History Main / OldSuperhero

* The ''Destroyer MAX'' mini-series starred Keen Marlow, a WWII hero who aged into one of the more [[http://img2.wikia.nocookie.net/__cb20090511130309/marveldatabase/images/d/dd/Destroyer_Vol_3_2.jpg badass]] versions of this trope.

* One issue of ''ComicBook/YoungJustice'' introduced "Old Justice", a team of down-on-their-luck Golden Age sidekicks who were desperate not to be forgotten, and harbored a lot of resentment for the young heroes who they claimed lacked experience. They were led by Dan the Dyna-Mite and featured [[ComicBook/GreenLantern Doiby Dickles]], Merry the Gimmick Girl, [[ComicBook/RedTornado Dinky Jibbet and Sisty Hunkel-Jibbert]] and [[ComicBook/{{Hourman}} Second Sweep]].

This character rarely shows up in actual {{Superhero}} [[ComicBookTropes comics]]. Instead, ComicBookTime usually applies; heroes don't age unless the story calls for them to or unless they don't appear in a comic for a while. If one does age, they'll usually still able to hold their own, often having their powers or equipment make up the difference. The original (Jay Garrick) [[ComicBook/TheFlash Flash]] and the (Alan Scott) [[ComicBook/GreenLantern1941 Green Lantern]] are major examples of this; they may be in their 90s but between their adventures that led to their physical ages being slowed and their powers, they are respected elders in the Franchise/TheDCU's superhero community. Others become still-active {{Cool Old Guy}}s -- just look at the ''ComicBook/JusticeSocietyOfAmerica''.

* A variant of this occurs in ''VideoGame/OsuTatakaeOuendan 2'', where one stage revolves around an elderly version of the Japanese folk hero Literature/{{Momotaro}} being called out of retirement to once again drive away the ''oni'' from Onigashima. He goes and fights them, then for some reason convinces them to open a theme park. Seriously.

* A variant of this occurs in ''VideoGame/OsuTatakaeOuendan 2'', where one stage revolves around an elderly version of the Japanese folk hero Momotaro being called out of retirement to once again drive away the ''oni'' from Onigashima. He goes and fights them, then for some reason convinces them to open a theme park. Seriously.

* Almost entirely averted in most wrestling promotions. It doesn't matter how old or flabby Wrestling/RicFlair, Wrestling/TerryFunk, or [[Wrestling/JakeRoberts Jake "the Snake" Roberts]] gets. They'll still be portrayed as just as vital and strong as when they debuted.

* [[Film/Batman1989 Burton]]-[[Film/BatmanReturns verse]] Bruce Wayne in ''Film/TheFlash2023''.

-->-- '''Doctor Manhattan,''' ''ComicBook/{{Watchmen}}''

* [[Film/Batman1989 Burton]]-[[Film/BatmanReturns verse]] Bruce Wayne in ''Film/TheFlash''.

* In ''Film/AntMan1'', Dr. Hank Pym was an active superhero and SHIELD agent from the 1960s until his retirement in 1987, making him the second oldest superhero in the Franchise/MarvelCinematicUniverse -- and unlike [[Film/CaptainAmericaTheFirstAvenger Captain America]], he took TheSlowPath to the present day. The film is about Pym, now too old to be the Ant-Man when he's needed, recruiting and training Scott Lang as his successor.

This character rarely shows up in actual {{Superhero}} [[ComicBookTropes comics]]. Instead, ComicBookTime usually applies; heroes don't age unless the story calls for them to or unless they don't appear in a comic for a while. If one does age, they'll usually still able to hold their own, often having their powers or equipment make up the difference. The original (Jay Garrick) [[ComicBook/TheFlash Flash]] and the (Alan Scott) ComicBook/GreenLantern are major examples of this; they may be in their 90s but between their adventures that led to their physical ages being slowed and their powers, they are respected elders in the Franchise/TheDCU's superhero community. Others become still-active {{Cool Old Guy}}s -- just look at the ''ComicBook/JusticeSocietyOfAmerica''.

This character rarely shows up in actual {{Superhero}} [[ComicBookTropes comics]]. Instead, ComicBookTime usually applies; heroes don't age unless the story calls for them to or unless they don't appear in a comic for a while. If one does age, they'll usually still able to hold their own, often having their powers or equipment make up the difference. The original (Jay Garrick) [[Franchise/TheFlash Flash]] and the (Alan Scott) Franchise/GreenLantern are major examples of this; they may be in their 90s but between their adventures that led to their physical ages being slowed and their powers, they are respected elders in the Franchise/TheDCU's superhero community. Others become still-active {{Cool Old Guy}}s -- just look at the ''ComicBook/JusticeSocietyOfAmerica''.

* ''Anime/PokemonTheSeries'' had Gligarman, a Franchise/{{Batman}} parody who tried to ''continue'' the superheroing business, but was completely useless except in selling his own merchandise. At the end of the episode, he accepted that he was too old for heroics, and let his daughter succeed him as Gli-Girl (which she only did because she'd learned to understand her father's love for the role).

