History Main / StrongerWithAge

** Dragons traditionally come with twelve age categories, starting as an awkward wyrmling until, thousands of years later, they have grown into a great wyrm. Every time a dragon advances to a new stage of its lifespan, its physical might, mental acuity, and magical power only grow more potent -- the page image depicts some of a red dragon's growth stages, the largest being "ancient," meaning it still has two stages to go. According to the 3rd edition ''Draconomicon'' sourcebook, dragons finally stop growing at the "great wyrm" stage, but remain in their prime for centuries. Eventually, however, the weight of the millennia comes crashing down upon a dragon, leading to a relatively sudden and irreversible decline. Upon the onset of "twilight," most dragons choose to depart the mortal world with dignity, ritualistically consuming their [[DragonHoard hoards]] and leaving for one of their kind's secluded graveyards, where they can will themselves to die, or merging with the landscape to become a spiritual guardian to watch over dragon nests or commune with wyrmlings. Other dragons instead choose to become {{Dracolich}}es, or take up the Dragon Ascendant PrestigeClass to become ageless quasi-deities.

* The Franchise/{{Nasuverse}} runs on this trope, with the most powerful magical families being the oldest, the ancient vampires being the strongest, and one of the greatest Servants being [[Literature/TheEpicOfGilgamesh Gilgamesh]], the oldest hero of humanity.

** ''VideoGame/FateGrandOrder'': This is part of the reason why the Lostbelt Kings of the second story arc, ''Cosmos in the Lostbelt'', are so powerful in addition to hitting the SuperPowerLottery. Each one of them has survived from the point of divergence of their [[AlternateTimeline Lostbelt from Proper Human History to the present day]], accumulating power the whole way. Even the "youngest" and weakest of them, Ivan the Terrible, has lived over 450 years and thanks to performing a FusionDance with a [[MammothsMeanIceAge mammoth]] Phantasmal Beast, he's so strong his power is on par with a PhysicalGod and the mammoth alone is comparable, by Gilgamesh's own reckoning at that, with Gugalanna, one of ''the'' oldest Divine Beasts in the franchise and so powerful even the gods would be wary of trying to fight.

* ''VideoGame/TheLastOfUs'' has an interesting example. The infected in this game are, [[RealityEnsues well, infected]], so most of them don't live for very long before dying and become spore fountains. For the handful that do survive in the long-run, though, they become more dangerous with age. Newly-turned Runners aren't able to do all that much damage, and neither are Stalkers, although they're more stealthy. After a few months to a few years, though, the infected become Clickers, who can easily one-hit the player. The oldest infected, probably from the initial outbreak twenty years ago, grow to be [[BossInMooksClothing Bloaters]].

* This is the case for vampires in the ''Literature/StraightOuttaFangton''. Vampires have three stages of life with Youngbloods (weakest with many weaknesses), Old Ones (stronger with fewer weaknesses), and Ancient Ones (nosferatu-like immortals). The protagonist states this resulted in a gerontocracy where wealth and power only flows up.

* This is the case for vampires in the ''Literature/StraightOuttaFangton'' books by Creator/CTPhipps. Vampires have three stages of life with Youngbloods (weakest with many weaknesses), Old Ones (stronger with fewer weaknesses), and Ancient Ones (nosferatu-like immortals). The protagonist states this resulted in a gerontocracy where wealth and power only flows up.

* Comicbook/{{Lobo}} the Main Man as an adult is on par with Superman in terms of strength and durability. As the younger Lil' Lobo, he's far less durable. Lil' Lobo found this out the hard way during ''Comicbook/OurWorldsAtWar'' when he tried to fight an army of Para-demons and was shot to pieces.

[[OurVampiresAreDifferent Vampires]], [[OurDragonsAreDifferent Dragons]], and {{Wizards|AndWitches}} are three of the most common beings to exhibit this, with ancient dragons and elder vampires possessing terrible power, and older wizards invariably commanding greater arcane might than their younger fellows — especially when WizardsLiveLonger. This can cause a bit of FridgeLogic if the creature is stated not to be immortal: if dragons become more resilient as they age, then just ''how'' do they die of old age? [[FridgeBrilliance The answer could be the]] SquareCubeLaw — [[TheAgeless except when they don't die of old age at all]].

