Loli

Loli is an abbreviation of either "lolita," a character type, or "lolicon," a genre of anime and manga. Both terms are references to the novel Lolita by Vladimir Nabokov, in which a man in his late thirties develops a sexual obsession and later becomes involved with a twelve-year-old girl, whom he nicknames Lolita.

A loli character can be a cute child, a pre-teen or early-teenage girl, or an older girl who simply appears to be that young, intended to portray a cute or precociously seductive aesthetic for fanservice. The character may or may not be depicted engaging in inappropriate behaviour with an older character.

"Lolicon," a portmanteau of "Lolita complex," refers either to the genre of anime and manga featuring loli characters or to a desire or affection for such characters. The male equivalent is "shotacon" (or, as a character type, "shota").

"Loli" is usually meant to refer to depictions of fictional characters as such, not real people. However, as one can understand, most Western fans (and most agents) find it unspeakably creepy and squicky. In Japan, loli is legal as long as it's clearly fictional, but it doesn't cross cultural boundaries well despite also being legal in the US. The term moe is preferred by many fans to express affection for characters with a cute aesthetic without loli ' s negative connotations of sexual interest in children, fictional or otherwise.

Laura of "legolas by laura" may be an unintentional loli, as the author apparently forgot that the character was only supposed to be ten when she made the rampantly OOC Legolas agree to "be her boyfriend." Naruto in "For Your Eyes Only" probably counts as a shota even though he's supposed to be a sixteen-year-old boy, because he behaves and is treated like a stereotypical four-year-old girl... excluding the sex and pregnancy. "Chibiusa's Seventh Birthday" is an example of loli in the Sailor Moon fandom.

Despite what her father attempted to do to her in That Series, Molly Rath is not a loli, as that scene was intended to show how evil he was rather than provide fanservice.

Not to be confused with lolita fashion, which is a style of dress, also popular in Japan, inspired by Victorian children's clothing. A better description and examples of lolita fashion can be seen here.