What is DeviantArt’s policy regarding the age of fictional characters in mature or explicit art?

DeviantArt has a zero-tolerance policy with regard to child exploitation (content depicting sexualized minors, regardless of medium) which extends to all fictional characters who are canonically under 18 years old.

Similarly, when characters are deliberately depicted as child-like (e.g. an 800-year-old vampire with the physical body of an 8-year-old girl), DeviantArt recognizes the character as being underage due to the character’s physical form and will disregard their canonical age.

“Aging Up” Characters

Any mature content depicting “aged-up” versions of fictional characters can ONLY be submitted to subscription tiers or Premium Galleries, and they must meet the following criteria:
 
  • All aspects of the deviation (including imagery, title, tags, description, and gallery placement) must indicate that the artwork features altered versions of the characters that are over 18.
  • No aspect of the deviation should indicate or insinuate that the version of the depicted character is or might be underage.
  • The design of the aged-up character must demonstrate a genuine, good-faith effort to render the character as an adult, and cannot be too similar to the original character’s design.

These deviations are subject to review by the DeviantArt team and will be handled on a case-by-case basis.

No such deviations may be submitted outside subscription tiers or Premium Galleries, and any violations are subject to our zero-tolerance policy.

Tips for adhering to this policy:

  • Research a character’s canonical age and be sure to discard fan theories or estimates. Many characters in media have an officially recognized age that is revealed either in the media itself or in supplementary material, such as art books or interviews.
  • When a character doesn’t have an officially recognized age, use the original presentation of the character as a guide. Is the character in high school? Is the character treated as a child? These contexts can help provide an age range for the character.
  • When a character ages throughout a series, appears in multiple properties, or appears in multiple reboots of a property, pay attention to character design and use only versions that are over the age of 18 for your content.
  • If both the underage and over-18 versions of a character have the same design, DeviantArt will only recognize the character as being underage.
  • If the over-18 version of the character is given a new, visually distinct character design, DeviantArt will treat the underage and over-18 versions as separate characters.
  • In some cases, changes in character design are limited to costume or color palette. If your content lacks the costume or color palette needed to distinguish the character design as being over 18, DeviantArt will recognize the character as being underage.
  • If the design of the underage character is blended with the design of the over-18 version of the character, DeviantArt will recognize the character as being underage.
  • Sometimes characters are released with different canonical ages in different countries or regions, which causes the official information to contradict itself. In these cases, DeviantArt will only recognize the character as being the younger of the two ages.

If, after following these tips, you’re still unsure of the age of a character and whether or not explicit art featuring the character would constitute child exploitation, err on the side of caution and avoid submitting it without certainty.

If you see content that violates the aforementioned policies, report the deviation or post so the team can handle it, and if you have a question or concern, please contact DeviantArt Customer Support.
Need help before submitting?
You can always contact DeviantArt Customer Support if you have questions or need clarification.
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