* The reason the Elite Vampire Council in ''Webcomic/CharbyTheVampirate'' are trying to recruit the eponymous vampire is that he is older and stronger than any of them.
* Immortals from ''Webcomic/ElGoonishShive'' are like this. As they get older, they also become smarter, stronger, [[WhoWantsToLiveForever more bored]], and [[WithGreatPowerComesGreatInsanity less sane]] until the point comes where they basically become [[PersonOfMassDestruction People Of Mass Destruction]]. To prevent this, they voluntarily undergo a kind of ritualistic death/rebirth cycle every couple of centuries to lose most of their power and memories so they can start over and keep things interesting. Immortals have also established a strict set of rules for themselves, and if any immortal breaks those rules for any reason, every other immortal in ''the world'' will instantly know about it and join forces to neutralize the renegade. Much of the story is driven by [[spoiler: [[NamesToRunAwayFromReallyFast Pandora Chaos Raven]]]], an ancient immortal who refuses to let go of her accumulated power, has gotten very good at using LoopholeAbuse to do things that really should be against the rules but technically aren't, and seems to be approaching EldritchAbomination territory.
* In ''Webcomic/GirlGenius'' Jägermonsters become bigger and less human-looking as they age. We get a better look at these changes [[spoiler:when Vole is artificially aged a few hundred years and he goes from looking like a big guy with white skin, black eyes and small fangs to being maybe half again the size he was before, with spines protruding from his now green skin, and having sprouted a tail.]] As a result, a threat that would take a huge platoon of regular Jägermonsters to handle can be trounced with no losses by four of the [[AuthorityEqualsAsskicking centuries-old generals]].

* One scenario in ''TabletopGame/BetrayalAtHouseOnTheHill'' reveals the house to be alive and capable of draining the inhabitants' life, making them age rapidly. (With the exception of the Traitor, who [[ImmortalityImmorality brings victims to the house in return for eternal youth]].) Character stats start dropping rapidly once a certain age is reached, but the youngest characters actually get a stat boost for a while as they become grownups.

** Dragons traditionally come with twelve age categories, starting as an awkward wyrmling until, thousands of years later, they have grown into a great wyrm. Every time a dragon advances to a new stage of its lifespan, its physical might, mental acuity, and magical power only grow more potent - the page image depicts some of a red dragon's growth stages, the largest being "ancient," meaning it still has two stages to go. According to the 3rd edition ''Draconomicon'' sourcebook, dragons finally stop growing at the "great wyrm" stage, but remain in their prime for centuries. Eventually, however, the weight of the millennia comes crashing down upon a dragon, leading to a relatively sudden and irreversible decline. Upon the onset of "twilight," most dragons choose to depart the mortal world with dignity, ritualistically consuming their [[DragonHoard hoards]] and leaving for one of their kind's secluded graveyards, where they can will themselves to die, or merging with the landscape to become a spiritual guardian to watch over dragon nests or commune with wyrmlings. Other dragons instead choose to become {{Dracolich}}es, or take up the Dragon Ascendant PrestigeClass to become ageless quasi-deities.

* The potential for power of ''TabletopGame/{{Exalted}}'' is tied directly to age, with {{cap}}s placed on their highest potential [[PowerLevel Essence]] based on how long they've lived (although there are a few magics that can break this). The highest levels of power are only available to Exalted who are more than a thousand years old. Due to the Great Curse, this also means that the ones with access to the high Essence charms are also the most likely to be utterly insane, driven mad by the Curse, and rather prone to even greater acts of madness while in Limit Break.
* In the ''TabletopGame/{{Munchkin}}'' card game, "Ancient" is a +10 monster buff.

* ''Anime/YuGiOh'':
** Joey/Jonouchi defeats an opponent by allowing his Baby Dragon to age a millennium into the much-more-powerful Thousand Dragon.
** It's also true with Yugi's Dark/Black Magician, who becomes the Dark/Black Robed Sage after also having a thousand years to study the arts of magic.
** The Gagagigo story shows that Gagagigo became stronger when he ages. However, while Gagagigo is much stronger than his child self "Gigobyte", his cyborg version "Giga Gagagigo" was modified by Kozaky, averting this trope. "Gogiga Gagagigo" was the stronger, insane version of "Giga Gagagigo", but he eventually became the good "Gagagigo the Risen" who has the same ATK and DEF as "Gogiga Gagagigo".

* In ''Manga/OnePiece'', Lao G practices a form of martial arts that allows him to continue to gain physical strength as he ages. Problem is that it does not prevent health problems like bad backs and arthritis, which causes the octogenarian fighter to do things like destroy mountains with a single palm thrust and then collapse in back pain.

