This just came up in another thread, and I didn't see anything else that was quite on this subject, so I thought I would ask this here. One of things about Sailor Moon that's sort of bugged me is Chibiusa and her age. In the anime she's actually 6-7, and she seems to act that way so you can buy it. But in the manga she only looks like that and is 900+.

I've been wondering, how much of a child is she? Okay, so we know that something went wrong with her, though no one could say exactly what. Clearly her body stopped growing and developing around age 6-7. But to what extent was her growth stunted?

There is more than just physical maturity. There's also cognitive development and emotional maturity. I don't really have a good theory here. But I'd like to raise a whole bunch of issues and points to help encourage a discussion of possible interpretations.

Was it only Chibiusa's body that stopped growing and developing? What about her brain? The human brain goes through many structural changes from childhood to adulthood. Did her brain stay exactly the same too? Then there is the issue of whether she's developed cognitively past the age of 6 or 7.

Children have various cognitive limits that they overcome as they grow older. I refer to Piaget's theory of cognitive development, which says that children suffer from various issues and overcome various issues at given age ranges. For example, take the problem of egocentrism. And no, I don't mean being egotistical, though some kids can be like that. I mean on a mental level. Children of a certain range are mentally unable to view things from any perspective other than their own. Here's an example from a psychology book I had for a class:

Imagine you have a family with two daughters, daughter A and daughter B. Daughter A is about 8 years old, the age at which I believe egocentrism is a limitation. Say you ask A if she has a sister. Girl A will then say "no, there are only two girls in the family".

This is what I mean. Girl A knows that B is her sister. That is a fact she can understand, that B is HER sister. But she cannot view the idea of sisterhood from the perspective of Girl B. So it never occurs to her that to B, A is her sister. Get it?

Or take the fact that a teacher was once made to teach her third grade class to do decimal problems. They managed to do the problems fine, but the teacher didn't agree with teaching this material. She said that at that age, kids are incapable of comprehending a number less than one, so real learning and understanding doesn't happen. It's not that they don't get it, they CAN'T, not at that age.

Or take the issue of emotional maturity. Chibiusa lived for 900+ years. Probability wise, you would think she would have grown in emotional maturity beyond the age of 6-7 in that time. Or could she? If she were stunted in cognitive development, could she have emotionally matured?

Did Chibiusa's brain adapt even when her body was stunted? There was actually a true story of a woman born with literally half a brain. But, as a testament to the strength of the human mind, the remaining half managed to adapt and take on the tasks normally handled by the missing half. The woman grew to adulthood and lives a basically normal life. She's able to function pretty much normally, with a few bumps here and there. And I think she had kids too.

So, how much of a child is Chibiusa? Was she stuck as a child in both mind and body due to her brain not developing, or is she more like Baby Doll from Batman the animated series, the actress who was tragically stuck with a disease that kept her from aging past childhood, but who was still mentally an adult?

And what exactly caused her disorder, and what may have fixed it?

What do you guys think?

It may have something to do with the whole 1000-year life span that residents of Crystal Tokyo have. When she was sent from the future, if she was 900 years old in the manga then it makes me wonder if people's maturity also stops progressing due to the power of the Silver Crystal. That doesn't explain however when Chibiusa in particular would have been exposed to the Silver Crystal. Being Neo-Queen Serenity's daughter, may play a genetic role however.

Sorry if I'm incorrect on a few things, it's being quite some time since I've watched Season R.

I believe the anime excluded the 900 year age, or perhaps it was just the English version. And I could understand if they did it to avoid the complications. Anime adaptation was fairy new then anyway.

The magic of the Silver Crystal may have extended lifespan, yes, but it shouldn't have affected everyone on Earth like it what happened to Chibiusa. It's the difference between growing up and growing old.

Everyone grows up. Living things are designed to grow from a small size to a fixed maximum, their physical prime. Even if we were immortal, that would still be the case. What immortality might stop however is not growing up but growing old. Growing old is when the body breaks down and weakens past the prime. So the people of Crystal Tokyo should have reached full maturity.

