Like most other forms of animation from around the world, anime has a habit of featuring more young heroes and heroines than older ones. This is likely thanks to the fact that the most popular genres in Japanese animation appeal to a younger demographic. Shonen, meaning "boys," and Shojo, meaning "girls," are genres that cater largely to children and teenagers -- though that doesn't stop older viewers from enjoying them too, of course. Shonen anime tends to be more action-orientated, feature a predominantly male cast and more often than not, a zero to hero main character who must overcome the odds to become the very best at something.
Shojo anime, on the other hand, is usually slower-paced, romance-orientated and features girls or young women navigating the pitfalls of friendship and love, while sometimes also having magical powers. (For older fans, there's Seinen, for men, and Josei, for women -- mature versions of Shonen and Shojo, respectively.) The characters we connect with at young ages have huge nostalgic appeal, and as we get older, it's fun to imagine what the fresh-faced, animated kids and teens we grew up watching would look like if they aged with us. Thanks to spin-off series' like Naruto's Boruto, we don't have to imagine what the likes of Naruto, Sasuke and Sakura look like as full-grown adults, but for characters like Ash Ketchum (who will likely be stuck in a time loop forever), we'll just have to rely on the creative work of dedicated fans like these.
20 THE POKEMON KIDS
Back in 1997, Pokemon's Ash Ketchum began his quest to become the very best, like no one ever was, on his tenth birthday -- the age that kids can begin their training careers in the Pokemon world. This piece from Isaiah Stephens gives us a glimpse of what the Pallet Town hero might look like if he'd actually aged normally.
On his left and right are his original travelling buddies from the Kanto region, gym leaders Misty and Brock, as well as Nurse Joy, Officer Jenny and, in the full image, Team Rocket's Jessie and James on the far left in a pair of snazzy, matching suits. The work is part of a series of "All Grown Up" classic cartoon characters from the artist, and include interpretations of everything from Dexter's Laboratory to Kim Possible.
19 SAILOR MOON
Across the first five arcs of Sailor Moon, titular teen protagonist -- otherwise known by her civilian name as Usagi Tsukino -- never reaches beyond the age of 16. Typical of the magical girl genre, Usagi hides her tremendous cosmic powers under her youthful naivety and immaturity. She can be serious when necessary, but her temper tantrums are also infamous.
Stef Tastan's fan art reimagines an older, meaner version of the Sailor Senshi leader; she's got battle scars, her costume has seen better days and the sparkle in her eyes has become a hardened glint. You wouldn't want to cross this Sailor Moon at full power.
18 EREN JAEGER
In Attack On Titan, we follow Eren Jaeger from his traumatizing childhood -- watching his mother being devoured by a female Titan -- all the way into his teen years as a member of the Survey Corps, hellbent on ridding the world of every last one of the human-munching giants. Though his job is the most risky a person can do in his world, we hope to see Eren to survive into adulthood.
If he does, artist Bril-krist has given us an idea of what that might look like. Though he's stockier, taller and apparently a Tom Cruise lookalike, we'd recognize that determined stare anywhere. You can even see the scars on his hand from years worth of triggering his Titan transformation.
17 SAKURA KINOMOTO
Sakura Kinomoto begins her cardcapting journey at the age of nine in the first series of Cardcaptor Sakura/Cardcaptors. In the Clear Card Arc, she's still only around 12/13 years-old -- which just makes all of her magical feats, and graduation to become the world's greatest magician even more impressive. A CLAMP-official adult Sakura does exist in the Tsubasa Chronicles series.
But, this rendering of Clow Reed's successor by artist Vonnabeee is the fully matured Sakura from the Cardcaptors universe, not a weird, alternate-world descendent of hers. It's nice to see that even as an adult, Sakura's signature hairstyle and frilly, magical girl garb still suit her.
16 KIRITO KAZUTO
Kirito Kazuto was just 14 years-old when he became trapped, along with 10,000 other players, in "Sword Art Online," the world's most immersive VRMMORPG. Over the course of the show, he ages three more years as he battles through other VR games. This piece from professional artist Caesar Ian Muyuela is just one of many anime characters the artist loves to bring to life in his unique style.
Whether intentional or not, his version of Kirito in his famous Black Swordsman outfit definitely gives the character a much more mature and serious demeanour than the cuter, rounder way he's depicted in the series. Caesar says his intention was to make the character more brutal than he is in the anime.
15 MONKEY D. LUFFY
One Piece has been on the air for over 15 years, but the Straw Hat crew have aged very slowly over that period. The rubber-powered Captain Luffy is a mere seven years-old when we first encounter him, but the story soon jumps ahead 10 years to when Luffy takes his first steps towards assembling a crew and becoming the Pirate King.
