Claudia

From Pluralpedia, the collaborative plurality dictionary
claudia ( n.)
Synonymsparadult (n., adj.)
Applies toheadmates
OriginDark Personalities

Claudia is a term given to child headmates in a system who have the mentality of adults. For example, they might say they are 7 or 8 years old, and yet have been that age for decades, with enough life experience to make them adults mentally.

Related Terms[edit | edit source]

Littlex is a similar title, but they are inherently trauma holders, while claudias are not. The "antonym" of a claudia is a lost adult.

History[edit | edit source]

The origins of the term are murky, as the assumed creators' site has not been archived. It appeared on Dark Personalities in 2001, currently the earliest record.[1] However, some theories have arisen.

One points to the character named Claudia in the book series & movie Interview With A Vampire. Within the text, Claudia is a vampire who was "turned" at the age of five; essentially, stuck in a young body no matter how long she lives or how much she experiences. This is similar to how "claudias" in systems work. Regardless of their "actual" age (or appeared age), they have mature brains and abilities.

Another theory references a children's book of the same name by Barbara Brooks Wallace. It follows the twelve-year-old protagonist (unsurprisingly named Claudia) who navigates bullying, her mother's expectations, gender roles, and loneliness — similar to what a "claudia" headmate may handle. This book came out in 1969, which lines up as to what many patrons of Dark Personalities would be reading as children.