If they had longer lifespans, the idea would be perhaps that people "aged gracefully" as it were. I used the same concept when I created my Golden Kingdom headcanon. They may still show some signs of aging, like gray hair or some wrinkles, but it's not as prominent, and their bodies would still be far strong and more energetic than what someone of advanced age would be by normal standards. I want to say that even the king, queen, and Sailor Senshi showed signs of aging. If they looked basically the same it was probably because it was easier to draw them that way. But that's my personal headcanon. Maybe they still looked just as young. But they still had a limited life.

But what happened to Chibiusa can only be described as a terrible disorder. At the very least she stayed physically 6-7 for what would be 90% of her natural life. I imagine her parents would have been worried at first and freaked out as time went on, and did everything to figure out a way to fix it. It certainly raises issues of royal sucession.

I think it said she was the first to be born of earth and moon.  so they were not sure why she stopped aging. so it could do with having the sliver and golden crystal from her parents.

Since Usagi is the only Lunarian left, that would also make Chibiusa the ONLY person born from the Earth and Moon, but it's still an interesting idea.  But what do you think about her problem and how bad it is? Is she a child in body only, or is she still really 6-7 mentally and emotionally too?

Personally, I believe that the reason for Chibiusa's lack of maturing had something to do with the Silver Crystal, rather than any natural disorder, due to the fact that she does start maturing again after she awakens as a sailor senshi.

Perhaps the reason why she is the only one who had the problem is because of her close proximity to the Silver crystal while in the womb? Maybe Usagi's wish the expand everyone's lifespan and slow their aging magnified when it came to Chibiusa, because Usagi was still pregnant with her. (If I can remember correctly, anyway).

I never said it was actually a natural disorder, it was simply like a disorder. And that's another good reason as to why her growth was stunted. Maybe the magic of her Pink Moon Crystal fixed whatever damage was done to her body. My main question is, how bad was that damage do you wonder?

Did she ever complain about the homework she had from school, like she was struggling with it, and not just bored?

From all that we see, Chibiusa never complains about homework at all.

In fact she doesn't have any study issues- she's not a poor student.  (You could say that her Father/Ami instilled a good work ethic in her and that she loves to learn.)   

The only thing she seems to struggle with is the Social aspect of her life.  Which, if you think about it, makes a lot of sense.   (Besides, Chibiusa herself is really actually very smart for her 'age').


I say that it's natural/power disorder with Chibiusa. 

My theory is that when Usagi became Queen, she became -more- Lunarian than human.  After all, she was very much born to a human family and was human herself.   I reason that because she became Sailor Moon and actively kept using the crystal, it actually changed her on a celluar level too.

Remember, when she first awakened as P. Serenity, her body and hair changed too. Like she was becoming another person all together. 

(And this theory states that the others- even Mamoru- who kept using their powers to the fullest, became more like their past-life selves than anything. Even DNA wise.)

So, Chibiusa's growth issue is a legit cross species  issue between her parents.  

Otherwise, there would be -no- reason for her not to grow at all because her Mother was Human and her Father was human.   

Now, Usagi doesn't wish for people to live long, that's actually what the Crystal does anyway when she becomes Queen.  King Endymion mentions it before that the people of the old Silver Millennium lived to 1000 yrs of age. 

So it stands to reason that again, it would happen once Usagi becomes Queen with Mamoru as her King. 

Now that Mamoru has control over the Golden Crystal- 

this could produce some unexpected results. 

After all, we never heard of anyone else with two very very powerful Sailor Crystals having children and what those side effects were.

I like this thread, you lost me at the A & B sister part, but I know what you mean,  I think I read a article once that was saying that children could not comprehend algebra until they passed a cretin age (I think it was 12/13 years old) and that was why younger kids were not doing so well in it,
also I read somewhere that the human brain does not finish developing until around the age of 25.