* Franchise/MarvelComics:
** The Maestro, the future version of the ''ComicBook/IncredibleHulk'', who is stronger and smarter than present day Hulk (even when PDH is in smart mode). Part of the rationale is that there had been a nuclear war, and since the Hulk is radiation-powered, this made him stronger at the expense of his sanity (well, at the expense of Smart Hulk's sanity).
** Explicitly stated to be the case with ComicBook/TheInhumans, with regards to their powers. A Kang-made Franchise/SpiderMan robot once tried to disable Crystal and Franchise/TheAvengers by rapidly aging them, only to be HoistByHisOwnPetard when Crystal suddenly had double the ElementalPowers.

* ''ComicBook/BlackMoonChronicles'': Dragons only get bigger as they get older. The oldest dragon in the world and the progenitor of his kind is so big that he barely fits through the spacegate.

* This is a common assumption in most ''Series/BuffyTheVampireSlayer'' fan fiction. Buffy and Faith, as the oldest living Slayers are portrayed as being stronger, faster, and more durable than any of the other activated Slayers, and Buffy -- who has two years more experience than Faith as a Slayer -- is usually portrayed as having a slight edge over her counterpart.
** One ''Series/BuffyTheVampireSlayer'' story subverts this. Everyone thought the Slayer grew stronger as she aged but Willow discovers that they actually grow stronger from fighting. Buffy, who hasn't fought in over five years, has fallen to second strongest while Faith, who never stopped fighting, is a fair bit stronger than her. Several of the older Slayers are noted as only being a year or so before they outstrip Buffy as well.
* Due to his unique circumstances, Xander in ''[[http://www.tthfanfic.org/Story-31008/HeatherSin+Butterflied.htm Butterflied]]'' only becomes more dangerous as he ages. This is because he's not only TheAgeless but also gains the [[VoluntaryShapeShifting form]], [[PowerCopying skills]], and memories of anyone he has skin contact with. Over a thousand years before the Clone Wars, he accidentally copies the skills of a Jedi believed to be the greatest lightsaber user ''ever'' and only gets more skilled from there. A couple decades before the clone wars, he's shown to train facing two droids/simulators that are functionally Sith lords while in use.
* According to [[Anime/CodeGeass C.C.]] in ''[[https://www.fanfiction.net/s/6200608/1/More-than-just-a-Man More than just a Man]]'', the reason vampires get stronger with age is twofold. First, they learn new mental abilities as they age. Even at over two thousand years old, she still learns a new one every so often. Second, a vampire's HealingFactor increases as they age. Initially, they heal only slightly faster than an ordinary human but after a few centuries, they can survive their heart being impaled.

* In ''Fanfic/NeitherABirdNorAPlaneItsDeku'', Izuku is a Kryptonian who keeps getting stronger and gains new powers with every passing year. He's terrified of this, worrying that he'll eventually become so powerful that he won't be able to do anything without causing massive destruction. In the story proper, he hasn't quite reached StoryBreakerPower levels, but given his potential to be [[TheAgeless biologically immortal]], this will certainly change in the future.

* ''Fanfic/DungeonKeeperAmi'': [[OurDragonsAreDifferent Dragons]] getting bigger and more magical the older they are.

* The [[OurVampiresAreDifferent vampire]] Elders in ''Film/{{Underworld}}'' are stronger than any other vampire and, in some cases, can even defeat [[OurWerewolvesAreDifferent lycans]] in hand-to-hand combat. In a memorable example, Viktor grabs [[TheDragon Raze]] in his lycan form by the throat, holds him up for a few seconds, and then [[NeckSnap breaks his neck]]. In the case of Marcus and William, the Corvinus twins and progenitors of the vampires and lycans, respectively, they are also stronger, although this can be attributed to MonsterProgenitor. In Marcus's case, his strength is augmented tenfold after he accidentally ingests lycan blood and becomes a hybrid. William was already stronger than any other lycan. According to [[ActionGirl Selene]] in ''Film/UnderworldEvolution'', Alexander Corvinus, the original immortal and the father of the twins, is easily the strongest of them all, although he refuses to fight or otherwise make use of it.

