History Main / Dangerous16thBirthday

Subtrope of LiminalTime. Often overlaps with TheHerosBirthday as the ''precise'' moment at which everything hits the fan. See also Bittersweet17, for when seventeen is more of a melancholic growing-up age, and ThirteenthBirthdayMilestone for when [[ThirteenIsUnlucky 13]] is sometimes considered a similarly dangerous age. Also see ABirthdayNotABreak, when bad things happen on any particular birthday.

* ''Manga/VirginRipper'' (meaning [[GrimReaper a young "reaper"]], not a serial killer of virgins): A year early, but it's implied that on Hotaru's 15th birthday [[spoiler: she allowed herself to die (essentially suicide, and only suicides become reapers) so the "real" Hotaru she was cloned from could get her organs, hence why her soul is different from the other reapers]].

* ''Franchise/ShinMegamiTensei: VideoGame/RaidouKuzunohaVsTheSoullessArmy'' features a major character, Kaya Daidouji. Kaya is the daughter of the very wealthy Daidouji family, and despite her upbringing she is very kind towards her friends and servants. But, apparently when the girls of the family turn sixteen, a demon possesses them until they die. This troubles Kaya and so she contacts Raidou and his boss, Narumi, to help her. She quickly becomes a {{Distressed Damsel}} when some weird army guards in red kidnap her, thus setting Raidou on his quest.

Subtrope of LiminalTime. Often overlaps with TheHerosBirthday as the ''precise'' moment at which everything hits the fan. See also BittersweetSeventeen, for when seventeen is more of a melancholic growing-up age, and ThirteenthBirthdayMilestone for when [[ThirteenIsUnlucky 13]] is sometimes considered a similarly dangerous age. Also see ABirthdayNotABreak, when bad things happen on any particular birthday.

Subtrope of LiminalTime. Often overlaps with TheHerosBirthday as the ''precise'' moment at which everything hits the fan. See also BittersweetSeventeen, for when seventeen is more of a melancholic growing-up age. Also see ABirthdayNotABreak, when bad things happen on any particular birthday.

* In ''Webcomic/JupiterMen'', Arrio becomes the target of the first supervillain attack in the story because of the spell book and ring he got as a memento from his mother the previous day. Even before the supervillain comes knocking, Arrio gets into a heated argument with the twins over their constant absences because he's worried they'd gotten involved with a gang. Arrio then has to defend himself from Rick, a super popular jock who only has eyes for Jackie, and gets three weeks detention for the CrimeOfSelfDefense.

* In ''Webcomic/NoRestForTheWicked'', November is sixteen when she sets out on her quest.

* PlayedWith in ''[[https://tapas.io/series/BrokenintheLight Broken in the Light]]:'' Kane doesn't [[OurWerewolvesAreDifferent turn into a werewolf]] on his birthday, but a few days later, on the first full moon when he's sixteen. The post-prologue story does begin with his birthday party, though, when his foster mother gives him the OrphansPlotTrinket that was left when he was a DoorstopBaby.

* Subversion in ''WesternAnimation/SleepingBeauty'': "The princess shall indeed grow in grace and beauty, beloved by all who know her. But... before the sun sets on her 16th birthday, she shall prick her finger, on the spindle of a spinning wheel - AND DIE!" So her 16th birthday isn't ''the'' most dangerous day, it's just the last day for the curse to take effect.

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* IllGirl Shiori of ''VisualNovel/{{Kanon}}'' [[spoiler: is only supposed to make to her 16th birthday if she's very lucky]].

There are some Real World reasons why 16 is often chosen as The Age At Which Shit Happens. Although the hormonal hell known as puberty actually starts a few years earlier, sixteen tends to be when the teenager finally has those changes under control and starts to act (somewhat) more like an adult, which is reflected in how teenagers' bodies sexually mature (on average) by 16; thus, in many cultures, 16 was the effective [[FictionalAgeOfMajority age of majority]]. Even though Western culture prefers to wait until 18 to confer legal adulthood, in the U.S. 16 is still the minimum age for a driver's license and many types of employment (both very important milestones of adulthood, independence, and/or general social status). 16 is actually the official age of consent in 31 states, and in the UsefulNotes/UnitedKingdom. [[note]]Pennsylvania, despite having it at 16 on paper, has it at 18 in practice; several states allow loopholes for 14- or 15-year-olds; and several other states have provisions that allow 16- and 17-year-olds to consent to sex with adults under 23.[[/note]] On the flipside, in many jurisdictions 16 is the minimum age at which a minor accused of a crime may be tried and punished as an adult rather than through the juvenile justice system. And in Asian media, let's not forget that 16 is [[FourIsDeath four times four]].

* HollywoodProvincialism aside, 16 is the age of consent in the majority of U.S. states, and in many other countries including the UK and Canada, and most of Australia. Many countries in the European union have it [[UpToEleven even earlier]], with Germany having it down to 14 in certain conditions.