I never really thought about Chibiusa's age and behavior too much, I figured she was 900 years old, but never really matured because of ether the lifespan of the citizens of crystal Tokyo was prolonged, or she just never grew up because she was still in a childs body, but I thought she would have had some of the remains of the 900 years of life added to her maturity

But now that you mention it it makes perfect sense and adds allot of depth to her character,
with her childs body, her mind would have not developed past the age of 6-7, so she would genuinely be a child
I absolutly agree with your theory
im not sure about the growth rate of the other children in Crystal Tokyo, so I couldn't say if it was a normal thing or not

But I do believe the reason she was able to age again was because she went back into time to train under Sailor Moon, and was able to escape the preservation that the silver medium would afford,  but then again the long life span was caused by the silver crystal and it was with Chibiusa the whole time that she was in the past, so I couldn't say...

Hiii. Just a small reminder that threads in the theories and debates area need to have the appropriate title of either "theory" or "debate" ^^. This is to help make it easier to identify what type of thread it is meant to be.

If you need any help with choosing a title, I would recommend this thread here.

If you have any further questions, do contact the subforum moderator, Haine.

Hope this helps!

@Sailor Mars: Thank you. I haven't really made threads too often, so I guess I forgot. Sorry. I fixed it already.

@EndlessDaylight: I didn't really have a solid theory, I was just throwing out possibilities and wondering what other people thought. As far as the growth rate of the other children in CT, this could not be normal, in the sense that it's okay. Even if this sort of thing happened to other children of the time, there is no way that it would be considered okay or normal or not cause for alarm.

And I'm sorry about the example. I realize now that I misprinted it from the book. Let me try again. Let's rename the two girls Allison and Becky. Allison is eight years old. Now if you ask Allison if "her sister has a sister", that's when Allison would say "no, there are only two girls in the family."

That's the limit of egocentrism. Allison gets that Becky is her sister. But when asked if Becky has a sister, Allison says no because she can't see the idea of sisterhood from Becky's perspective, she can't get that to Becky, Allison is her sister. There were other cognitive limitations I could look up, but I don't think I have the time this morning to copy them down exactly.

Your algebra example is also very interesting, and probably correct. The decimal example I offered was true itself. I only found out about it while doing a college essay and finding that story in one of my university's journals. So I can easily see not being able to learn algebra until a given age.

How bad her problem is could vary with personal headcanon, and you are right that details like this really add to character depth and understanding.  But with what Ktenshi said, canon-wise, her brain may not be stuck at 6. The reason I asked about how Chibiusa deals with her homework is because it could be telling about her intellectual abilities.

Take Conan Edogawa from Detective Conan. He was 16 or 17 and then fed a chemical poison that ended up regressing his body to that of a 6 or 7 year old, and he was forced to go back to elementary school. His brain however, was untouched. He still remembered how old he was and everything he had learned, so mentally and emotionally he was an adult. So when he did his homework it was easy for him. He found it annoying that it was so simple, but it was easy.

Now if Chibiusa admitted to being frustrated by the difficulty of her homework, that would indicate she was still intellectually six and that the level of work was still challenging for her. This would be particularly true if she admitted having trouble to herself, which would rule out the possibility that said declaration was a lie, a mask to make others think she was still six on the inside.

But as Ktenshi says, she seems never to complain about the difficulty. That may indicate that for her, brain development may not have stopped with her body, or perhaps her brain managed to adapt like the woman who was born with half a brain, and intellectually she's way ahead of the work you would give a six year old. 

Or perhaps she's just not the type to complain about it. That's just one interpretation.

I've always felt that Chibi Usa, according to the manga storyline where she is 900+ years old but only appears (and acts) 6-ish, halted in her physical and mental development due to her own insecurities and fears.

She has a very long lifespan because she is the daughter of Neo Queen Serenity, who has a long lifespan due to her link with the Silver Crystal. Presumably she ought to have aged along a normal human timeline until reaching her mid-twenties and then continued to age in years without changing her physical appearance much. That seems to be the case with Neo Queen Serenity and the other Sailor Soldiers, due to their proximity to the Silver Crystal.

I felt that the manga implied that she remained a child because of her self-worth issues. She worshiped her mother as an adult figure that Chibi Usa felt she could never live up to. In general, Chibi Usa displays unwillingness to face adversity. She runs away from, rather than dealing with problems. I felt like there was an implication that her reliance on others and lack of involvement on her own part lacked enough maturity to literally prevent her from maturing. On the one hand, it makes sense that as the daughter of some of the most powerful people in existence, surrounded in your daily life by the next rank of powerful people, would be protected and cared for to the point where there wouldn't really be much that she would need to do for herself. Chibi Usa is sheltered to an extreme degree.

