its cast, though WordOfGod has it that of the four leads, Morgana is the oldest, followed by Arthur, with Merlin and Guinevere clocking in as late teenagers when the show begins. When taking into account the [[TimeSkip Time Skips]] that occur between seasons, nearly ten years have passed in-show, meaning that the cast (all in their mid-twenties when filming began) went from DawsonCasting to PlayingGertrude.
* In the first season of TheSuiteLifeOfZackAndCody, Zack and Cody are presumably the same age as their actors: 12 or 13, while Maddie and London are in their late teens. However, in later seasons (and in the spinoff), they are clearly older teens, while Maddie and London are the same age: In the spinoff the twins and London go to school together.

* In ''Series/TheVampireDiaries'', All of the Originals ages are unknown. Rebekah and Kol are teenagers, where in their teens they fall is anyone's guess and Klaus, Elijah, and Finn are total mystery. It's also unknown at what age Katherine was turned.

** Granny Smith takes the cake, she's is a founding member of Ponyville, a town that according to Twilight is ''hundreds'' of years old!

* ''LupinTheThird'': The characters of are certainly adults, but beyond that it's anyone's guess. The fact that they have been having adventures since TheSixties can be ignored since the series runs on ComicbookTime. However, Lupin himself is canonically the [[IdenticalGrandson grandson]] of ArseneLupin, who first appeared over a century ago, already an adult. At this point, the timeline would make a lot more sense if it were called Lupin the Fourth or even Lupin the Fifth.

* Musicals in general tend to have a case of this. Unless it is plot relevant, a character's age will probably be vauge enough to allow actors spanning a decade to play them. Possibly more.

* Spoofed in ''WesternAnimation/BarbieLifeInTheDreamhouse'', where ''nobody'' knows what Barbie's age is, not even her closest friends.
-->'''Teresa:''' She ran for President once! You have to be ''at least'' thirty-five for that, so let's see... carry the one... uh... What am I adding?

-->'''Barbie:''' Starting today, I'm officially [[spoiler: ''[[TheUnreveal (gets drawn out by the vacuum)]]'']]

* How old Piglet in the Disney versions of ''WinnieThePooh'' is never specified. His name and the fact Tigger often refers to him by childish nicknames should mean he's young, but his voice and mature personality make him seem the same age as the others.

** Spike, who is both younger than the rest of the main cast but apparently ''older'' than the other children in the show. He lives with another character and basically acts as their younger brother, but unlike the other younger characters he can be left on his own for long periods of time (even taking over another's duties) and rather than going to school has a job assisting another cast member.