History Main / YoungConqueror

* ''VideoGame/Brigandine'': Vaynard the White Wolf of Norgard is highly known and feared as a powerful warrior and an intelligent strategist before he even became King. Once he ascendes the throne, many characters acknowledge Norgard as one of the nations who threatens to conquer Forsena (the other is [[TheEmpire Esgares Empire]].) And he will if he is chosen by the Player.

* ''VideoGame/Brigandine'': At the age of 21, King Vaynard the White Wolf is renowned and feared as a mighty warrior and an intelligent strategist. (In gameplay, he is a GeniusBruiser with high Int and Str). He is acknowledged to be one of the threats who threatens to conquer Forsena (the other is Emperor Zemeckis of the [[TheEmpire Esgares Empire]].)

''VideoGame/Brigandine'': At the age of 21, King Vaynard the White Wolf is renowned and feared as a mighty warrior and an intelligent strategist. (In gameplay, he is a GeniusBruiser with high Int and Str). He is acknowledged to be one of the threats who threatens to conquer Forsena (the other is Emperor Zemeckis of the [[TheEmpire Esgares Empire]].)

* In ''Fanfic/ChildOfTheStorm'', Harry has all the hallmarks of this, with various characters noting that he could either be the next [[TheHero Captain America]] or the next [[WellIntentionedExtremist Magneto]], with more than enough motivation to turn into the latter. In Chapter 61, he recognises this after a MotiveRant and is prevented from tipping over the edge by his friends. When he cools down, he finds that his potential to be this trope absolutely terrifying. Fears of this get even greater after the brief, though admittedly justified, [[spoiler: Dark Phoenix]] rampage in the sequel.
** Lionel Luthor wants [[ComicBook/LexLuthor his son]] to be this trope. Lex...is not so sure.

* UsefulNotes/NapoleonBonaparte (borderline: he wasn't a teen anymore, but he became a general at 24, and was only 30 when named First Consul of France; he waited until the ripe old age of 35 to declare himself Emperor Napoleon I).

* The [[UrExample earliest inarguable example of whom we have any record]][[note]][[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sargon_of_Akkad Sargon the Great of Akkad]] may have qualified, but he is so far back in history we cannot determine with any certainty how old he was when he conquered his empire other than saying he was at least young-ish.[[/note]] is [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thutmose_III Thutmose III]], Pharaoh of Egypt (reigned [[OlderThanDirt 1479 BCE-1425 BCE]]), ran the Egyptian Army during his joint reign with his stepmother/aunt Hatshepsut as soon as he was of age (some time in his mid-teens, apparently). After Hatshepsut died, the Canaanite city-state of Kadesh tried to take advantage of the transition and the new Pharaoh's youth (Thutmose was only 21) to swipe some territory they had lost to Egypt; instead, Thutmose crushed them, and then began a massive campaign of conquest that saw Egypt build an empire stretching from Syria to Nubia. During his campaigns, Thutmose proved himself a tactical and strategic genius, and modern military historians often compare him to UsefulNotes/NapoleonBonaparte. Unlike many young conquerors, however, Thutmose lived long enough to enjoy the conquest; he lived to the age of 55 (which was not remarkably old even in those days [[note]]UsefulNotes/RamsesII, Thutmose's successor a mere 150 years later, and probably the pharaoh most like Thutmose in temperament, lived to be about 90[[/note]] but was still old enough back then) and had more or less full control of the country for over thirty of them.

* Azula in ''WesternAnimation/AvatarTheLastAirbender'', through a very intelligent plan, [[spoiler: managed to infiltrate Ba Sing Se, become leader of the Dai Li only based on the strength of his will and charisma, and conquer the city,]] and conquer the city, something that the Fire Nation had never been able to achieve in 100 years. And all that with only 14 years.

[[folder:Videogames]]

* ''VideoGame/FireEmblemThreeHouses'': At age 17, [[spoiler: Edelgard von Hresvelg ascends to the throne of the Adrestian Empire at age 17 and launches her war against the Church of Seiros a mere week later. In the Crimson Flower route, she successfully destroys the Church, the Leicester Alliance, and the Kingdom of Faergus in five years, and by the time she is 23, she is the undisputed [[SheIsTheKing Emperor]] of all Fódlan.]]

In addition to differing from the typical hero in vision - or ends - they will also differ in the means used. In contrast to the IdiotHero, the Young Conqueror will have a strong dose of IntelligenceEqualsIsolation, which may cause them to be [[InsufferableGenius quite prideful]]. And instead of a typical hero who reacts to the EvilPlan of the BigBad and fights with brawn, they are a GuileHero who uses brains to come up with their own schemes, often being either TheChessmaster, ManipulativeBastard, MagnificentBastard, MaryTzu, or all of the above, capable of cooking up ThePlan just as good as or possibly ''better'' than your standard BigBad. As such, they are often ''inversions'' of TheVillainMakesThePlot, which is one of the main reasons why these characters are so unique and interesting.

* [[UsefulNotes/IsmailI]] of Persia made his first victory in battle when he was 14 years old when he conquered Shirvan and in the very next year, he founded the Safavid Empire. He gained a fearsome reputation until he was defeated by the Ottoman Turks at the Battle of Chaldiran, his legacy is still felt to modern times: he reasserted Iranian identity after 800 centuries of outsider occupation since the Islamic conquest of Persia and established Shia Islam as the main religion, which most Iranians adhere to this very day.