In Act 19 of the manga, when Chibi Usa finally reveals that she came from the future, there's a scene in Mamoru's apartment that has a lot to do with Chibi Usa's psychological maturity. He tells her that if she truly wants to save her parents she has to stop running away. Then he praises her for not running away right now. She's been doing a lot of running away, and that won't help anything. It's the morning after that conversation that Chibi Usa decides she's ready to take them to the 30th Century. She's still afraid of what awaits her in the future, but she is making a conscious effort to change what has happened. I think that's the first point where her character development moves towards her eventual awakening to be able to use the Silver Crystal and actual start maturing again.

I thought that the manga made it seem like Chibi Usa's parents wanted to help her mature, but her relationship with them seemed to prevent it from being effective. She has a lot of hero-worship going on. Mamoru and Usagi, on the other hand, display flaws that Chibi Usa would never have noticed in her own parents, and the relationship dynamic is totally different. Getting advice from Mamoru isn't the same as getting advice from King Endymion. What seems encouraging from Mamoru might be interpreted by Chibi Usa as scolding from King Endymion.

Additionally, the manga makes several notes of parallel between Chibi Usa's personality and Usagi's personality. Chibi Usa is inspired by Sailor Moon more than she is awed by her. Chibi Usa knows that Usagi has negative traits, but she continues to fight and keep believing. I think it encourages Chibi Usa to try her best despite the negative way she views herself. Chibi Usa couldn't feel this way about her mother because Chibi Usa believes very strongly that her mother is infinitely better than she is, and she is also extremely insecure about gossip questioning her link to her parents. On the other hand, Usagi is an "ordinary girl" who can do extraordinary things. That's why she's such a great character, in general. ♥

TL;DR: I think Chibi Usa's self image is the reason she stops maturing both physically and mentally, and it's when she gains self confidence that she is able to resume growth and progress forward.

^So essentially her stunted growth was a case of extreme mind over matter? That's yet another interesting way to look at it. In that case she'd be like Peter Pan. It's kind of tragic though, since that means she consciously or unconsciously burned up most of her natural life as a six year old.

Hmm, I wonder if the the second time around Usagi and Mamoru will be able to keep that from happening.

Not entirely true about the aging to twenties bit.  Considering that in the artbook notes, Q. Serenity is actually supposed to look 18. 

Which brings up something I posted a while ago about aging and such.  If anything, Chibiusa would probably be in her late twenties if she does stop aging if the pattern continues that way.   Though I want to think you're right about mind over matter bit, but we simply don't have enough info about Crystal tokyo as a whole to make any judgements other than that Chibiusa seems to be a special case.

(It can also be that her parents, their friends, and the staff treat her like she's a fragile little kid and spoils her to death that she might not even -want- to grow up subconciously. )


I wish Naoko gave us more references on the kids that lived in the Old Silver Millennium and the ones that exist in Crystal Tokyo.  

But I doubt Usagi and Mamoru would keep it from happening considering they need to also ensure the time loop too.

So essentially that bit falls into the idea that everyone is intentionally trying to bring about the Black Moon Clan invasion.. which is an entirely different conversation all together.

I actually feel like Chibi Usa may not have actually wasted her lifespan, despite being stuck as a 6 year old for so long. The manga has commented that no one is sure what to expect from Chibi Usa due to her particular parentage, so maybe she'll live even longer than they did. Or maybe those 900+ years "won't count," somehow. I'd like to think she has many more adventures in store for her in the future, once she's reunited with the Sailor Quartetto.

Also, I said twenties based on the fact that in Act 20, King Endymion tells us that Neo Queen Serenity ascended the throne at age 22, and since then she's remained unchanged physically.

I like to think she only has 100 yrs left.  Mostly because I like the limits set that the Crystal has and it's a nice change of pace of things. 


