Line #39 Main/MethuselahSyndrome


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11	The tendency for ancient and fantasy settings to show humans having very [[LongLived long lifespans]] despite the lack of any established medical science. People will routinely live to a century or better while remaining lucid and active. Might or might not be explained as WizardsLiveLonger, OurHumansAreDifferent or simply AWizardDidIt in the case of magical characters, or EnlightenmentSuperpowers for spiritual ones. Because in fiction age automatically equals wisdom rather than, say, the gradual death of brain cells, this character is frequently is an OldMaster or a [[{{Mentors}} mentor]]. (Of course, research on senility-due-to-age has been skewed by mental illnesses like Alzheimer's; people without those diseases can do very well, but those diseases are all too common.)
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13	Interestingly, this is an inversion from the myth of people in the past rarely living to old age, which is mostly the error of averaging the historically high ''child'' mortality rate.
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15	Not to be confused with ImprobableAge. If there's only one or a few characters like this, especially cute little girls in a BishoujoSeries, it's ReallySevenHundredYearsOld. If long lives are common and explained by science, it's WeWillHavePerfectHealthInTheFuture.
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17	Not to be confused with the "Methuselah Syndrome" in ''Film/BladeRunner'', a genetic disorder which causes people to [[YoungerThanTheyLook succumb to aging too quickly]].[[note]]A real-life version is known as "[[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Progeria progeria]]"; but it includes a shortened life span, usually no more than 13 years. Sorry, Sebastian.[[/note]]
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20	!!Examples
21
22	[[foldercontrol]]
23
24	[[folder:Anime & Manga]]
25	* ''Manga/DragonBall'':
26	** Master Roshi is over 300 years old when first introduced. It is revealed that he had a pet phoenix that could bestow immortality on to others, making it so they couldn't die of old age, before it died from eating tainted bird seed. Roshi later claims to have drank an elixir that made him completely immortal, which his turtle brings up when Roshi lies that he is dying of old age (despite the fact that Roshi told this lie to Goku, who should have already known that Roshi was already incapable of dying from old age due to the phoenix, elixir or not). It is revealed during the King Piccolo Saga that Roshi lied about the elixir, and that it doesn't even actually exist, so he is only immortal in that he cannot die of old age. During ''Anime/DragonBallSuper'', Roshi is seen eating Paradise Herbs in place of the phoenix's power, claiming it'll extend his life, implying that either the phoenix's ability has worn off/was never true in the first place, or just might help to avert AgeWithoutYouth. [[UnreliableNarrator Considering his previous lie, and the one to get the herb in ''Super'', it's tough to tell.]]
27	** Roshi's sister, Baba, is over 500 years old. Her and Roshi's parents must also have been extremely long lived to have had two children that were 200 years apart in age, though unlike with Roshi, how they lived that long, and how Baba obtained immortality (and if the parents were actually immortal or are even still alive, though that's unlikely since we never see them) is never revealed.
28	** The Crane Hermit and his brother Tao are also hundreds of years old. Again, their immortality is never explained, unlike Roshi's.
29	* In ''Literature/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.
30	* In ''Manga/OnePiece'', WordOfGod has stated [[OurHumansAreDifferent any human]] can live to be 140 and apparently some (or at least Kureha) are so badass they can easily live much longer. The humans do seem to get old at the same time as real humans, though. Whitebeard was 72 and had many problems with his health due to old age. Rayleigh seems to be about the same age as Whitebeard, and Garp, being 19-year-old Luffy's grandfather, is probably in his 60's or 70's - both of them have complained of not being able to perform their usual feats and tire easily because they have gotten old.
31	* ''Manga/RanmaOneHalf'' gives us both Happosai and Cologne, two ridiculously skilled martial artists nowhere near slowing down (despite both being very old and crinkly) at the age of at least 120 (manga) or 300 (anime).
32	** There's also Rakkyousai, Happosai's cohort in the manga, and Chingensai and a whole bevy of MiniatureSeniorCitizens in a late {{Filler}} episode of the anime.
