History InfantImmortality / Literature

* In ''Literature/TheGirls'', a RomanAClef about the [[UsefulNotes/CharlesManson Manson Family]] and the Sharon Tate murders, one of the victims is a five-year-old boy. In RealLife, Sharon Tate was 8 1/2 months pregnant.
* Elizabeth Vaughan tells of turning in a manuscript in which an infant died midway through. Her publisher sternly counseled her that "In romance, ''you can't kill a baby''." She had to rework the entire plot to accommodate the infant's survival.
* While the [[Literature/DragonridersOfPern Pern]] colonists' first encounter with Thread gruesomely killed several adults and at least one young girl, ''Dragonsdawn'' does honor this trope with babies. Two infants were the only survivors of the colony's Tuareg nomad camp, having been sealed inside a Thread-proof metal cabinet by their doomed parents, and a house in which a woman is giving birth was instinctively protected by hundreds of the settlement's fire-lizards.
* The very premise of Literature/HarryPotter, who is ''The Boy Who Lived'' because the evil overlord wanted to kill a baby but wasn't able to. "Trying to kill a baby but not being able to" is probably the most pathetic thing a villain can do. It's hard to think of things that ''couldn't'' kill a baby, but apparently Voldy just had to get cute with the Killing Curse, instead of using the much more reliable ''kick to the head''.
* Lampshaded up the wazoo by the ''[[Literature/TheAdventuresOfSamuraiCat Samurai Cat]]'' books, in which [[GenreSavvy Shiro the homicidal kitten]] '''revels''' in his Baby+ Cat Immortality, gleefully rushing into meat-grinder battles in the smug confidence that [[BreakingTheFourthWall the author wouldn't dare kill him]]. Eventually this trope was averted in ''Samurai Cat Goes To Hell'', but only as a plot device to send his uncle to retrieve the bloodthirsty little creep.
* Played straight in ''[[Literature/{{Twilight}} Breaking Dawn]]''. While all of the Volturi converge to kill [[spoiler:Bella and Edward's daughter Renesmee]], they all instantly become captivated by her charm when they see her, quickly realize that they were wrong, and go home without a fight. Yes, that was the climax.
* The child supervillain August Prince from ''Literature/{{Worm}}'' has this explicitly as his superpower; his presence renders people incapable of deliberately attacking or harming him.
* DownplayedTrope in ''Literature/TheDivineComedy''; there's an offhand mention of unbaptized infants in the First Circle of Hell, but no other children are implied, mentioned, or especially seen to exist throughout the three afterlives of the ''Comedy'', as if it's impossible to die in-between baptism and adulthood.
* Invoked and lampshaded in ''Literature/TheTaking'': the characters notice that children are the only people universally spared by the invaders and environmental hazards. [[spoiler:This is because the "invasion" is actually a Biblical apocalypse, meant to destroy all sinful humans to create a {{Utopia}}. The monsters are demons and are physically incapable of harming children, since ChildrenAreInnocent]]. Two guys actually try to [[ExploitedTrope exploit this]] by surrounding themselves with kids and hunkering down in the town church. [[spoiler:Unfortunately for them, a buglike demon catches on to their trick and sneaks in through the basement to kill them without going near the kids.]]
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* Completely averted in ''Literature/WarriorCats''. When they say AnyoneCanDie, they ''mean'' it. One particular example is Snowkit, a ''deaf kitten'', who is eaten by a hawk.

** In fairness to Voldemort, Harry is the ''only'' survivor in the spell's history and ''only'' because of a peculiar set of circumstances [[spoiler:both times]]. Nobody, under the circumstances, could have expected failure - but the consequences for Voldemort the first time were such that he had no opportunity to rectify the situation.

** Voldemort manages to kill two children (and their mom) while searching for a wand-maker in ''Deathly Hallows''. Many teenagers die through the series, but only a few (Moaning Myrtle and [[spoiler:Colin Creevey]], plus Ariana Dumbledore in the backstory) were under 17, and thus minors.

** Averted by the Volturi. Their only reason for killing a little kid was because they don't give second chances.