** In terms of their religious beliefs, the [[OurElvesAreBDifferent Altmer (High Elves)]] invert this trope. They believe that the other "lesser" races of Mer (Elves) are the result of "degeneration" over the ages, with each generation being weaker than the last as they are one more removed from their Aedric/Ehlnofey ancestors. The Altmer [[SocialDarwinist actively try to breed themselves back into their ideal]], which includes killing undesirable progeny. (In their minds, they are releasing the soul so it has a chance to be reincarnated in a better form.) And don't even get them ''started'' on [[FeelingOppressedByTheirExistence the races of Men]]...

* The reason the Elite Vampire Council in ''Webcomic/CharbyTheVampirate'' are trying to recruit the eponymous vampire is that he is older and stronger than any of them.

* Mumm-Ra on ''WesternAnimation/{{Thundercats}}'' is the BigBad partly because he's a thousand years old.

* In ''WesternAnimation/Zevo3'', this is the reason the Zevo compound works better than it did when Stankfoot first created it. He even lampshaded it.

** In terms of their religious beliefs, the [[OurElvesAreBetter Altmer (High Elves)]] invert this trope. They believe that the other "lesser" races of Mer (Elves) are the result of "degeneration" over the ages, with each generation being weaker than the last as they are one more removed from their Aedric/Ehlnofey ancestors. The Altmer [[SocialDarwinist actively try to breed themselves back into their ideal]], which includes killing undesirable progeny. (In their minds, they are releasing the soul so it has a chance to be reincarnated in a better form.) And don't even get them ''started'' on [[FeelingOppressedByTheirExistence the races of Men]]...

* ''Fanfic/DungeonKeeperAmi'': [[OurDragonsAreDifferent Dragons]] getting bigger and more magical the older they are.

[[OurVampiresAreDifferent Vampires]], [[OurDragonsAreDifferent Dragons]], and [[WizardsAndWitches Wizards]] are three of the most common beings to exhibit this, with ancient dragons and elder vampires possessing terrible power, and older wizards invariably commanding greater arcane might than their younger fellows — especially when WizardsLiveLonger. This can cause a bit of FridgeLogic if the creature is stated not to be immortal: if dragons become more resilient as they age, then just ''how'' do they die of old age? [[FridgeBrilliance The answer could be the]] SquareCubeLaw — [[TheAgeless except when they don't die of old age at all]].

[[JustForFun/IThoughtItMeant Not to be confused with]] what happens to certain cheeses, [[WineIsClassy wines]], and socks.

* ''Fanfic/TheVastoOfWhite'': Shirou's Noble Phantasms are magical weapons and items that become more powerful as time passes. Barragan's attempts to reduce them to dust with his RapidAging powers backfires as they simply become stronger.

* Immortals from ''Webcomic/ElGoonishShive'' are like this. As they older, they also become smarter, stronger, [[WhoWantsToLiveForever more bored]] and [[WithGreatPowerComesGreatInsanity less sane]] until the point comes where they basically become [[PersonOfMassDestruction People Of Mass Destruction]]. To prevent this, they voluntarily undergo a kind of ritualistic death/rebirth cycle every couple of centuries to lose most of their power and memories so they can start over and keep things interesting. Immortals have also established a strict set of rules for themselves, and if any immortal breaks those rules for any reason, every other immortal in ''the world'' will instantly know about it and join forces to neutralize the renegade. Much of the story is driven by [[spoiler: [[NamesToRunAwayFromReallyFast Pandora Chaos Raven]]]], an immortal who refuses to let go of her accumulated power, has gotten very good at using LoopholeAbuse to do things that really should be against the rules but technically aren't, and seems to be approaching EldritchAbomination territory.

* Immortals from ''Webcomic/ElGoonishShive'' continue to get older, smarter, stronger, [[WhoWantsToLiveForever more bored]] and [[WithGreatPowerComesGreatInsanity less sane]] until the point comes where they basically become [[PersonOfMassDestruction People Of Mass Destruction]]. To prevent this, they voluntarily undergo a kind of ritualistic death/rebirth cycle every couple of centuries to lose most of their power and memories so they can start over and keep things interesting. A significant portion of the latter half (after the death of [[spoiler: Damien]]) of the story is driven by [[spoiler: [[NamesToRunAwayFromReallyFast Pandora Chaos Raven]]]], an immortal who refuses to let go of her accumulated power, and seems to be approaching EldritchAbomination territory.