It takes roughly 500 episodes for Luffy to grow from 17 to 19 years-old, and we're only half-way through the saga, according to the creator. For those fans that can't wait another 15 years to see what Pirate King Luffy will look like, artwork like this one by Zis will have to tide us over; swapping the teenager's straw hat for a grown man's tricorn.
14 ICHIGO KURASAKI
We first meet Ichigo Kurasaki as a layabout high school student of 15 years-old in Bleach. After becoming a human Substitute Shinigami, Ichigo has to knuckle down to protect his family and friends by taking his new job seriously. After a timeskip, Ichigo's age jumps up two years, but we only briefly see him fully grown-up in the story's epilogue.
By that point, Ichigo is in his late-20s and has fathered a son, Kazui -- as featured in this family portrait by FrAgMenT. The artist has traded Ichigo's Shinigami robes for some modern-day, human clothes, and given them to Kazui instead, who looks the spitting image of his dad.
13 BAKUGO, MIDORIYA AND TODOROKI
Despite the impressive physiques, the My Hero Academia kids are only around 14/15 years-old when they begin their training at the legendary school to become professional heroes. This piece by illustrator Mochi depicts what the main three male protagonists, Bakugo, Midoriya and Todoroki, would look like "around thirty" when they've long since graduated the Academy.
Mochi is a popular Japanese fan artist who is most well-known for their My Hero Academia doujinshi (self-published comics) and this illustration shows off the artist's imaginative capabilities. Though much taller and leaner, the heroes' distinct personalities from their teen years still shine through their facial expressions, proving that some things never change.
12 REI AYANAMI
Neon Genesis Evangelion is one of the most iconic franchises in Japan and its young cast of Eva pilots have some of the most recognizable faces in anime. Like the other First Children, the mysterious Rei Ayanami is physically just 14 years-old when she, along with Shinji Ikari and Asuka Langley, are tasked with the not-so-small job of protecting the entire planet from extraterrestrial attacks.
Unlike other mecha shows, Evangelion really delves into the psychological toll that this enormous pressure would have on protagonists who are so young, and because of where things inevitably end up, we never get to see them grow up, other than in fan art like this piece by Keelerleah, which gives us a taste of what could have been.
11 YATO AND IKI HIYORI
Noragami begins with 16 year-old Iki Hiyori saving a 1000 year-old God from being hit by a bus. The God turns out to be be Yato, the God of Calamity, and the act forcibly makes Hiyori part-human, part-Ayakashi, which means her spirit can leave her body at will, leading to the pair forming an unlikely partnership.
Though Yato is hundreds of years old, like many immortal deities, his real age is masked in a much younger body. Though his appearance does alter as more of his true abilities are revealed, he never looks a day over 17. Kutty-Sark's illustration for a Noragami fanzine gives us a better idea of what the duo would look like a few years down the line.
10 MEGAMAN
Megaman has primarily been the star of his own video game series since 1987, with over 50 titles under his blue belt by now. In 1994, the young android made the jump to TV with his first animated series, created as a collaborative effort between US and Japanese production houses, and he's been on-and-off our small screens ever since.
Like Astro Boy, Megaman is usually rendered in a chibi-esque ("small") style to emphasize how young he is, which is why this somber fan art by professional digital artist, Stanley Lau, is so striking. The artist says it was created for the Magaman Awards 2011 at Tokyo's Asiagraph and is "a slightly different way of looking at this legendary character."
9 GON AND KILLUA
BFFs Gon Freecss and Killua Zoldyck are only 12 years-old when we first encounter them in the Hunter x Hunter anime. The pair meet each other during the 287th Hunter Exam -- a marathon through a long, underground tunnel -- and bond almost instantly. After Killua is tricked into failing a later exam by killing a fellow competitor, Gon even travels all the way to his family's home to retrieve him.
Though the two eventually part company during the 13th Hunter Chairman Election arc, it's clear they'll be friends for life, as this piece from artist, Maorenc hints at. In this illustration, the pair -- that have barely aged a year in the series -- are fully grown, reunited to continue their journey, side by side.
8 RIN AND YUKIO OKUMORA
Becoming an Exorcist is that much harder when part of you is the very thing you're training to destroy. Rin Okumora is a Nephilim, the offspring of a human mother and the Devil himself. He was raised by an Exorcist priest, Shiro Fugimoto, and trains under his twin brother, Yukio, at True Cross academy -- the youngest person to ever qualify as an Exorcist.
Despite being far more qualified, Yukio is actually the (slightly) younger of the two 16 year-old twins. This illustration of the pair as adults serves as the cover of a Blue Exorcist doujinshi created by Japanese artist Shibao Kenta, called "After 10 Years: The Prologue," which, as the title suggests, continues the brothers' story a decade after the official one.
