History Main / MethuselahSyndrome

* In ''LightNovel/KyoKaraMaoh'', the residents of Shin Makokou live for a ''very'' long time. Wolfram, for example, is supposed to be 83, but looks (and frankly, acts) like he's no older than 16.

* In ''VideoGame/FireEmblemElibe'', Archsage Athos, Dark Sage Brammimond and the BigBad Nergal are all well over a thousand years old, justified by being among the most powerful magic users ever seen in that 'verse.

* A staple of Myth/MesopotamianMythology. The first two dozen or so kings in the Sumerian King list have reigns that last anywhere between 100 and 43,200 years - the record being held by King En-men-lu-ana of Bad-tibira. Nobody seems to have had a normal-lasting reign until after [[Literature/TheEpicOfGilgamesh Gilgamesh]].

** Bathilda Bagshot was Dumbledore's neighbor as a kid and a great aunt of his contemporary/old “friend” Gellert Grindelwald. She almost outlived them both and even she didn’t die of natural causes but rather was killed by Voldemort’s snake Nagini. Grindelwald himself died at about the age of 115 from suicide by proxy rather than poor health.

* Cinderella in ''Series/TheTenthKingdom'' is a highly amusing parody of this trope. As one of the Five Women Who Changed History (and the only one still living), she is over 200 years old, yet looks only middle-aged and still quite beautiful due to 'magic surgery.' However, this does not extend beyond the surface--not only does she hack, cough, and nearly pass out from the various ailments she suffers from, but during her dance with the Dog Prince, her bones audibly creak and she ends up stuck bent over backward, needing help upright again.

* Henry Clay and John C. Calhoun. Seriously, these guys never died (much to UsefulNotes/AndrewJackson's dismay). Clay and Calhoun were elected to Congress as ''Jeffersonian'' Republicans (AKA Democrats) in '''1810.''' Henry Clay then went onto a long political career, ran for president of the United States three times (1824, as a Democratic-Republican, 1832, as a ''National'' Republican, and 1844, as a Whig) before dying as the '''[[UsefulNotes/AmericanCivilWar Civil War]]''' approached. Basically, he lived through four party changes, and when he died the Whig party pretty much fell apart. Calhoun didn't live as long, but was ''John Quincy Adams' '' Vice-President, and then went onto a very long political career that ''involved practically getting the South to secede from the United States in 1850.'' They may not have lived to be 600 years old, (in fact, they died in their seventies) but Clay and Calhoun are mentioned more often in the AP US History book than George Washington, Lincoln, FDR, or pretty much any president. Clay, in fact, is mentioned in one book starting about page 200 and then dies on page '''five-hundred six'''. Even though several modern-day politicians spend just as long or even longer in Congress as they did, most of them don't really have much impact on the country.

** Not that Clay and Calhoun aren't examples of awesome and all.

** [[UsefulNotes/HMTheQueen Elizabeth II]] is also a prime example; as of 10 September 2015, she took both the British longest-reign title and the longest-reign title for women from her great-great-grandmother [[UsefulNotes/QueenVictoria Queen Victoria]].

** John Adams, the Founding Father and 2nd President of the U.S.A. lived to be 91. In the early 19th century, 91! He held the record of longest-lived president until the twentieth century, when Hoover tied him, and then [[UsefulNotes/GeraldFord Ford]], [[UsefulNotes/JimmyCarter Carter]], [UsefulNotes/RonaldReagan Reagan]] and [[UsefulNotes/GeorgeHWBush Bush]] surpassed him.

* In one episode of ''WesternAnimation/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagic'', Twilight Sparkle says that Ponyville has been doing the Winter Wrap Up manually for hundreds of years. In a later episode, Granny Smith claims to be one of the founders of Ponyville. Assuming they're correct (Twilight is likely to have read up on the subject, and Diamond Tiara's family have a business agreement that corraborates the claim) Granny Smith would be several hundred years old. She's geriatric in almost every way but still keeps up her farmwork duties, she's clearheaded despite appearances, and unlike the millennia-old princesses Celestia and Luna, she's a simple earth pony with no fancy magics.