* Ismail I of Persia made his first victory in battle when he was 14 years old when he conquered Shirvan and in the very next year, he founded the Safavid Empire. He gained a fearsome reputation until he was defeated by the Ottoman Turks at the Battle of Chaldiran, his legacy is still felt to modern times: he reasserted Iranian identity after 800 centuries of outsider occupation since the Islamic conquest of Persia and established Shia Islam as the main religion, which most Iranians adhere to this very day.

* Ismail I of Persia made his first victory in battle when he was 14 years old when he conquered Shirvan and in the very next year, he founded the Safavid Empire. He gained a fearsome reputation until he was defeated by the Ottoman Turks at the Battle of Chaldiran, his legacy is still felt today: he reasserted Iranian identity after 800 centuries of outsider occupation since the Islamic conquest of Persia and established Shia Islam as the main religion, which most Iranians adhere to.

* ''Franchise/CodeGeass'': Lelouch vi Britannia, insofaras wanting to take down the Holy Britannian Empire. [[He succeeds by the way.]]

* ''{{Manga/Naruto}}'' has Pein/Nagato, who learned ninjutsu in his youth with his TrueCompanions and afterwards started a group with them to create a better world and was given the Rinnegan. After being forced to kill his best friend, he commits [[RoaringRampageOfRevenge bloody vengeance]] on his betrayers and plans to create a super-weapon that will scare the other villages into stopping all war.

* ''Franchise/CodeGeass'': Lelouch vi Britannia, insofaras wanting to take down the Holy Britannian Empire.

* In ''ComicBook/{{Runaways}}'', [[spoiler:Alex Wilder]]'s plan is to play [[spoiler:his]] team and the Pride against each other so that the Pride doesn't fall apart from infighting, thus allowing them to complete their plan to remake the entire world into a supposed paradise. And [[spoiler:he]] nearly succeeds at it, and [[spoiler:he]]'s not even old enough to drive.

* In ''Fanfic/ChildOfTheStorm'', Harry has all the hallmarks of this, with various characters noting that he could either be the next [[TheHero Captain America]] or the next [[WellIntentionedExtremist Magneto]], with more than enough motivation to turn into the latter. In Chapter 61, he recognises this after a MotiveRant and is prevented from tipping over the edge by his friends. When he cools down, he finds that his potential to be this trope absolutely terrifying.

* UsefulNotes/HenryV of England. He decisively defeated the French at Agincourt and came further than any other English monarch in conquering France. Unfortunately for him, he died just two years after the Treaty of Troyes was signed, in his thirties, of dysentery, with all his long-term plans left unfulfilled and the English throne left to his infant son, the later Theatre/HenryVI.

In a way a variant of RagsToRiches. A milder and hopefully less bloody version found in the commercial rather than politico-military sphere is the SelfMadeMan. When this is RecycledInSpace, it is likely to be GalacticConqueror.

** Daenerys intends to conquer Westeros, which she regards as her birthright. She has her start by conquering Slavers Bay.

* [[NotableSwedishMonarchs Charles XII of Sweden]] (also known as [[UsefulNotes/CarolusRex Carolus Rex]]. Ascending the throne at 15, Denmark-Norway, Poland-Saxony, and Russia formed an alliance against Sweden to take advantage of his youth. Charles surprised everybody by holding his own and then outright invading and conquering the first two members of the alliance, winning an outnumbered victory against the Russians (and almost killing UsefulNotes/PeterTheGreat) in the process. He got greedy fighting in Russia, however, and was beaten decisively at Poltava.

If they're targeted by bullies, expect them to later gloat [[WhosLaughingNow Who's Laughing Now?]], though when they realize the extent of the damage they've caused, they're especially prone to wondering MyGodWhatHaveIDone and going through a HeroicBSOD and/or HeelRealization, assuming their {{Ubermensch}} mentality cracks enough to let them see it. These characters often [[FailureIsTheOnlyOption die young]], seemingly "burned out" by their own genius, though a Young Conqueror who lives to adulthood can either continue down their path to AntiVillain status (or sometimes simply become the BigBad, deluded by their own idealism), or they can become a {{mentor}} who issues {{Jacob Marley Warning}}s to other youngsters in their former position.

In some cases, may obtain or be born with some [[SuperpowerLottery special power]] to help them achieve their goal. Whether they do or not, the key difference between the Young Conqueror and TheHero is that instead of [[TheyFightCrime fighting crime]] on a case by case basis or having to face an already existing BigBad, they have a much bigger vision and will try to TakeOverTheWorld in a belief that UtopiaJustifiesTheMeans. However, if these ideas are already a quick way for ''adult'' characters to go merrily JumpingOffTheSlipperySlope, being a young, frustrated rebel, complete with the standard [[YouthIsWastedOnTheDumb emotional immaturity and sometimes flat-out childish fantasies]] you'd expect out of someone this age only makes things worse. Consequently, they often end up as a WellIntentionedExtremist type of AntiHero, or even a(n) ([[AntiVillain Anti]])VillainProtagonist.

[[WideEyedIdealist Youthful idealism]] can be a beautiful thing. There are few things audiences love more than the idea of a gifted [[TeenGenius teenager]] (or sometimes simply a young adult) who can see what's wrong with the world and, after initially feeling [[SamaritanSyndrome overwhelmed and powerless]] in the face of a CrapsackWorld, deciding that they need to do something about it.

* Not that young but Tony Montana from ''Film/{{Scarface 1983}}'' climbs to the top of the drug dealing community almost as fast. [[spoiler:He falls.]]