7 NATSU DRAGNEEL
Natsu is the fire-breathing, Salamander mage of the Fairy Tail guild in Fairy Tail. Along with ice-master, Gray Fullbuster, Requip magic user, Erza Scarlet and Celestial Key holder, Lucy Heartfilia, Natsu is part of one of the guild's most famous and successful teams, and also one of its youngest, with Erza being the eldest at 19 years-old.
Natsu is physically a rambunctious teenage boy, but he was actually born over 400 years ago as the demonic younger brother to Zeref Dragneel. The Natsu drawn in this piece of fan art by BrainburstYuuji looks a little (but not much) closer to the mage's real age. From the facial scars and steely glare, it looks like the Salamander has been through a lot in his later years.
6 CHIHARU AND HAKU
Studio Ghibli movies are typically populated by children and teenagers thirsty for adventure, and Spirited Away is no exception. Chiharu gets more than she bargained for during a move to a new town. Her parents fall under a spell at a strange food festival and transform into pigs, forcing her to work in a strange bathhouse to win their humanity back.
Along the way, she meets a young boy, Haku, apprentice to the witch Yubaba, and the god of the Kohaku River, which means he can shapeshift into a serpentine dragon. Haku and Chiharu develop a close bond in the film, and their parting at the end is bittersweet. This piece by New Zealand artist Rei-Kaa reunites the pair as adults, along with the No-Face spirit.
5 SASUKE, NARUTO AND SAKURA
Naruto is one of few shonen series to continue its character's journey from childhood to adulthood. The first portion of the series begins with young ninja, Naruto and his friends, Sasuke and Sakura, at 12 years-old. During the second part, the gang grow from 15 to 17 years-old. By the time the sequel series, Boruto, takes place, the trio are fully-grown with children of their own.
Even though we do have official versions of these beloved characters from the manga and anime at several stages of their lives to look at, it's still fun to see fan art like this from artist, Min. Here, we can see the child and teenage iterations of Team 7 in a rare side-by-side meet and greet.
4 PRINCESS MONONOKE
This black and white illustration is another work from illustrator and art teacher, Stanley Lau. A "quick two hours in class sketch with my students," the artist captions the piece with. "They [were] tasked to redraw a young character grown up, so here is my take on Princess Mononoke." (Not bad for a "quick" sketch, Stanley!)
Princess Mononoke, otherwise known as San, is the warrior wolf child of the Studio Ghibli classic, Princess Mononoke. We rarely see the movie's version of San as calm as she looks here, though. She spends most of the film spitting blood and trying to assassinate people who threaten her forest. This piece depicts a future in which the wild princess can rest easy with her homeland safe.
3 PHARAOH ATEM
This watercolor piece by Crovius could easily by mistaken for Yugi Muto, but it's actually his spiritual ancestor from ancient Egypt, Pharaoh Atem, who we know in the present day as Yami Yugi. The first series of Yu-Gi-Oh! centered on Yugi, an ordinary high school student, who achieved the not-so-ordinary accomplishment of becoming "King of Games."
Though he was unaware of it at first, Yugi's duelling prowess was supported by the spirit of the Pharaoh -- connected to the Millennium item around Yugi's neck -- who could take over his body. Though he appears much older, Atem/Yami Yugi is only 16 years-old. This illustration gives us a grown-up Pharaoh, looking every inch the powerful presence he becomes when he and Yugi duel.
2 MATT AND TAI
Taichi "Tai" Kamiya and Yamato "Matt" Ishida are part of the first generation of DigiDestined in Digimon, a group of kids who are transported to the Digital World at the collective age of 11 years-old. Over the course of the show and its tie-in movies, we get to watch the group grow into teenagers who pass the torch on to the next generation.
In Digimon Aventure 02, we even get to see them as full-grown adults in 2027 -- Matt ends up marrying Sora and they have a son and daughter together, while Tai and his Digimon, Agumon, become Digital World diplomats. This drawing by MMMA slots in somewhere between these points, showing Matt and Tai at college together.
1 EDWARD ELRIC
Nopeys is a professional digital artist from the Philippines who creates highly-realistic drawings of anime and video game characters, like this one of FullMetal Alchemist's Alphonse and Edward Elric. At the start of their journey, the alchemist brothers are in their mid-teens, though Alphonse's non-corporeal existence inside a huge suit of amor makes it hard to tell.
Though Edward, the titular "fullmetal" alchemist, is one of the most powerful people in his line of work, his short stature is a running gag throughout the show, earning him nicknames like "pipsqueak" and "shorty" from his peers. Ed's all grown-up in this piece, though, and those insults would probably be a thing of the past if he ended up looking this good, right?