Likes Older Women

"Wynne: Zevran, I am old enough to be your grandmother.

Zevran: You say that like it's a bad thing."

- Dragon Age: Origins

A character who proudly and often loudly proclaims their preference for an older female romantic partner. The woman may not be a real Christmas Cake, but she's obviously older. The exact reasons can be anything from liking a more intellectual woman to simply wanting someone with a bigger cup size. This preference is most obvious in Shonen and Seinen, which otherwise tend to concentrate on women of a younger age bracket.

In comedy, This character is inevitably set up with a somewhat childish female character who doesn't feed into this taste at all, and is told so. Since a character that Likes Older Women isn't actually interested in younger women, this is sometimes used to avoid Squick.

Compare Teacher-Student Romance, May-December Romance, Mrs. Robinson, and Stacy's Mom. Contrast Really Seven Hundred Years Old. Also, please note that due to this trope being related to the Christmas Cake trope, such a person is sometimes referred to as a Cake Eater, thus explaining the dozens of references to cake on this page.

''Please stick to examples where the older character is female. Preference for older men is not this trope.''

Anime and Manga
"Joey: But you're ten years older than me!
 * Played with in Hellsing. While Alucard is a centuries old vampre, he still looks rather young. After returning from a rather extendid leave of absence, Integra is around fifty-something. Alucard apparently still finds her attractive. not that anyone can blame him...
 * Very sweetly subverted in Kotetsushin Jeeg. Hiroshi Shiba, the original Kotetsu Jeeg, goes missing for decades, and Michi, his combat partner/girlfriend eventually grows old enough to have a granddaughter. When Hiroshi comes back, having never aged at all (on account of him being a cyborg), Michi sadly tells him that she feels ashamed that he has to see her like that. Hiroshi answers that he doesn't care, because he'll always love her just the same. D'AWW!!!
 * Rizelmine manages to diffuse a bit of its bizarrely over-the-top Lolicon bait Genki Girl by giving its male main character this trait... which,
 * Mizuiro, one of Ichigo's classmates in Bleach, has a stated preference for older women, which sets up for a moment where Ichigo tells Rukia to stay away from the boy, much to Mizuiro's confusion.
 * Mahoraba, at least the manga.
 * The Electric Tale of Pikachu has Ash in the manga in love with Gary's older sister, Daisy. In the Pokémon animé, Brock pretty much defines this trope, as he instantly falls in love with the Character of the Day girls, but only if they're either around his age or older, particularly Professor Ivy, and any and all Nurse Joys and Officer Jennys.
 * In Love Hina, one of Keitaro's two childhood friends, Masayuki Haitani, displays an ongoing infatuation with the series's Christmas Cake, Haruka.
 * Marie in Haré+ Guu was worried Haré might be one of these.
 * Played with in Star Driver. In it, we have Tsubasa, who is the only guy in all of Southern Cross High that isn't attracted to Hina, the supposed "new girl", because he has a crush on Okomoto-sensei, the school nurse... who happens to
 * In Mahou Sensei Negima, Negi might fit into this, as all the girls he could potentially have a romantic interest in are older than he is, usually by a margin of four or five years. His father, Nagi also appears to be a bit younger than  Her age hasn't been confirmed, but she sure looks older than he is, and her only known relative
 * When asked if the reason he drew cute teen female characters all the time was because he was attracted to them, series creator Ken Akamatsu stated that his preference is actually older women. He's just really good at drawing cute young girls...
 * Please Teacher would be an example. However one wouldn't tell Mizuho is actually much older than Kei, since she  and he.
 * And also, the friend of Kei's who pursued their female classmate  and admits out loud that he has a fetish for women who are older than they look.
 * Yu-Gi-Oh!: Jounouchi and Mai, who is 8 years his senior, are widely regarded as "the only popular heterosexual couple in Yu-Gi-Oh!."
 * That pairing is Serious Business. When one author revealed in his Continuation Fanfic that one character (established as Jounouchi's daughter) was the daughter of Jounouchi and Rebecca, the readers were not amused. His next story promptly returned to Jou/Mai.
 * Like just about everything else in Yu-Gi-Oh!, this age difference was brought up and made fun of in Yu-Gi-Oh! The Abridged Series.