33	[[/folder]]
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35	[[folder:Fan Works]]
36	* In ''Fanfic/RanmaSaotomeChiMaster'', Qiáng Wang is over three hundred years old.
37	[[/folder]]
38
39	[[folder:Film -- Live-Action]]
40	* The protagonist of ''Film/{{Earth 2100}}'', Lucy, has lived to be 91 years old and still in pretty good shape, while most of the world's population has died off from diseases and starvation.
41	* ''Franchise/{{Godzilla}}'' is stated to be a dinosaur that was somehow still living underwater, who was then mutated and provoked by the bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Either there is an entire colony of Godzillasaurs living in secret, or he's been alive for at least 65 million years. The former possibility has some logic to it, since [[Film/{{Gojira}} the original film]] killed him at the end, and all later films star a different individual.
42	* Mr. Jingles in ''Film/TheGreenMile'' is a mouse that lived some 70 years. His long-life is a sign of the special gift imparted by him to John Coffey. [[spoiler:Like Christ, Coffey healed Jingles and imparted the same gift to his prison guard, who went on to live for more than a hundred and nine years.]]
43	* A lot of movies and shows with Buddhist monks tend to do this. ''Film/KillBill'', for example, establishes Pai Mei as being either well over 120 or more than a thousand years old, depending on whether you want to go by the original script (which states that Pai Mei was already a martial arts master in 1883), RealLife (where he was in 1647 if not earlier), or the actual film (where David Carradine [[ThrowItIn ad-libbed]] the line into "one double-aught three", or 1003). No explanation is given; it's implied that Pai Mei is just that badass.
44	[[/folder]]
45
46	[[folder:Literature]]
47	* 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''.)
48	* Roland, in ''Franchise/TheDarkTower'', although that's mostly because the collapse of his world has made the nature of time's passage murky at best.
49	* Wizards in ''Literature/{{Discworld}}'' who are competent enough to live to 60 without being assassinated will most likely make it well past 100. The oldest wizard mentioned in the books, Windle Poons, makes it to 130.
50	* In the world of ''Literature/TheDresdenFiles'', it's established that wizards just plain live longer than normals, with 200-300 years being average. A doctor, having seen a series of Harry Dresden's X-rays ([[WalkingTechbane when he can get the machine to work, anyway]]) theorizes that his cells are much better at repairing themselves than those of a normal person.
51	* Eumnestes from ''Literature/TheFaerieQueene'' is a librarian so old he remembers the infancy of Methuselah and has first-hand accounts of all the wars of ancient Greece, which he spends all day reading through with the help of his young assistant, Anamnestes.
52	* ''Literature/HarryPotter'' has many of these. Magical ability seems to automatically prolong one's lifespan. Some characters experiencing this are:
53	** Dumbledore who was no less than ''115'' when he was killed. In the sixth book he says that he does not expect to live to the end of the year, but this is only because of a cursed ring he foolishly tried to wear.
54	** WordOfGod says that the average life expectance for a British wizard or witch (or presumably [[MuggleBornOfMages squib]]) is 134.75.
55	** 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.
56	** Griselda Marchbanks is a proctor for the O.W.L. exams seen briefly in the fifth book, mentioned that she personally tested Dumbledore when he was a student.
57	** Ron's Great-Great-Aunt Muriel, who in spite of being younger than Dumbledore, Marchbanks, and Bagshot, is still 107 years old.
58	** Hagrid is only in his sixties at the time of the books, but does not have a single gray hair on him. Hagrid is also [[HalfHumanHybrid half-giant]].
59	** 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]].
60	* In ''Literature/TheLordOfTheRings'', the Númenóreans, or Men of the West, had extremely long life-spans granted to them when they were given Númenor. Aragorn lived to 210, and the fact that most men of Númenórean descent had much shorter lives (partly resulting from Gondor interbreeding with non-Dunedain humans) was mentioned as a sign of the sorry state the world was in.
61	** Part of the explanation for the men of Númenór... well, no, just the royal line (including Aragorn) being so long-lived is because their first leader, Elros Tar-Minyatur, was a half-elf who chose to follow his human side. Despite choosing mortality (unlike his brother, Elrond), he still had a greatly extended lifespan: he reigned for 410 years until his death at 500 years.
