Fanlore:Featured Article Archives/2018: Week 9

Art from "Oh To Be Young Again...!!", 1969, a Star Trek story in The Crewman's Log.

De-Aging is a story trope where adult characters are turned back into children or younger adults. The transformation can be fully physical and mental. It can also be a physical transformation that leaves the adult mind in a younger body; or the opposite, where the mind is reverted to a child-like state, but the body remains as-is.

It is a popular genre in fandoms that allow for magic, such as Harry Potter, or have wacky science fiction technology that writers can use in lieu of a magic wand. De-aging can be written as humor, even crackfic; or as hurt/comfort, forcing characters to take care of each other. The story can also be a serious examination of changed power dynamics in the character's relationships.