No other words can describe this.
The limit of the Willing Suspension of Disbelief for a given element is directly proportional to its adorableness.
For example, anatomically improbable creatures can be perfectly justified in the right setting.
Sub-Trope of Rule of Cool. Compare Rule of Glamorous, Tiny Tropes.
Contrast Gonk, Hollywood Homely (where someone isn't supposed to be cute or beautiful, but is), Informed Attractiveness (where someone is supposed to be cute or beautiful, but isn't more than anyone else), and Subverted Innocence.
Tropes running on this rule include:
- Adorable Abomination: An incomprehensible nightmare in a broadly adorable form.
- Adorable Evil Minions: Cute Mooks.
- Adorably Precocious Child: A child who is seen as cute because they try to act mature beyond their years.
- Animal-Eared Headband: A headband consisting of animal ears.
- "Aww"-choo: A character's sneeze is cute.
- Badass Adorable: Cute and can kick ass.
- Bespectacled Cutie: A bespectacled character that's adorable because of their glasses.
- Big Anime Eyes: Large, sparkly eyes emphasize the cuteness of a character.
- Big Friendly Dog: An adorable and friendly dog, especially if it's a Gentle Giant.
- Break the Cutie: When the cutie is hit with a lot of angst.
- Bunnies for Cuteness: Bunnies are used to symbolize cuteness.
- Cat Smile: A character smiles like a cat (:3).
- Cheerful Child: Sweet and innocent little kid.
- Childish Tooth Gap: A gap in between one's teeth to signify their innocence.
- Corrupt the Cutie: The cutie takes a slow walk to the dark side.
- Crapsaccharine World: A Crapsack World disguised as a Sugar Bowl.
- Creepy Cute: A character who is cute and disturbing at the same time.
- Cuddle Bug: Someone who loves cuddling and hugs.
- Cute Approaches Camera: An animal approaches the camera to enhance their cuteness.
- Cute and Psycho, which applies to cute characters that can notably go Ax-Crazy at the same time.
- Cute Bookworm: A nerd or intellect who's very sweet and endearing.
- Cute Bruiser: The Cutie has brutal physical defense skills.
- Cute, but Cacophonic: A cute character with an annoying voice.
- Cute Clumsy Girl: The Klutz is an adorable lady.
- Cute Creature, Creepy Mouth: A creature that is cute, aside from its mouth.
- Cute Critters Act Childlike: Cute anthropomorphic animals behave in an immature manner.
- Cute 'em Up: A Shoot 'Em Up game consisting of cute creatures.
- Cute Giant: Big or strong person is incredibly adorable.
- Cute Ghost Girl: A cute girl who's a ghost of a dead girl.
- Cute Indignant Girl Stance: Huffily holding your hands straight down at your sides, fists at 90-degree angles from your body.
- Cute Is Evil: When a cute character turns out to be evil.
- Cute Kitten: An adorable cat.
- Cute Little Fangs: Vampire fangs are depicted as adorable.
- Cute Machines: Adorable robots.
- Cute Monster: A monster who is also adorable.
- Cute Monster Girl: Female monsters are depicted as adorable.
- Cute Mute: Cute silent person.
- Cuteness Equals Forgiveness: Forgot what they did, they're cute enough to be forgiven.
- Cuteness Overload: Something so cute either causes you to freeze or explode.
- Cuteness Proximity: Cute things provoke a distracted 'aww' reaction.
- Cute Owl: An adorable owl.
- Cute Slime Mook: Exactly What It Says on the Tin.
- Cute Sports Club Manager: A cute, athletic person who runs a sports club.
- Cute Witch: A witch who is also cute.
- The Cutie: A character whose default status is sweet, innocent, and endearing.
- Deliberately Cute Child: A manipulative child uses their endearing nature to get their way.
- Dojikko: Clumsy Japanese girl is cute and attractive.
- Dork Knight: A kindhearted, but capable, hero.
- Eggshell Clothing: Wearing the egg you hatched from as clothes.