* In ''Manga/BlackBird'', Misao becomes a "bride of prophecy" on her 16th birthday.

* In ''ComicBook/{{Robin|Series}}'', Franchise/{{Batman}} [[IDidWhatIHadToDo ruthlessly]] manipulated Tim Drake, the current Robin, into believing [[HeWhoFightsMonsters the fall of one of their friends]] would result in a BadFuture ten years down the line, effectively alienating Tim from everyone else.

* Even though ''Literature/SleepingBeauty'' is the TropeCodifier in popular culture, different versions of the tale vary on whether they use this trope or not. In Charles Perrault's 1697 version, the princess is cursed to prick her finger and fall asleep at any time, but it eventually happens when she's sixteen, though not specifically on her birthday. In the Brothers Grimm's 1812 version, the curse comes to pass on her ''fifteenth'' birthday. Most retellings combine the two versions, though, and have her specifically cursed to prick her finger on her sixteenth birthday.

* Aya Mikage in ''Manga/CeresCelestialLegend'', who first manifested the powers of the ''Tennyo'' (Celestial Maiden), Ceres, on her 16th birthday. In one of the rare examples of this trope afflicting a male, her twin brother, Aki, also begins exhibiting certain supernatural traits after this date. Essentially the whole of the Mikage family is perpetuating an AncientConspiracy based on these events.
* Tiala inherits the Red Stone on her sixteenth birthday in ''Anime/DragonQuestLegendOfTheHeroAbel''. She is kidnapped for it the same day.

* When Yuuto Amakawa of ''Manga/OmamoriHimari'' turns sixteen, the ProtectiveCharm that was sealing his powers and making him invisible to demons stopped working, making them aware of his presence. At the same time arrives his samurai catgirl bodyguard, Himari (followed shortly thereafter by the rest of the UnwantedHarem).

** In ''The Legend of Korra'', Korra has the opposite problem. She started water-, earth-, and firebending instinctively by the age of four, so there was no hiding her status from her, and an anarchist cell attempted to kidnap her shortly afterward. Her father, Tonraq, and the son of the previous Avatar and his waterbending teacher, Tenzin, decided to raise her in seclusion in an impenetrable South Pole fortress, guarded by and taught to perfect her bending by the Order of the White Lotus. As such, Korra's entire identity revolves around her being the Avatar, and a recurring theme in each Book is the villain threatening to take that away from her.
** [[MemeticBadass Avatar Kyoshi]] found out she was the Avatar at 16 but not in the traditional way.[[note]]It also was not her birthday.[[/note]] The previous Avatar Kuruk’s friends were unable to find her for some fourteen years due to her being the child of outlaws and not staying in one place for long enough for their methods to track her down. They ended up picking [[ThePoorlyChosenOne the wrong kid]]. Kyoshi worked in the estate where said wrong kid, Yun, was being trained for a few years and then they figured out it was her, not him.

* In ''VideoGame/WhatRemainsOfEdithFinch'', Barbara Finch (Edith's great-aunt) was born on [[UsefulNotes/AllHallowsEve Halloween]] 1944, and had the misfortune of quitting her film career as a child star due to her puberty and the family {{curse}}. Her 16th birthday (Halloween 1960) came to bite her in the ass when, [[spoiler:after mistakenly hitting her boyfriend who pretended to be a monster in the basement, and fighting off a serial killer, she got a (deadly) birthday surprise when she got killed by her [[NotAMask so-called "masked" fans]]... at least in the comic book. Either, all the police found was one of her ears.]]

* ''Literature/{{Circe}}'': Downplayed. On his sixteenth birthday, Telegonus tells Circe of his plan to [[spoiler:visit his father, Achilles, and she is suitably aghast. Although he had planned to leave that day, the actual journey does not take place until a few days later.]]

* ''Film/Stitches2012'': The protagonist is traumatized when the titular clown died during his 10th birthday party, giving him a huge fear of clowns and birthday parties. His friend however convinces him to organize a huge party for his 16th birthday since his mom will go on a business trip and is leaving the entire house for him. Thus, because no clown can rest in peace until they finish a party, Stitches returns as a vengeful undead MonsterClown to finish what he started.

* ''Series/ICarly'': The episode "iGot a Hot Room" revolves around Carly's bedroom burning down on her 16th birthday thanks to Spencer's flammable gummy bear table lamp. She even mentions said event by the revival's "iM Cursed".

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* ''Series/SabrinaTheTeenageWitch'': Sabrina, who is [[HalfHumanHybrid human on her father's side]], is first able to use her witch powers on her sixteenth birthday. Before that, she wasn't even allowed to ''know'' about them.

* ''Don't Go Near the Park'' is about brother and sister immortal cannibals who need a sixteen-year-old virgin sacrifice to remove their curse.

* While a character is celebrating their sixteenth birthday in ''Demons 2'', they get attacked and forcibly transformed into a monster by a demon, and become the film's main antagonist.