Basic Trope: Someone younger than 18 is shown living without an adult for some reason.
- Straight: 10 year old Billy lives on his own.
- Exaggerated:
- Billy is a baby that somehow manages to live on his own.
- All of the children live on their own.
- Downplayed:
- Billy doesn't actually live alone, but his parents leave him home alone for a vast majority of the day.
- Billy is 16-17 and lives on his own.
- Justified:
- Billy's parents died or abandoned him, and he has no Parental Substitute available.
- Billy is very independent and Wise Beyond His Years, so he moved out.
- Inverted: Billy is an adult who still lives with his parents.
- Subverted:
- Billy seems to live alone, but it turns out he actually has Invisible Parents who just aren't shown.
- Billy is introduced seemingly living on his own, but his parents come home soon afterwards.
- Billy is actually Older Than He Looks.
- Double Subverted:
- He only mentions having parents so that other people won't be concerned about him.
- Those aren't actually his parents or guardians, but people coming in to visit.
- Although Billy is older than he looks, he's still only about 14.
- Parodied: ???
- Zig-Zagged: ???
- Averted: Billy is a child who lives with his parents.
- Enforced: ???
- Lampshaded: ???
- Invoked: Billy runs away from home.
- Exploited: ???
- Defied: Billy decides to live at another family member's house, or at least find someone who will adopt him.
- Discussed: ???
- Conversed: "How is Billy from Tropers living on his own?! He's only 10!"
- Played for Drama:
- Billy lives on his own because his parents are dead.
- Billy had Abusive Parents (and/or neglectful parents), and he ran away from home to be free from them.
Back to Minor Living Alone