62	* Humans in the BibleTimes era of ''Literature/ManyWaters'' age incredibly slowly, reaching adulthood around 100.
63	* In ''Literature/MosesManOfTheMountain'', in agreement with the biblical account, Moses is somewhere upwards of ninety by the time of his death, and he even says that if he wanted to he could have easily gone another ten or twenty years. Similarly, his supposed brother Aaron makes it over a hundred.
64	* In ''Literature/OneHundredYearsOfSolitude'' Úrsula lives at least 120 years or so, and Pilar Ternera lives to 145.
65	* The original ''Literature/{{Redwall}}'' book actually ''had'' a very old character named Methuselah, who was killed about midway into the book. Also, it's noted that badgers, especially Badger Lords, can live four times longer than the other species - most of Mossflower's creatures measure time in "seasons", so evidently Mossflower's badgers age at the same rate as real-life humans.
66	* In ''Literature/SewerGasAndElectric'', Kite is a one-armed SweetPollyOliver Civil War veteran, and is over 170 years old. No special reason; she's just a tough ol' broad who never got around to dying.
67	* The Franchise/StarWarsExpandedUniverse book ''Literature/TheCourtshipOfPrincessLeia'' 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 the Force to extend her lifespan. She had once met Yoda (who was 900 at his death) when they were both much younger).
68	* 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, 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. (Male channelers presumably would have the same conditions, except for the whole "Power tainted by the Dark One" factor.)
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71	[[folder:Live-Action TV]]
72	* Cinderella in ''Series/The10thKingdom'' 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.
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74
75	[[folder:Mythology & Religion]]
76	* 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]].
77	* 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 worshiped by Korean shamans, even to this day.
78	* [[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).
79	* The TropeNamer:
80	** Methuselah from the [[Literature/TheBible biblical]] Literature/BookOfGenesis lives 969 years, longer than any human in the Bible. That said, ''most'' humans from before the flood have a given age of several centuries. After the flood, human lifespan gradually decreases to closer to what it is now. There are several figures after this point who are said to have lived just over one hundred, which is technically possible but still unlikely for an ancient Hebrew. In the books after the Pentateuch, which took place much closer to the time of the lives of their writers, people live somewhat more reasonable lifespans.
81	** However, a handful of modern scholars think that was a mistranslation and that years meant months. So while 969 months (Just under 81 years) is rather long for the time it's still within the human lifespan, but the problem with this is we have characters fathering children at 5 or 6 years of age. (The biggest problem here is, the Book of Genesis doesn't mention anything about these people except their names and ages; no details about how years were measured or what sort of calendar was used. Some Biblical scholars believe that the names and ages mean nothing at all, and were included to give the impression of a long period of time between Adam and Noah. Another theory holds that the ages actually ''do'' have significance, but only so that there are exactly 4000 years separating creation from the Babylonian exile.)
82	** Some versions of the Bible claim that God one day decided that humans lived WAY too long, and decreed that they would live no more than 120 years from that day forward (note the current confirmed world record for longest life is 122; depending on how you view this it's either disproven or spot-on) long before the Great Flood.
83	** 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.
84	* Myth/{{Merlin}}, in most versions of Myth/ArthurianLegend. Usually a JustifiedTrope in that Merlin is often the son of a virgin and an immortal demon, and a [[WizardsLiveLonger magician]].
85	* The Puranas often mention that in the days of the yore, it was usual for humans to live for thousands of years. When humanity first came to existence, the average lifespan was a 100,000 years.
86	** Devayani was at least a 1000 years old when she was married to King Yayati, who himself lived for thousands of years.
87	** Kartavirya Arjuna performed austerities for ten thousand years and ruled for eighty five thousand years.
88	** Alarka, the king of Kashi was famous for ruling for 66,000 years with undiminished youth.
89	** Dasharatha was 60,000 years old when he fathered four sons.
90	** Rama, the son of Dasharatha and the protagonist of the ''Ramayana'' lived for 11,000 years, which is actually short by those standards.