I know what you said, I considered it myself then I though about what if this is actually a side-effect of Usagi and Chibiusa being born on earth with Earth-bloodlines too?

Most of the people we've seen in the Silver Millennium look young (no older than 20 at best).  So, considering what Naoko's notes said about Q. Serenity looking about 18 yrs old (but not her actual age) gives something to ponder about. 

Like, what if the trend continues?

The further you go along with the Earth-Moon lineage, the longer it takes to stop aging?  Or maybe the longer it takes for them to grow up at all?

@Ktenshi: When I said that, I was talking about the prime of human development, when the body finishes growing and changing but before slowing down, that period is roughly the 20s to 30s, and looking 18 would still be in there. 

Again, that's one way it would probably work. If you were going to use magic to extend the natural lifespan of human beings, your goal would also to maintain a certain level of youthful strength too. But you wouldn't want to aim too low, which is what happened with Chibiusa's body.

Anyone wanting magically empowered youth would want to be a young adult. Practically speaking, it couldn't be that human growth was made relative to a larger lifespan (i.e. that it takes more Earth years to reach the same biological level of development), because that wouldn't really change anything, except making it so parents have to deal with infants for longer periods. That's one reason why I used the idea of "aging gracefully" for my Golden Kingdom headcanon.

As for the time loop question, you're right in that that is a different conversation. It really depends on whether you think the characters, with all that they know, would be the type of people that would be able to sit back and let the time loop happen. Some people might, some people might not. 

And you suggestion about a trend down the royal line raises some disturbing images.

Aurae: Good point.

Well we don't know anything about the other children of the silver millennium, but we do know that Chibiusa is without any friends her age, it could be a sign that because she does not age she cannot get close to other kids, as they grow up without her.
She does not seemed to be predominantly teased about her inability to age, only about how the other children do not think she is the queens daughter. 

Another thing we could consider is that her family are the only people who have access to the time door,  her time spent with Sailor Pluto could have something to do with her stagnant age aswell.

but that  would mean she's been spending all her time there since she was five/six.  If the problem was simply to keep her from the time gate- then wouldn't that be the first thing they did if that was the problem in the first place?

I think they would have been teasing her. Children can be cruel sometimes, so it's not too much of a stretch to see that happening.

I've been doing some reading on the theory that Chibiusa may be completely a child and her problem was self-inflicted. Medically speaking, it sounds like a type of somatoform disorder, a class of psychological disorder where physical symptoms are reported, but there is no physical basis for them. And yet the patients firmly believe the problems are real.

Particularly it reminds me of conversion disorder, where someone loses some bodily function, and yet there isn't a physical cause. For example, there's glove anesthesia, where someone loses feeling in only their hand, even though neurology says that can't happen. Or when someone reports they lost their eyesight and yet can maneuver around a room without hitting a thing, or someone that reports deafness and yet turns their head in the right direction when their name is called.

It's all psychological, and most importantly, the patient doesn't consciously realize it. In the case of Chibiusa, it would have been a combination of psychology and her connection to very, very powerful magic that forced her body to stop developing. It reminds me of that segment from Night Gallery, "The Dead Man", a man who was able to create the symptoms of any disease under hypnosis.

Now here's something to think about: Conversion disorder is usually triggered by some stressful or traumatic event. The person wants to avoid that stress, so unconsciously they make their body ill in order to provide a way out. This has the added benefit of what is called "the sick role", being sick to get love and attention.

Example from one of my books: A rancher's daughter lost the use of her legs when she was a teenager. She was at home when a male relative attacked her. She screamed for help and her legs buckled on her. A few minutes later her mother found her on the floor. The girl could not get up and had to be carried to bed. All attempts to stand or walk on her own failed. The girl was waited on hand and foot, the neighbors brought home made food, and she became the center of attention.

Now as Aurae stated, Chibiusa idolizes her mother. Her listed goal is "to be a lady like her mother". And yet she runs from her problems. She seems to not want to grow up on some level. She must have felt a great deal of stress and she unconsciously reacted by making her body stop aging. Maybe she was afraid of growing up and failing.

