History Main / StrongerWithAge

** The undead grow stronger the older the remains that went into their reanimation are. This culminates with Harry reanimating a Tyrannosaurus' skeleton. A CurbStompBattle ensued.

* Franchise/{{Godzilla}}'s entire species falls under this. First, they start off as cute relatively docile creatures that can barely form nuclear smoke-rings or bubbles. However, as time progresses, they grow larger, more powerful, and are able to unleash [[BreathWeapon powerful blasts of radioactive plasma from their mouths]]. The ''Film/MonsterVerse'' version of Godzilla is [[TimeAbyss hundreds of millions of years old]] and the strongest living Titan on Earth. Even in the years between ''Film/Godzilla2014'' and ''Film/GodzillaKingOfTheMonsters'', he's gotten substantially larger and more powerful.
* Mothra Leo in the ''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.
* ''Film/{{Scanners}}'': Vale and Revok are said to be the two strongest scanners because they are the oldest. This is because [[spoiler:they were the first two fetuses that Dr. Ruth experimented on with Ephemerol.]]
* Implied in ''Film/SpiderManNoWayHome'' [[spoiler:with [[Film/SpidermanTrilogy Raimi-verse]] Spider-Man who has several decades on his MCU and his ''[[Film/TheAmazingSpiderMan Amazing]]'' counterpart, yet when MCU Spidey tries to kill the Green Goblin with his glider, Raimi’s Spidey is able to quite effortlessly prevent his younger counterpart from doing so despite MCU Peter having crazier feats of strength than him such holding a ferry together and punching around beings such as Thanos.]]
* 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.

** Lampshaded by Armand when he explains to Daniel Molloy why he's immune to sunlight, unlike most vampires.

* Franchise/{{Godzilla}}'s entire species falls under this. First, they start off as cute relatively docile creatures that can barely form nuclear smoke-rings or bubbles. However, as time progresses, they grow larger, more powerful, and are able to unleash [[BreathWeapon powerful blasts of radioactive plasma from their mouths.]* The ''Film/MonsterVerse'' version of Godzilla is [[TimeAbyss hundreds of millions of years old]] and the strongest living Titan on Earth. Even in the years between ''Film/Godzilla2014'' and ''Film/GodzillaKingOfTheMonsters'', he's gotten substantially larger and more powerful.

* Franchise/{{Godzilla}}'s entire species falls under this. First, they start off as cute relatively docile creatures that can barely form nuclear smoke-rings or bubbles. However, as time progresses, they grow larger, more powerful, and are able to unleash [[BreathWeapon powerful blasts of radioactive plasma from their mouths.]]
** The ''Film/MonsterVerse'' version of Godzilla is [[TimeAbyss hundreds of millions of years old]] and the strongest living Titan on Earth. Even in the years between ''Film/Godzilla2014'' and ''Film/GodzillaKingOfTheMonsters'', he's gotten substantially larger and more powerful.

* 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.

* ''Webcomic/GirlGenius'': Jägermonsters are biologically immortal, and become bigger, stronger 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 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]].

However, for humans, it has proven to be more of a case of ZigzaggedTrope. As while we all might get OlderAndWiser, and we all obtain more developed bodies, from the point middle age onwards many will begin to deteriorate physically, though there are exceptions where the burden can be lessened by a variety of reasons.

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.

* Dragons in ''Literature/InheritanceCycle'' never stop growing; some were as big as mountains. They do suffer from a loss of agility, but with their increased strength, it's a net plus.

* Pretty much every major species in ''VideoGame/MonsterHunter'', not necessarily due to explicit biology, but because the world has such a vicious ecosystem that anything which survives for longer than average has to be pretty badass. This is exemplified in ''Generations'' with its Deviants, monsters that have fought off hunters so many times they've adapted to their methods and become stronger than ever.

* 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.

** 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.

** ''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.

** 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).

* The Nobility in the ''LightNovel/VampireHunterD'' universe are also like this; and since the series takes place in the far future circa 12000 AD, where most of the time between now and then was dominated by vampiric rule following a nuclear Armageddon TwentyMinutesIntoTheFuture, some are [[TimeAbyss very old indeed]]. Downplayed in that a recent human uprising wiped out most vampires, and that those remaining, for all their terrible power, are a dying race. One of the recurring themes of the novel is that while humans are, on the whole, [[PunyEarthlings weak]], [[WeAreAsMayflies short-lived]], and otherwise [[HumansAreFlawed flawed]], vampires have an even greater, fundamental flaw which dooms them to eventual extinction; as the [[{{Dracula}} Revered Ancestor]] once put it when speaking about his kind, "Transient guests are we." [[spoiler:It just so happens that [[{{Dhampyr}} D himself]] is the most successful result of a cross-breeding program by his father [[LukeIAmYourFather (the aforementioned Revered Ancestor)]] aimed at creating a new breed of vampires without this flaw, thereby ensuring the species' continuance.]]