91	[[/folder]]
92
93	[[folder:Tabletop Games]]
94	* In ''TabletopGame/DungeonsAndDragons'', high-level monks, druids, and some other classes have an ability called "timeless body". While it doesn't lengthen their lifespans, it does render them immune to aging penalties (bonuses still accrue) all the way up to the moment of a death by natural causes.
95	** Other methods to be human and either age gracefully or live a long time: the epic (for characters of level 21+ only) feat Extended Lifespan, which can be taken multiple times; and taking levels in the Ruathar prestige class, which is the game's mechanical way of saying "elves have blessed you and call you friend".
96	** Elans are psionically upgraded humans who have no limit to their lifespan - although they accrue the aging bonuses and penalties, after that they just keep on going until they are killed by other means. They also don't need to sleep, can forsake food and water by spending an insignificant amount of psionic energy, and cannot breed (they need to convert humans). Outside of becoming a god or an undead, they are the only canonical way of truly living forever.
97	* In ''TabletopGame/MagicTheGathering'', people of the plane of ''Ravnica'' have significantly longer life spans; Argus Kos of the Boros is well over a century old, and still an active law enforcement agent.
98	** 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 magical health packs for prescription painkillers.)
99	* ''TabletopGame/{{Warhammer 40000}}'':
100	** {{Space Marine}}s are known for their longevity, routinely living for centuries (provided they don't die in battle). Those grievously wounded in battle may be ensconced in Dreadnought armor, which renders them functionally immortal ([[AndIMustScream for a price]]).
101	** Baseline humans can receive medical rejuvenation treatment that can extend their lives well into the triple digits. For example, at the time of ''Cain's Last Stand'', Literature/CiaphasCain is well over one hundred (as is his aid, Gunner Jurgen). Generally however, the treatments that allow this sort of long life are reserved for the rich and the well-off.
102	[[/folder]]
103
104	[[folder:Video Games]]
105	* Humans in the ''VideoGame/{{Destiny}}'' universe have ''very'' long natural lifespans, which is [[JustifiedTrope justified]] by centuries of species-wide genetic enhancements during the Golden Age. This is a version of our world where humanity began hitting TheSingularity after making contact with a benevolent MechanicalAbomination powerful and advanced enough to terraform planets, so it makes sense that people live longer. It is, in fact, off-handedly specified at one point that human lifespans ''tripled'' during the Golden Age; the average life expectancy today is in the mid-to-late 70s, so that indicates that post-Traveler humans on average live for about ''240 years'', if not more.
106	* ''VideoGame/TheElderScrollsIIIMorrowind''
107	** The [[TheMagocracy Great House]] [[EvilSorcerer Telvanni]] grandmasters are extraordinarily old even for a species with [[LongLived an average lifespan that is measured in centuries]]. Ultimately Downplayed, as it's implied that they use various forms of magic (particularly necromancy) to reach those ages, and very few of the oldest ones are mentally stable anymore as a result.
108	** ''Bloodmoon'' features the warrior Ulfgar the Unending, who's been on a quest for 500 years. His name implies he's an immortal, but how or why is never stated in the game.
109	** Divayth Fyr is said to be nearly 4,000 years old by one of the [[OppositeSexClone female clones]] he made of himself (all of whom are at least in their hundreds themselves). Whether he's older than his [[OurDwarvesAreDifferent Dwemer]] guest (who was a master craftsman when the Tribunal ascended some 3,000+ years ago) is up for debate.
110	* In ''VideoGame/FireEmblemTheBlazingBlade'', 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.
111	* Wang from ''VideoGame/{{Tekken}}'' is (as of ''Tekken 5'', at least) 104 years old. He seems to have some back problems (one of his opening poses), which mysteriously vanish whenever he's beating ass in the tournament.