** John Adams, the Founding Father and 2nd President of the U.S.A. lived to be 91. In the early 19th century, 91! He held the record of longest-lived president until the twentieth century, when Hoover tied him, and then Ford, Carter, Reagan and Bush surpassed him.

** Bathilda Bagshot was Dumbledore's neighbor as a kid and a great aunt of his contemporary/old “friend” Gellert Grindelwald. She almost outlived them both and even she didn’t die of natural causes but rather was killed by Voldemort’s snake Nagini.

* Myth/{{Merlin}}, in most versions of the Myth/KingArthur mythos. Usually a JustifiedTrope in that Merlin is often the son of a virgin and an immortal demon, and a [[WizardsLiveLonger magician]].

** Bathilda Bagshot was Dumbledore's neighbor as a kid and a great aunt of his contemporary/old “friend” Gellert Grindelwald. She almost outlived them both. She might have outlived Grindelwald if Voldemort hadn't sicced his snake on her.

* The Franchise/StarWarsExpandedUniverse book ''The Courtship of Princess Leia'' had a 100% human character who was over 300 years old. While it's not explicitly stated what planet's years that referred to, later sources indicate that her homeworld has 491-day years, meaning that in Earth years (or the very similar in-universe Coruscant standard years) she's closer to ''400 years old''. Either way, she's implied to have used TheForce to extend her lifespan.

Not to be confused with the "Methuselah Syndrome" in ''Film/BladeRunner'', a genetic disorder which causes people to [[YoungerThanTheyLook succumb to aging too quickly]].

* Myth/{{Merlin}}, in most versions of the KingArthur mythos. Usually a JustifiedTrope in that Merlin is often the son of a virgin and an immortal demon, and a [[WizardsLiveLonger magician]].

[[folder:Comic Books]]
* ''ComicBook/{{Nnewts}}'': Anthigar and [[spoiler:Denthigar]], who were born at the creation of the world, are both still alive in the present day. In the end, [[spoiler:Denthigar survives the final battle and simply walks away after his RedemptionRejection, while Anthigar decides his time is up and [[AscendToAHigherPlaneOfExistence willingly goes into the afterlife]]]].
[[/folder]]

** Also, while he's over a century old, he does think every so often that a hundred is too old for law enforcement work, has a few problems with his age, and tends to overuse magical health packs. Overall, his complaints seem similar to those of a 50-year-old officer in our world (just substitute prescription painkillers for magical health packs.)

** Bathilda Bagshot was Dumbledore's neighbor as a kid and a great aunt of his contemporary. She almost outlived them both. She might have outlived Grindelwald if Voldemort hadn't sicced his snake on her.

** Bathilda Bagshot, who was the ''aunt'' of Dumbledore's contemporary [[spoiler:Grindelwald]] and almost outlived them both. [[spoiler:She might have outlived Grindelwald if Voldemort hadn't sicced his snake on her.]]
** Griselda Marchbanks, proctor for the O.W.L. exams seen briefly in the fifth book, mentioned that she personally tested Dumbledore when he was a student.
** Ron's Great-Aunt Muriel, who in spite of being younger than Dumbledore, Marchbanks, and Bagshot, is still 107 years old.
** Hagrid is only in his sixties at the time of the books, but does not have a single gray hair on him, as is the case with [=McGonagall=], who is even older at 70. Granted, she's a witch, and Hagrid meanwhile is also half-giant.
** Subverted by Scabbers, Ron's pet rat. He appears to have been alive for at least twelve years (nine longer than rats normally live), but that's only [[spoiler:because he's really Peter Pettigrew]].
** Think Dumbledore's old? According to the wiki, Armando Dippet lived to be ''319''.
** The first film contained a FreezeFrameBonus newspaper article about Barry Wee Willie Winkle, a wizard who was celebrating his 755th birthday and inviting 30 million wizards to the party. Needless to say, this was merely a ridiculous IfYouCanReadThis joke on the part of the art department, as this would make him substantially older than Nicholas Flamel, whose 665-year lifespan was the result of the Elixir of Life. Plus there probably aren't even that many wizards on the planet.