** The ''Film/MonsterVerse'' version of Godzilla takes this UpToEleven, being [[TimeAbyss hundreds of millions of years old]] and the strongest living Titan on Earth. Even in the years between ''Film/Godzilla2014'' and ''Film/GodzillaKingOfTheMonsters'', he's gotten substantially larger and more powerful.

** In Japanese folk thought, foxes ({{Kitsune}}) grow a new tail for every hundred years they live, with a proportional growth in power, to a maximum of nine, at which point they're pretty much {{Physical God}}s.

** Slayer is a [[OurVampiresAreDifferent Nightwalker]] who is several hundred years old, the original founder of the assassin's guild, and one of the most powerful characters in the series. It's heavily implied that he's holding back on the whole cast; even if you utterly [[CurbStompBattle destroy]] him in a fight, he'll just lie on the floor with his head in his hand, casually chilling out.
** Jam Kuradoberi, who is told after fighting Slayer that given enough time, she'll end up surpassing him.

* Liir from ''VideoGame/SwordOfTheStars'' have this; the older they grow, the larger they get and the more powerful their psionic abilities become. The only thing limiting their size, and eventually causing their death, is the SquareCubeLaw. [[spoiler:Of course, some didn't like that last bit, preferring to enslave the younger ones to make them build spacesuits for them, so they could live in space and remove that last limit on their immortality. Very few remain of those who did this, but just one can wreck whole armies]].
* ''VideoGame/{{Touhou}}'':
** The setting plays by the rules of Japanese mythology, so some of the {{youkai}} characters were once ordinary animals - or even inanimate objects - who gained mystical power and sapience after centuries of age.

* From ''Literature/TheDeathGateCycle'', the [[WitchSpecies Sartan and Patryns]] are mentioned to get stronger in their magic as they age, implied to be because their powers, which are based on [[WindsOfDestinyChange twisting probability to produce the result the wizard desires]], require wisdom and experience in order to use ''well''. This is supported by the fact that [[SorcerousOverlord Lord Xar]], the strongest of the Patryns, is also the ''oldest'' of the Patryns.

* 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's hair just goes white as he grows a BadassBeard and points out that Asgardians only get stronger with age, and smashes the Time Stone with {{Mjolnir}}, turning its effects back on Thanos and forcing him to undo all of it.

A subtrope of OlderIsBetter. See also {{Monster Lord}}s, who are often older members of their species, and contrast EvilMakesYouMonstrous (for the latter, they get eviler with age and thus get uglier and stronger). For the human equivalent, see the OldMaster, OldSoldier, and SicklyChildGrewUpStrong. See also GiganticAdultsTinyBabies, MonsterProgenitor and MotherOfAThousandYoung.

** 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 after that. 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 they can choose to merge with the landscape and become a spiritual guardian to watch over dragon nests and commune with wyrmlings. Other dragons instead choose to become {{Dracolich}}es, or take up the Dragon Ascendant PrestigeClass to become ageless quasi-deities.

* Franchise/MarvelComics:

** Comicbook/TheThing once met a future version of himself who easily overpowered him. His future self noted that Ben will never stop getting stronger.
* This has been canon of Franchise/{{Superman}} for quite a while, with the explanation that, as he grows older, his body becomes more accustomed to absorbing solar radiation and builds up greater stores of it. Many origin stories show his powers developing over the course of his youth, and FutureBadass Superman tend to be measurably stronger (this doubles as an easy explanation for writers to develop his power further). The pinnacle of this would likely be the Superman of the non-canon story ''Strange Visitor'', who is [[TimeAbyss billions of years old]] and shown to be stronger than even [[RealityWarper Mr. Mxyzptlk]].

** Creator/GrantMorrison's Superman gets more powerful over the next 80 millennia and eventually bestows powers on his descendants.

* SelfDemonstrating/{{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.

* Lobsters are often thought of as a perfect example, but the truth is more complicated. According to research, a lobster does not weaken or slow down with age. In fact, it becomes more fertile as it gets older compared to younger lobsters. Barring injury, disease and capture they can reach impressive sizes. All this is attributed to telomerase, an enzyme that repairs DNA sequences of the form "TTAGGG". However, telomeres are only one aspect of the complicated process we call "aging" and despite their ability to repair DNA, lobsters still grow more vulnerable to disease, death from faulty molts, infections, etc. as they reach old age, and certainly cannot live indefinitely.
* Reptiles in general. Most animals reach a certain size and stop growing. So long as a reptile doesn't get killed or die by other means it just keeps getting bigger and bigger as it ages. Of course, they still die of old age at some point, and in many species growth is so slow later in life that it can be almost imperceptible (to the extent that it's arguable if reptiles really grow throughout their lives or not).