Mai: I know. Creepy, isn't it?

Joey: (aside to the audience) Actually, this is the closest thing this show has to a normal relationship."


 * Hawk's Eye of Sailor Moon's Amazon Trio, who specifically targets older beautiful women. One of them is Ikuko Tsukino, Usagi's Hot Mom.
 * Akira Mimasaka from Hana Yori Dango. Maybe Rui, since his long-time love interest Shizuka is actually older and more mature than he is.
 * 14-year-old Yoshimori in Kekkaishi has his eyes set on his 16-year-old childhood friend, Tokine. Later in the manga, he saves another girl of similar age from a high fall and she briefly becomes his Stalker with a Crush. These may contribute to an observation a regular acquaintance makes about Yoshimori's romantic preferences: "You like older girls."
 * In the anime adaptation Masamori, Yoshimori's older brother, makes the same observation to tease Yoshimori.
 * Not to mention that he also likes cake, leading to the inevitable puns.
 * Yoshimori is a cake-baking, cake-loving, cake eater. Cake is his LIFE.
 * Parodied in The Prince of Tennis:  is mistaken for someone who Likes Older Women by his school friends when he was seen talking to a beautiful older woman.
 * In You're Under Arrest, Shouji Tokairin for
 * In Ikki Tousen, people think Kakouton (Xiahou Dun) is one of them, specially when they meet Hakufu's Hot Mom Goei (Lady Wu) and she flirts with him. He isn't amused.
 * Zettai Karen Children's Kaoru Akashi, not even out of elementary school, is already very open about her love of older women, which spills over into her having some Lovable Sex Maniac tendencies.
 * Parodied in Azumanga Daioh, when a guy asks another whom he likes better, Yukari or Nyamo. This guy, seeing Yukari around and overhearing, answers "Yukari, of course", and the other replies "You have a warped taste in women", and gets promptly whacked by Yukari.
 * The trope is inverted with Wataru in Hayate the Combat Butler. It seems older girls (although the gap between him and Sakuya or Aika is pretty small, they're still older) are more actively interested in him, while his moments of interest in any of them don't happen as frequently.
 * From WORKING!!, Yachiyo is a lesbian (or Single-Target Sexuality) version. She quite openly crushes on Kyouko.
 * from Black Lagoon. And the guy is bold enough to pull a surprise kiss on the target of his feelings,.
 * in Wolf Guy Wolfen Crest for his Hot Teacher.
 * In Mermaid Melody Pichi Pichi Pitch, Nagisa is one year younger than Hanon (who was in love with her music teacher, before he went away in the second season). Even though Hanon yells 'I only like older men!' to try to prevent Nagisa from flirting with her, he ignores it and flirts with her anyway.
 * In Tramps Like Us, 18-year-old Momo is pretty open about his crush on his 29-year-old benefactor Sumire.
 * Please Save My Earth The age differences of the two main leads are obvious.
 * Unbalance X Unbalance is a good example for of this, between Jin-Ho Myung and Hae-Young Na, not to mention Hae-Young is Jin-Ho's teacher (respectively renamed as Kenichi Kando and Elina Takanashi in the japanese version).
 * Every male in Freezing is this. Generally senior females in the school would desire younger males to be their partners.
 * Shinpei from Wandering Son saw the protagonist with an adult friend of his and started becoming the characters friend in order to meet that women. His love for her went away after he learned she was Transsexual though.
 * From Ano Natsu de Matteru. It must be Love at First Sight for Kirishima Kaito but his love interest Ichika Takatsuki here is at least 2 years, if not, much older than him.
 * From Ano Natsu de Matteru. It must be Love at First Sight for Kirishima Kaito but his love interest Ichika Takatsuki here is at least 2 years, if not, much older than him.