So she's left as a six year old, maybe in every way. But maybe there could be more to her problem than that. If her problem is like conversion disorder or any somatoform disorder, she could have, at times, literally made herself ill, unconsciously, for the attention. She could have genuinely given herself a fever or a cold or the flu, whatever, to play into "the sick role". By the time canon rolls around, she seems lonely, and her parents may be so busy that they don't always have a lot of time for her. If she ever felt that way, she could have made herself sick to draw their attention back. 

It's all very interesting as far as story material goes, though Chibiusa's internal struggle would be more subtle, and you might get more overt drama from the people around her. Of course the idea of her being an adult trapped in a child's body also has a lot of great story material, something that few seem to have taken advantage of, at least when I look on FF.net.

I have a hard time, personally, thinking of her as an adult in a child's body because she doesn't act like an adult. (I'm not denying that it makes for interesting alternative universe story ideas.) In fact, as Black Lady, I think you really see just how much of a child she still is mentally. Black Lady appears to be the warped version of Chibi Usa's idealization of her adult self, heavily based on her idolization of her mother. Even as Black Lady, she doesn't act like an adult or even a teenager. In fact, when Prince Demand questions whether she can defeat Neo Queen Serenity or even has a "real" Silver Crystal in Act 23, she reacts with anger and embarrassment just like she always has as a child and is instantly all "I'll show you!"

Also, Act 21 does show other children taking part in the teasing and rumors that Chibi Usa remembers, so I think it wouldn't be unlikely to think that generally Chibi Usa didn't have positive interactions with civilians of Crystal Tokyo, regardless of whether they're in her peer group.

Maybe she still could have developed intellectually, just not emotionally. Still, that's a good example. Thank you

Then again, if she was an adult in a child's body for 900 years, that could do psychological damage too, like what happened with Baby Doll. Have you seen that show? If you haven't, a bit of advice: Get a hankie or something, because the ending will probably make you want to cry. Definitely good AU material. Why don't more people experiment with that?

It's weird though isn't it? Chibiusa would have had at least two doctors in her family trying to solve her problem, but what she may have really needed was a therapist. It's interesting when you can find psychological disorders like this in what a lot of people might assume is a relatively simple character.

And as an off topic question, may I ask who that is on your icon?

I have not seen the show that you mention, but I think it would be very interesting to explore other psychological ramifications of manga Chibi Usa's stunted growth. The manga makes it clear that it's a serious issue for her, and that allows plenty of room for embellishment.

The character in my icon is Darjeeling from the anime Girls Und Panzer. That's where all my signature images are from, as well.

^Ah.

I'm sure you can find it on YouTube. Just look for "Batman the animated series Baby Doll". Really, go watch it.

The ramifications would be many. As I said before, her problem seems to be some super-extreme version of conversion disorder. And Chibiusa admitted to being lonely sometimes, what with her parents and guardians being busy. And if a mix of her psychological stress and magic could make her stop growing, then she could easily induce a real illness in herself in order to gain attention, which is one of the benefits gained from conversion disorder.

Or maybe she would get sick to avoid going to royal functions. Maybe the royal functions remind her of the duties she would face if/when she grew up, and the idea stressed her out, so she unconsciously responded by willing herself to be ill. 

And all of this would reinforce the idea in her parents and caretakers that she was still a small child that needed protecting.

Oh, here's another idea: You know Ami would be diving right into Chibiusa's problem, trying to find the source, being a doctor and all, not to mention intellectual curiosity. Maybe Chibiusa, fearful that Ami would make her grow up again, unconsciously made herself sick, which discouraged examination. You know, like a "stop, this is too hard on her" thing.

Of course another big question for a fanfic writer is what event started all this? Usually a psychological reaction like this only comes from extreme stress and trauma. Despite Chibiusa's own fears, there must have been something that really set it off.

I think there probably was some event that first triggered this for Chibi Usa. It could have been overhearing initial doubts about whether or not she was actually her parents' child, perhaps something like walking in and hearing the tail-end of conversation about her between her parents. There's a lot of room for interpretation. Nothing that is depicted in the manga as one of Chibi Usa's unpleasant memories is really intense. She might have repressed whatever that event was.