** Other immortal species, like the Fae, and Vampires, also go with this (though in the case of vampires, it depends on the bloodline -- Dracula, for instance, is only about 600 years old, but has the power of a vampire closer to 17,000 years old, because he was chosen by the ancient vampire Varnae, King of the Grey Court, as his heir). As do Elder Wyrms, the ancient dragons (enormous, talkative, and usually malicious) of which modern dragons are 'but a pale shadow'.

* In ''WesternAnimation/AvengersAssemble'', an Infinity Gauntlet-powered Thanos uses the Time Stone to instantly age most of the Avengers into dust. When he tries it on Thor, Thor just grows a BadassBeard, declares he's now even stronger, and smashes the Time Stone with {{Mjolnir}}, turning its effects back on Thanos and forcing him to undo all of it.

* In fantasy-steampunk RPG ''TabletopGame/WolsungSteamPulpFantasy'', trolls fall under this trope without exceptions. When they are about 50 years old, they start to burn out mentally, fall into fits of rage, and at some point they [[HulkingOut hulk out]]. Permanently. From this point, they become larger, more resilient and feral with age... and nobody ever checked just how old they can get. Usually, their family or the authorities will put them down shortly after the onset of this freakish senility. It's less pronounced with troll women, who don't lose so much of their brains -- just their morals.

* In ''Webcomic/GirlGenius'' Jägermonsters become bigger and less human-looking as they age. We get a better look at these changes [[spoiler:when Vole is artificially aged a few hundred years and he goes from looking like a big guy with white skin, black eyes and small fangs to being maybe half again the size he was before, with spines protruding from his now green skin, and having sprouted a tail.]] As a result, a threat that would take a huge platoon of regular Jägermonsters to handle can be trounced with no losses by four of the centuries-old generals.

* On ''Series/{{Supernatural}}'', every species that's older than yours is more powerful. One of the oldest species, Leviathans, trump almost everything in their strength and dexterity, and the mother of all monsters, Eve, has the ability to rob an angel of its power. Also, the angels have a very specific ranking in terms of power, with the oldest, Michael, being the strongest.

Everyone knows a child is more durable than a newborn, and that an adult is tougher than a kid. However, for humans it stops there -- we might get OlderAndWiser, but from middle age onwards we begin to physically deteriorate. Some creatures... don't. They never grow decrepit. Arthritis never settles in. They keep growing stronger, faster and more resilient with each passing year, and in some cases they keep growing ''bigger'' as well. They're not simply [[OldMaster more powerful due to having more experience]]: they are literally tougher than any younger specimen of the same breed.

[[OurVampiresAreDifferent Vampires]], [[OurDragonsAreDifferent Dragons]], and [[WizardsAndWitches Wizards]] are three of the most common beings to exhibit this, with ancient dragons and elder vampires possessing terrible power, and older wizards invariably commanding greater arcane might than their younger fellows--especially when WizardsLiveLonger. This can cause a bit of FridgeLogic if the creature is stated not to be immortal: if dragons become more resilient as they age, then just ''how'' do they die of old age? [[FridgeBrilliance The answer could be the]] SquareCubeLaw--[[TheAgeless except when they don't die of old age at all]].

[[folder:Films -- Live-Action]]

* Dragons in ''Literature/ASongOfIceAndFire'' never stop growing as long as they have freedom and food. Balerion is the only known dragon that got old enough to die of old age, and is by far the biggest dragon known to live; it was said his shadow could cover entire towns when he took flight. Vhagar, smaller and younger than Balerion at the time of his death, is considered twice the size of the next largest dragon, and three times the size of most mature dragons.

* ''Literature/TheCinderSpires'': Core crystals conduct energy more and more efficiently as they age. This makes for a minor moment of awesome when ''Predator'' is revealed to have what may well be the oldest core crystal in the world: A passing comment (in narration) states "Power crystals become more efficient with age". One of the protagonists, (whose family grows crystals), reflects upon seeing the ''Predator'' core that crystals of that type have been faceted, largely as a matter of style, for centuries. But he one she's looking at looks like it was just dug up out of the ground....

* In Creator/RobinMcKinley's ''{{Literature/Sunshine}}'', this appears to be true of vampires, with some twists. Classically, in-setting, an old vampire is a master vampire, and [[EldritchAbomination very, very strong]] -- their mental powers become vastly more potent, allowing them to accrue minion-vampires. However, the longer they survive in that way, the less capable they are of [[WeakenedByTheLight enduring sunlight]], until even moonlight is crippling and they can't even speak the word. Hence the minions, who join in the hopes of gaining power themselves. The main character discovers through a relatively FriendlyNeighborhoodVampire that it is possible to become equally powerful, maintain independence, and never create or join a gang... but the gang-leaders don't want their minions finding that out, and even if they did, they may not be interested in tightening their moral standards.