Comic Books

 * Deadpool openly lusts after Bea Arthur. In one issue he lusts after Spider-Man's Aunt May, sighing how she's "so like my Bea."
 * All members of Weapon X, mutant or not, have a slow aging factor, and Deadpool is cursed to be unkillable, so he may have grown up in the same era as Bea Arthur. It has also been noted, in the Hot Mom trope, that Aunt May has been considered incredibly hot by some.
 * When Deadpool actually died, he got together with Death herself. Her on-and-off boyfriend Thanos angrily brought him back to life and made him immortal to separate them.
 * The true love and soulmate of Chris Kent is Thara Ak-Var, a childhood friend of Supergirl. Fortunately, Chris underwent a Plot-Relevant Age-Up from a little boy to a Bishonen Chick Magnet of similar age to her.
 * By contrast, in Love and Capes, CM Expy Major Might starts a relationship with Wonder Woman Expy Amazonia; in his Super-Powered Alter Ego, he looks like an adult (and she is one), but he's really 10 years old. Amazonia is not best pleased to learn this. Of course, she's on the rebound from the main character, the Crusader, and the Major is a huge fan of her ex (to the extent of choosing to have the same powers so that he can be like his hero), so it's a valid question as to whether Amazonia is being a bit of a Mrs. Robinson here.
 * Subverted in Captain Atom with Sally Starshine. She certainly looks much older than Cameron Scott, but since he jumped eighteen years into the future, they are actually contemporaries, which is one of the reasons he is drawn to her. Also, it should perhaps be noted that Cameron started dating his first wife, Angela, when he was a junior in high school and she was a senior.

Fan Fiction

 * Jeff "I am so ready to eat your cake" Andonuts is this in every sense of the word. Possibly Lampshade Hung due to the first person he falls for being named the Magic Cake Lady.
 * Uzumaki Naruto is often depicted as a cake eater in fanfiction. Anko, Ayame, Konan, Kurenai, Shizune, Tsunade, Mei, Kushina, Koyuki, Tsunami, etc. Seems he's intent on eating the entire bakery, doesn't it?

Film
""That's the Maharaja? A kid?!"
 * Dodger for Tangerine in The Garbage Pail Kids Movie. Until
 * The title character from Kirikou and The Sorceress. It's a childrens' movie and he's just a baby, but he does ask the title Sorceress in marriage
 * The movie Cougar Club is entirely about this.
 * Aram falls for Sandy, 15 years his senior, in The Rebound.
 * Mystery Men: Dr Heller (Tom Waits) cruises retirement homes "for the ladies".
 * Invoked in Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom, when Kate Capshaw thinks the Maharaja of Pancot Palace has been showering her with gifts, and then:

"Maybe he like older women.""


 * Finch has a distinct preference for older women. (most specifically, the mother of one of his friends) Despite becoming a bit of a Kavorka Man in the 2nd film, he always found women his own age wanting for one reason or another.

Literature

 * Tommy Flood in Bloodsucking Fiends (19 years old), as demonstrated by the fact that he's willing to immediately shack up with a woman seven years his senior.
 * In Through the Postern Gate by Florence Barclay, the lead male is a Cake Eater Bunny Ears Lawyer nicknamed "Boy Blue", who is in love with a 10-years-older Hot Librarian. In fact, the Hot Librarian cites the age difference as the reason why they should not date. "When I met you, you were six. I was 16".
 * Zar-bettu-Zekigal, from Mary Gentle's Rats and Gargoyles, explicitly prefers older women (shortly after she's first introduced, she starts rhapsodizing over her fortyish landlady Evelian's laugh lines). When she later becomes infatuated with the Hyena (who's only got about ten years on Zari), it mystifies her that she's crushing on someone so young.
 * Stephen Colly in I Capture the Castle ends up having sex with Leda Fox-Cotton. Movie-wise, all they do is show her playing with his hair late at night, but you know what's happened.