* ''Franchise/{{Batman}}'':

* Pretty much one of the things that defines the ComicBook/JusticeSocietyOfAmerica is the number of Golden Age superheroes (appropriately aged) that comprise its roster. Even though they've had young heroes like ComicBook/{{Stargirl|DCComics}} and Damage, the first thing that comes to mind when talking about the JSA are the veterans: [[Franchise/TheFlash Jay Garrick]], [[Franchise/GreenLantern Alan Scott]], [[ComicBook/DoctorFate Kent Nelson]], [[ComicBook/{{Wildcat}} Ted Grant]] and so on, who founded the team during WWII. In a subversion, though, they still display the same degree of physical preparation and badassitude from the time they were created, and those who have lost an edge due to their age have found ways to make up for it. Out of all of them the most impressive has got to be the original ComicBook/RedTornado who was an old superhero [[ExaggeratedTrope in the 40s.]]

* ''Franchise/SpiderMan'':

* ''Franchise/{{Superman}}'':

* One issue of ''ComicBook/YoungJustice'' introduced "Old Justice", a team of down-on-their-luck Golden Age sidekicks who were desperate not to be forgotten, and harbored a lot of resentment for the young heroes who they claimed lacked experience. They were led by Dan the Dyna-Mite and featured [[Franchise/GreenLantern Doiby Dickles]], Merry the Gimmick Girl, [[ComicBook/RedTornado Dinky Jibbet and Sisty Hunkel-Jibbert]] and [[ComicBook/{{Hourman}} Second Sweep]].

* In ''Fanfic/AmazingFantasy,'' [[Franchise/SpiderMan Peter]] is noticeably out of shape thanks to a diet of junk food even as he continues superheroing into his late 40s. While he clearly isn't at his peak, given how badly he's injured by both Stain and the Prowler, he's still a force to be reckoned with and can mop the floor with most of the CListFodder that poses a serious threat to the average Hero in Izuku's universe.

** Mister Manta is a villainous example; he's been marooned on a deserted island for so long that when he finally appears during a raid on a cruise ship, nobody recognizes the white-haired long-bearded skinny hermit. [[spoiler:He still manages to kick a prodigious amount of ass, though.]]

* In ''Fanfic/AmazingFantasy,'' Peter is noticeably out of shape thanks to a diet of junk food even as he continues superheroing into his late 40s. While he clearly isn't at his peak, given how badly he's injured by both Stain and the Prowler, he's still a forced to be reckoned with and can mop the floor with most of the CListFodder that poses a serious threat to the average Hero in Izuku's universe.

* When George and Harold invent ''Literature/CaptainUnderpants'', their first comic book issue starts off by saying that all the other superheroes in the world had become too old to fight crime. In a later book, George's great-grandmother and Harold's grandfather drink some [[SuperSerum super-empowering juice]] and become Boxer Boy and Great-Granny Girdle.

** The oldest known superhero in the mythos is Coyotl, who was presumably a significantly pre-Colonial Native American. The oldest known hereo who is still alive is Iron Horse The Human Locomotive, a steam-powered hero who's been active since the 1860s.

* ''ComicBook/AstroCity'' is rife with examples of this trope, as it establishes a long history of generational superheroes, and the series' avoidance of ComicBookTime means characters age as new stories are published. Some (e.g. The Confessor, The Hanged Man) are extraordinarily long-lived, but some have retired and still make appearances in various capacities (many of them at former hero [[GoodGuyBar K.O. Carson's bar, Bruisers]]), and at least one passed away from presumably age related reasons after their initial appearances (Noah of the Crossbreed). The oldest we know of was Coyotl, who was (presumably significantly) pre-Colonial Native American. The oldest that we know is still alive is Iron Horse, a steam-powered automaton who's been active in some form since the 1860s.
** And then there's the story "Old Times", where the aged Supersonic is called out of retirement to deal with one last crisis. In the olden days, he'd come up with some clever way of taking down the seemingly-impossible enemy--probably a nonlethal way that gets it into somewhere safe to fight. Now, he just whales on it until it breaks, [[DestructiveSaviour destroying six blocks of residential buildings]] in the process. Sounds quite a bit like the shift into gritty realism that normal comics have gone through...
** One story arc shows Quarrel and Crackerjack, two non-powered heroes, in the middle of the process; they don't want to retire, but age is taking its toll. They are especially acute of the problem after the retirement of the Black Rapier.

* ''ComicBook/TheAuthority''. In response to the eponymous team staging a bloodless coup, a BigBad brings back a stable of [=WW2=] superheroes [[note]]Thinly veiled expies of the [[ComicBook/FreedomFightersDC Freedom Fighters]] team from DC[[/note]] who are decrepit and senile in a retirement home. He reverses their aging and turns up their powers and sets them loose to start a revolution. Things go ''very'' wrong. Now the leader of the team impales cops on the American flag and anyone who freely chose the Authority religion gets slaughtered.

* Mr Legend from ''Anime/TigerAndBunny''. An unusual variation—rather than being a young, athletic hero who since retired and let himself go, Mr. Legend performed many of his heroics whilst an overweight middle-aged man... and was no less effective for it. [[spoiler: Until he lost his powers.]] Worse, the first time we see him - in a flashback to how a young Kotetsu was inspired to become a hero - Mr Legend bears a certain similarity to, say, [[WesternAnimation/TheIncredibles Mr. Incredible]]. And then episode 16 comes around, and we find out just how badly [[spoiler: losing his powers]] affected Mr Legend. [[spoiler: Confronted with the reality of his fading powers and the fact that [=HeroTV=] stage arrests for him, Legend becomes an abusive alcoholic.]] Same Old Superhero, two ''very'' different sides.

%% Doenst explain who Captain Rescue is. * ''WesternAnimation/AdventuresOfSonicTheHedgehog'', episode "Over the Hill Hero" has Captain Rescue.