* ''WebAnimation/{{RWBY}}'': The [[AnimalisticAbomination Grimm]] can be twice the size of an adult human and boast a wide range of abilities that depend on the animalistic form they take, all of which are lethal to humans whom the Grimm seem determined to destroy for mysterious reasons. Although intially reckless, mindless and capable of being fought by trainee [[HunterOfMonsters Huntsmen]], the Grimm are capable of living for hundreds of years; as time goes by, they adapt based upon their experiences, becoming bigger, stronger and [[ItCanThink smarter]]. As they learn, they shed the recklessness and become patient, willing to wait years if they have to for the right moment to strike. A Nevermore might look almost indistinguishable from an ordinary raven to begin with, but over the centuries can become truly monstrous in size, strength and threat level. [[spoiler:They're [[TheBeastmaster controlled]] by an AncientEvil known as [[BigBad Salem]]. Although she has the black and white colour scheme of the Grimm, complete with glowing red eyes, she [[AmbiguouslyHuman seems otherwise human]]. She's spent thousands of years engaged in a SecretWar with her ArchEnemy, attempting to [[DivideAndConquer destroy humanity]] because [[BigGood Ozpin]] has faith in humanity's potential; as he is [[ResurrectiveImmortality cursed to never die]] while Salem lives, she instead intends to [[DespairGambit destroy everything]] he holds dear.]]

[[folder:Web Comics]]

* ''TabletopGame/{{Pathfinder}}'' uses this trope in the same manner as ''D&D'', portraying creatures such as dragons as growing in power and size as they age. LizardFolk tend towards this too; like other reptiles, they grow continuously as they age, and magic-users capable of proofing themselves against physical mortality can grow to be the size of giants.

** Mothra Leo in the spin-off ''Mothra Trilogy'' falls under this big time. In [[Film/RebirthOfMothra3 the third film]], he travels back in time to the Mesezoic Era where ancient Mothra Larvae encase him in a cocoon for 65 million years before he [[spoiler:emerges as Light-Speed Mothra before transforming into Armor Mothra and killing the evil Grand-King Ghidorah.]] And then he [[spoiler:transforms into the immortal Eternal Mothra]] his most powerful form.
* Seemingly averted in ''Film/{{Byzantium}}''. Clara [[spoiler: is able to kill Werner with relative ease and wrestles Savella to the ground despite both being older than her (Savella having lived through the Crusades)]]. It is unknown if the vampires actually have super strength or if it's just proportional to their height and weight like humans. Though Clara being able to easily overpower men to feed on them [[spoiler: and punch through a windscreen like it was nothing]] suggests they are at least much stronger than humans.

* Likely inspired by the Tolkien example, dragons in ''Literature/ASongOfIceAndFire'' never stop growing as long as they have freedom and food. Balerion is the only known dragon that got old enough to die of old age, and is by far the biggest dragon known to live; it was said his shadow could cover entire towns when he took flight. Vhagar, smaller and younger than Balerion at the time of his death, is considered twice the size of the next largest dragon, and three times the size of most mature dragons.

** Captive dragons reach an upper limit depending on the space constraints of their environment. Historical dragons such as Balerion the Black were ''massive'' because they lived for quite some time and were uninhibited during their lives, but future dragons were hindered by the Dragonpit in King's Landing until they died out altogether. In the present day, Daenerys' dragons are of differing sizes due to this as well. Drogon flew off into the wild, whereas Viserion and Rhaegal were kept in the basement of the Great Pyramid of Mereen, and are considerably smaller than their sibling.
* Inverted in David Wellington's ''13 Bullets'' (and sequels). A vampire is never as strong again as it is its first night. They gradually grow more decrepit, requiring more and more blood to stay active. Older vampires are a threat because of greater experience and because their vampire progeny protect and feed them.

** In a curious aversion, the vampire who called himself The Prince of Lies was, like the Master and Kakistos, very old and extra demonic in appearance, but seemed rather weak; Angel killed him easily. This might have been due to the element of surprise, but you'd think such an old vampire would have better reflexes.