Live Action TV

 * Richard Fish, in Ally McBeal, actively goes after older women because he has a fetish for the folds under a woman's chin that build up as she gets older. He wound up marrying a woman who was ten years younger than him, but many fans prefer to pretend the last season didn't happen, so...you know the drill.
 * Noah "Puck" Puckerman from Glee states this as the sole reason for joining Acafellas and performing at the PTA meeting.
 * Boston Legal, 40-ish Alan Shore competing with Denny for the 60-ish Shirley Schmidt. (Neither wins.)
 * Carter on ER wasn't really one, but was accused of it after dating a couple of older women.
 * Lie to Me: One episode revolves around a widow of a much younger man. After the team loudly derides the age gap, Torres says that she's been in a relationship with an older partner, and it was healthy and fulfilling.
 * Friends has Phoebe's brother who marries his much older teacher.
 * Connor from Angel. Apparently, his profound love of Christmas Cake is so deeply a part of who he is, changing his memories and personality doesn't make it go away.
 * For that matter, Angel's one true love Buffy is this in the comics. Buffy, who has been a Slayer for at least ten years, is the romantic interest of the much younger Satsu. Despite not being gay and not wanting a relationship Buffy sleeps with her. Twice.
 * The 2010 Christmas Special of Doctor Who does it both ways. In the same relation. Abigail Pettigrew (age unknown, but adult, probably in her 20's) is held in stasis by (initially) Kazran Sardick's father, as collateral for a loan. While Kazran is a young boy, The Doctor briefly releases her. By the time Abigail is put back in stasis, Kazran promises they'll be back every Christmas Eve. They do so, and while Kazran is still younger than Abigail, they 're mutually attracted to each other. Until one Christmas Eve, Kazran learns Abigail has only one day left to live, and he decides to not release her on following Christmas Eves. Eventually, Kazran becomes an old (and grumpy) man. And on a Christmas day, Abigail is the only person who can save the day. Old enough to now be her grandfather, Kazran releases Abigail. Of course, they still love each other.
 * While the Doctor himself doesn't count, being over 900 years old, they do seem to like using this dynamic ever since they hired the twenty-something Matt Smith. Almost every quasi-flirty relationship has been with a character whose actress is at least a little older than him. There was Liz X (both she and her actress were 40,) River Song (whose actress is in her late 40s,) and Idris (who was played by an actress in her early 30s, but was dressed in a Victorian getup that made her look a little older.)
 * Several Korean Series play this trope up:
 * What's Up Fox: Nine years separate Byung Hee at 33 from her boyfriend Chul Soo, 24, whom she used to help babysit. He announces he's liked her since practically puberty.
 * Flower Boy Ramyun Shop: Chi Soo's a senior in high school; Eun Bi's a 25 year old student teacher.
 * Oh My Lady: The young K Pop Idol Singer falls for the over-30 divorced mom.
 * Hanto in Engine Sentai Go-onger, whose crushes have included Kegareshia (played by a then 27-year-old actress) and Miki from Juken Sentai Gekiranger (in her 40s and married with a daughter.) He is 16.
 * The 8-year-old brother of a patient on one episode of House MD gets a crush on Cameron.

Music
"Just because her youth is fading,
 * Ricardo Arjona's song "Señora de las Cuatro Décadas" (Lady of the Four Decades) is written from the POV of someone who Likes Older Women who tells his much older girlfriend to not try make herself look younger than she is, since she's perfect for him already.
 * In the music video of Toby Keith's "You Shouldn't Kiss Me Like This (Unless You Mean It Like That)" a eighteen/nineteen yr old boy has a vivid daydream of he and his older female employer falling in love and making love with one another. Unfortunately or fortunately for him, her real personality is vastly different from his fantasy of her, and she seems to barely recognise his existence.
 * Emmanuel's song "Bella Señora" (Beautiful Lady) is a subtler example, as the lyrics don't openly state that the man is one of these but has some verses about the "lady"'s skin not being "porcelain-like" like in the past.
 * Elton John's "Teacher I Need You."
 * Rod Stewart, "Maggie May."
 * Ronnie McDowell's "Older Women (Are Beautiful Lovers)".
 * Garth Brooks' "That Summer"
 * The Barenaked Ladies song "Maybe Katie" is about how the singer doesn't care about the fact that his girlfriend is older than he is.
 * “Summer: The First Time” by Bobby Goldsboro.

Doesn't mean she's not worth dating."

"''I open the door...
 * Hailing from Brazil comes "Panela Velha" ("old pot"), with the immortal chorus "it doesn't matter if she's older! Old pots make the best food!"
 * '39' by Tenacious D is a Surprisingly Gentle Song, about the appreciation of the mature lady.

There she is. Not too bad, good enough.

39 year-old lady; young enough for me.''"

Opera

 * Cherubino in The Marriage of Figaro, though more because of his Anything That Moves philosophy than anything else.