- Endearingly Dorky: Socially awkward person who is cute because of their dorkiness.
- The Fake Cutie: Turns out The Cutie faked their ego this whole time.
- Friendly Neighborhood Spider: A cute spider.
- Fun Size: Smaller means cuter.
- Generic Cuteness: If everything is cute, nothing is.
- Grotesque Cute: Mixing cuteness with things that really aren't.
- Hates Being Called Cute: Being called 'cute' provokes a disdainful reaction from them.
- High Koala-ty Cuteness: A cute and cuddly koala.
- Human Jungle Gym: Large characters letting little children climb up their bodies like a playground, usually as a way to show affection.
- I'm Taking Her Home with Me!: Cuteness Proximity can turn even the most level-headed person into a gibbering mess.
- The Internet Is for Cats: The Internet is full of cute cat photos/videos.
- Kawaiiko: A cutesy Japanese person.
- Killer Rabbit: A cute animal with murderous intent.
- Kill the Cutie: Anything cute dies.
- Little Miss Badass: Little girl knows how to knock you down.
- Lovable Lizard: Even scaly creatures can be cute, and lizards are some of the best in the biz when it comes to reptiles.
- Meet Cute: When two characters' romance begins incidentally.
- Meganekko: A cute nerdy anime female wears glasses.
- Meido: Playing the domestic servant for cuteness appeal. (Don't mix this up with French Maid.)
- Moe: An extremely adorable character.
- Moe Couplet: A non-romantic pairing that brings out the best traits of both characters.
- Nice Mice: For as pesky as they can be, mice sure are small and furry!
- Not Allowed to Grow Up: Character retains their childlike appearance well into adulthood.
- Pandaing to the Audience: Adorable pandas.
- Piggyback Cute: Carrying a love interest (teased or otherwise) on your back.
- Precious Puppy: Who doesn't love furry little puppies? (Unless you'd rather Kick the Dog.)
- Precocious Crush: A child's innocent crush on an adult or adolescent.
- Puni Plush: An art style that intentionally avoids straight lines and harsh angles on characters, drawing everything soft and round.
- Puppy-Dog Eyes: Using your cute eyes to get your way.
- Puppy Love: Little kids who fall in love.
- Ridiculously Cute Critter: Animal who's very cute.
- Series Mascot: A character used in advertising to represent a series or company. For marketing reasons, this character will often be cute.
- Shoulder-Sized Dragon: An itty-bitty dragon to sit on your shoulder or use as a Head Pet.
- Sickeningly Sweet: A character dislikes things they think are too cute.
- Sleep Cute: Two characters sleeping next to each other, one leaning against the other.
- Sprouting Ears: Growing animal ears for a gag.
- Squish the Cheeks: A character's cheeks are squished to tease them over their cuteness.
- Strawberry Shorthand: Strawberries, with their bright red color and vaguely heart-like shape, tend to be used to symbolize innocence.
- Sugar Bowl: A beautiful and colorful world.
- Super-Cute Superpowers: Cuteness as a superpower.
- Super-Deformed: Tiny body, big head.
- Sweet Dreams Fuel: A work so cute, wholesome, and sweet that it banishes all the nightmares.
- Sweet Seal: Seals, being roly-poly and fuzzy, are often used as visual shorthands for cuteness.
- Sweet Sheep: So are sheep, due to being very sweet animals and having very soft wool.
- Sweetness Aversion: A work is too overwhelmingly sweet for audiences.
- Token Mini-Moe: The only cute member of The Team.
- Ugly Cute is when this is pulled off against unlikely odds.
- Ultra Super Happy Cute Baby Fest Farmer 3000: A ludicrously cutesy video game.
- Vampire Lolita Archetype: Their physical forms usually resemble cute young girls.
- What Measure Is a Non-Cute?: If it's not cute, then it's not good.
- You're Cute When You're Angry: A character who looks cute when being angry.
- Youthful Freckles: Freckles on characters are typically seen as cute.