* In ''Anime/KyoKaraMaoh'', the residents of Shin Makokou live for a ''very'' long time. Wolfram, for example, is supposed to be 83, but looks (and frankly, acts) like he's no older than 16.

* Creator/JackNicholson and Creator/MichaelCaine are the only two actors who have been nominated for Oscars in TheSixties, TheSeventies, TheEighties, TheNineties, ''and'' the TurnOfTheMillennium. We're still waiting to see if this will extend to TheNewTens.

[[folder:Myths & Religion]]

[[folder:Videogames]]

* There was a red koi fish named Hanako, who died in 1977. She had been around for a long time, according to records from the temple she resided at, and the number of growth rings on her scales confirmed this. She had lived for about 226 years! (For reference, most koi only live for around 50 years on average.) Evidently, she came from a long line of long-lived
fish, too.

* There was a red koi fish named Hanako, who died in 1977. She had been around for a long time, according to records from the temple she resided at, and the number of growth rings on her scales confirmed this. She had lived for about 226 years! (For reference, most koi only live for around 50 years on average.) Evidently, she came from a long line of long-lived fish, too.

** Ron's Great-Aunt Muriel, who in spite being younger than Dumbledore, Marchbanks, and Bagshot, is still 107 years old.
** Hagrid is only in his sixties at the time of the books, but does not have a single gray hair on him, as is the case with [=McGonagall=], who is even older at 70.
*** Given, she is a witch, and Hagrid, meanwhile, is also half-giant.

* Channelers in the ''[[Literature/TheWheelOfTime Wheel of Time]]'' series live much longer than non-channelers. Aes Sedai are routinely at least two hundred years old, and it's discovered in the series that their upper limit of around 300 is a side effect of the Oaths they swear; those who haven't sworn the Oaths can reach beyond that, to four hundred or more. (Male channelers presumably would have the same conditions, except for the whole "Power tainted by the Dark One" factor.)
** Actually based on in-universe statements the average of channelers is somewhere around 600-650, Rand says that Lews Therin was a bit over 400 when he died and was only middle aged. We can assume that the upper limit of channelers is probably somewhere around 700-800 for the really long lived ones.
* A side-effect of practicing sorcery in ''Literature/TheBelgariad'' is indefinitely-increased lifespan. Except for the characters who become sorcerers during course of the main story, every magic-user in the books is at least one thousand years old.
** Belgarath, the very first sorcerer, is almost as old as humanity itself, being 7000 years old. Judging from his encounter with the Godless Ones while still a teenager, it's extremely likely that his long-dead grandfather was one of the original humans created by the Gods. Beldin notes that if Belgarath were to speak in the language of his long-ago destroyed village, nobody would be able to understand him-''not even Beldin''.)

* In Myth/KoreanMythology, Dangun (legendary king and forefather of the Korean People) lived for a staggering ''one thousand and thirty-eight years'' (the time varies for each record, but still over one thousand years) before becoming Sanshinryeong (god of the mountain). He is still being worshipped by Korean shamans, even to this day.
* [[Myth/ClassicalMythology Odysseus]]'s dog, said to have survived more than 20 years while sleeping on a dunghill in an era without veterinary care, is a non-human example.
** There was also Nestor, who had been granted an extra long life as a gift from the gods. His mother had been one of only two pious members of Queen Niobe's children (the other being one of Niobe's sons) and so when Niobe's BlasphemousBoast got most of her children killed, not only was Nestor's mother (and her brother) spared, but the gods granted Nestor (her youngest son) the years that were taken from her sisters and brothers. Allowing Nestor to live to an extra ripe old age and have plenty of children and ultimately pass away peacefully from natural causes (a rarity for a Greek hero).

*** Rather than a limit on natural lifespan, the 120 years can be seen to be more of the start of a countdown, how much time from that point forward until the Flood.