Theater

 * Pepper in Mamma Mia. His Christmas Cake is Tanya.

Video Games

 * Kenji, one of your classmates in Persona 3, loudly proclaims his love for one of the teachers in Gekkoukan High School, and devises a Zany Scheme to get her to fall in love with him.
 * This is played for tragedy in the female route with his Unlucky Childhood Friend Rio, the females sports team leader who has feelings for him but he's oblivious too in his attraction for older women.
 * The female protagonist is the object of a crush from Ken Amada, which you can pursue.
 * The male protagonist can also pursue a relationship with an older woman he meets over an online game.
 * In Tales of Symphonia: Dawn of the New World, there is evidence that Lloyd has become one of these, if Colette is not chosen.
 * Also adding at one point in the game, Lloyd admitted that he is more fond of older woman
 * Sonic the Hedgehog has Amy Rose who's 12, in love with Sonic the Hedgehog who's 15. To a degree, Knuckles the Echidna who's 16 has in canon been shown to have a soft spot for Rouge the Bat who's 18. There's also Vector the Crocodile, who's 20 and has a crush on Vanilla the Rabbit who's at least several years, if not a decade his senior.
 * Not that you would be able to tell any of this by simply looking at the characters. They sound, look and act like a group of fraternity 20-somethings.
 * In Dragon Age, Zevran seems to like hitting on Wynne even more than hitting on the PC as every conversation he has with her involves either sex, her breasts, or both. He might just be messing with her, but knowing Zevran, he probably wouldn't object if Wynne responded positively to his advances.
 * In Fire Emblem, there are a few example.
 * In Fire Emblem Elibe, Roy, has 6 possible wives: one is Cecilia, a visibly older woman who was Roy's teacher in combat and tactics.
 * In Fire Emblem Tellius, Boyd, 19, says to Titania, who is 41 or so, that he always had a crush on her. And when Titania questions his logic, Boyd says his judgement was assisted by the fact that Boyd was sure that Titania was younger than HIS mother, who is also the mother of Oscar, whose age is 24.
 * Every one of Deu's potential wives is several years older than him except for Sylvia (she's said to be 14 in the games and 16 in the Oosawa manga) or Lachesis (said to be 16 in the mangas).
 * Otacon in the Metal Gear Solid series, played for drama.
 * Meryl develops a deep attraction to Snake despite him being 14 or 15 years her senior (depending on his birthday he might be 32 instead of 33 as Metal Gear Solid 1 takes place in February) with her only being an 18 year old. Predictably the relationship falters with a combination of Snake's sense of duty and Snake's contempt for Meryl's childish tomboy tendencies.
 * Toby in Catherine has a crush on Erica, an old friend of the main character, who is 32. However, in the True Lovers ending, he learns that she is
 * An option in Mass Effect 2 to play Shepard as one, featuring Samara as the cake, who is several hundred years old as opposed to Shepard, who, as of Mass Effect 2, is either 29 or 31 (depending on whether you count the two years (s)he was dead)...although (s)he gets turned down because Samara is married to her job.
 * Liara, a potential romantic option in Mass Effect 1, is over 100 (though, by asari standards, she is barely an adult).
 * Also Miranda Lawson, who is 35.

Visual Novel

 * Clannad's canonical plot goes with Tomoya falling in love and marrying an older girl. His wife is only 1 year older than him, though.
 * In Maji de Watashi ni Koi Shinasai! our protagonist here admittedly stated that he prefers older women during one the main routes. Overall he has 2 candidates to fill this trope in the original game
 * In addition he gets about 5 more potential older partners in the expanded sequel Majikoi S. 2 of the 5 were more or less extras though.
 * In Crescendo you have the choice of either your older non-blood related maternal sister Ayame or your smexy aloof, Christmas Cake school nurse Kaori, Take your pick.
 * In Jewel Knights Crusaders your hero is currently in high school and there are 2 candidates that fulfill this trope. One is a hot nurse who is also currently attending college, another is a childhood friend who the hero frequently call Onee-san.

Western Animation

 * Skwisgaar of Metalocalypse has a preference for 60+ year old female partners. And overweight ones too. G-MILFs, in his own words.
 * In addition to the MILFs and Soon-to-be-MILFs.
 * Tom and Katharine in Gargoyles.
 * Macbeth on a technicality, when he falls in love with Dominique Destine who is really Demona in her daytime human appearance. It Makes Sense in Context.
 * Generator Rex has Rex who has a crush on Dr. Holiday, who is at least a decade older than him.
 * J'onn J'onzz was  Given that he was Really Seven Hundred Years Old and had been married before, its no wonder he'd go with someone more mature, at least by earth standards.
 * In The Spectacular Spider-Man, sixteen-year-old Peter Parker very publically proclaims his interest in twenty-year-old secretary Betty Brant, and plays the Dogged Nice Guy to pressure her to be his date for the High School Dance. He is thwarted by his Aunt May, who approaches Betty for a frank talk about their relative ages. Betty then turns Peter down.
 * Spike is this for Rarity in My Little Pony Friendship is Magic.
 * Admittedly, this example is somewhat muddied in that Spike, despite being a baby dragon, is actually not much younger than the adult main cast and is really only considered such due to dragon's centuries long lifespan. He does consistently behave less mature than the rest of the cast, though.
 * Aang from Avatar: The Last Airbender has a crush on Katara, who is a about two or three years older than he, even though he's chronologically 112 years old. As it would turn out in later installments in the series,
 * Parodied during an episode of Codename: Kids Next Door with King Sandy. He's into older women...though being about 7 years old, that means said women(Like Numbah Three) are 10.

Real Life

 * The MILF phenomenon
 * Azrael of Gaijin Smash has confessed to being one of these on a few occasions.
 * Aaron Johnson and Sam Taylor Wood take this Up to Eleven, at this time of editing they're 20 and 43 respectively, and have a child together to boot.
 * Comedian Louis C.K. has stated his preference for "women women" hardened by maturity and maternity, as opposed to "girls" who haven't experienced motherhood.
 * The then 20-something Harry Hamlin met the then 40-something Ursula Andress on the set of the original Clash of the Titans and fathered her only son.
 * Ashton Kutcher married Demi Moore.
 * Brock Lesnar's wife, Sable, is ten years his senior.
 * William Shakespeare was 18 years old when he married a local woman named Anne, who was 26. For a young man to marry a reasonably older woman was in fact rather unorthodox.
 * It helped that she was three months pregnant with this child when they got married.
 * Dev Patel is dating Freida Pinto, who is 5 and a half years older than him.
 * Hugh Jackman's wife Deborah is 10 years older than him.
 * Scottish Actor James McAvoy married Anne-Marie Duff when he was 27 and she was 36 while working together in the tv drama Shameless.
 * Chris Hemsworth of the Thor film married Spanish actress Elsa Pataky, who is 7 years his senior.
 * Ralph Fiennes, born in 1962, left Alex Kingston, born in 1963, for Francesca Annis, born in 1945. Bene Gesserit witchcraft !
 * Justin Timberlake is about 8 years younger than his ex Cameron Diaz.
 * Nick Cannon married Mariah Carey, who is 10 years his senior.
 * Dr. Reza Jarrahy husband of Geena Davis, 15 years older than him. They have three children...
 * The late Heath Ledger was 18 when he lost his virginity to then 36-year old Roar co-star Elizabeth Pena, and later had relationships with Heather Graham, who was 9 years older than him, and Naomi Watts, who was 11 years older.
 * Naveen Andrews of Lost. He caused a minor scandal at the age of sixteen when he fell in love with and moved in with his math(s) teacher; they later had a son. He next had a long-term relationship with Barbara Hershey, 21 years his senior.
 * Benjamin Franklin, who wrote an essay extolling the virtues of older women as mistresses.
 * Sam Kieth, comic book writer and artist and creator of The Maxx, is about 20 years younger than his wife, whom he first met when he was 15.
 * Tony Parker, a french professional basketball player, also ex-husband to Eva Longoria of the famed tv show Desperate Housewives to which he is her junior by 7 years.
 * Kenichi Matsuyama, best known for playing L in the live action adaptation of Death Note is married to Koyuki Katō who is older than him by 8 years, not including the months.