112	* Several characters in the ''VideoGame/{{Ultima}}'' series have very long lifespans for little explained reason. Lord British has been around since the very [[VideoGame/UltimaI first game]], and while he's white-haired in the ninth game, it's explained to be due to despair over his failing kingdom rather than age. Likewise, the Warriors of Virtue (the Avatar's companions) are still fit for a fight, as are a whole lot of other recurring characters. Taking the prize for inexplicable youth is Sherry the Mouse, a talking but otherwise fairly ordinary mouse who has weathered the two hundred years between the sixth and seventh game without any trouble at all.
113	* In the ''VideoGame/{{Zork}}'' chronology, both Dalboz of Gurth and Mir Yannick lived for a very long time. That's justified because Dalboz [[AWizardDidIt cast a spell]] on both of them. Played straight, however, are the examples of one of the King Zylon (the Aged) and Antharia Jack, who both lived for a very long time for no apparent reason.
114	[[/folder]]
115
116	[[folder:Western Animation]]
117	* A few characters in ''WesternAnimation/AvatarTheLastAirbender'' are in their 100s, and this isn't viewed as anything especially unusual by the cast. The co-creators {{hand wave}}d it by loosely comparing it to the concept of Xians, Taoist immortals who could live up to half a millennium. However, they admit that they did it primarily for [[WritersCannotDoMath plot-time purposes]] and didn't learn of the mythology until long afterward.
118	** Fire Lord Sozin [[PassedInTheirSleep died in his sleep]] at the age of 102. Then again, he was the ruler of the Fire Nation and could afford a long lifespan, plus it's mentioned that he may have used the power of the comet named after him to extend his lifespan. Bumi is 112 and still physically active. Guru Pathik knew Monk Gyatso, who died 100 years ago, with [[AllThereInTheManual the website]] specifying Pathik as being 150.
119	** Kyoshi was 230, the longest-lived Avatar; she may have looked the same in all appearances, but she ''did'' wear pretty heavy makeup.
120	** In fact, it's notable that this DIDN'T happen to Aang: being frozen for a hundred years while in the Avatar State adversely affected his lifespan. If you count the hundred years in ice, sure, he lived to 166, but biologically he was only 66 when he died.
121	* The BigBad of the five-parter intro arc for ''WesternAnimation/DuckTales1987'' is El Capitan, a ''300-400+ year old'' Spanish Conquistador who has survived for centuries due to his determination to [[GoldFever reclaim a lost treasure hoard]]. When an incredulous triplet asks '''how''' he's still alive after so many years, El Capitan sneers "sheer willpower!"
122	* 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 corroborates 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 magic.
123	** Since all of the geriatric ponies seen on the show thus far have been earth ponies, a common fan theory is that while pegasi can fly and unicorns have magic, the gift of earth ponies is long lifespans.
124	[[/folder]]
125
126	[[folder:Real Life]]
127	* UsefulNotes/AbeNoSeimei lived to his 80s. Today this is not a big deal, but back in the Heian period this lead to people suspecting he wasn't wholly human.
128	* 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 UsefulNotes/GeorgeWashington, 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.
129	** UsefulNotes/JohnAdams, 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.
130	** The actual longest-lived member of Congress was probably Strom Thurmond, who retired from the Senate at age 100. He had unsuccessfully run for President in the "Dixiecrat" faction of the Democratic Party in 1948, and the people of South Carolina continually re-elected him to office well into the new millennium.
131	** The longest serving member of Congress was John Dingell who took office in 1955 and retired in 2015.
132	** A British example would be Lord Palmerston, who entered Parliament in 1807 and only left it on his death in 1865, two days short of his 81st birthday.
133	** Or Gladstone, who was over ''eighty'' when he became prime minister for the last time, and was generally referred to as the Grand Old Man. (He's sometimes referred to just as "the GOM" in the same way that the Republican Party is the GOP.)
134	* The oldest and most longest-serving MP in Parliament is acclaimed as "Father of the House". Recent FOTH's have included former prime minister Edward Heath (86) and ex-cabinet minister Tony Benn (82).
135	** Éamon de Valera joined the Irish Volunteers in 1913, fought in the 1916 Rising, was elected to the Irish parliament in 1918 and was then appointed President by the breakaway Sinn Fein government. He retired from politics in ''1973'' when his second term as President ended.
136	* Jeanne Louise Calment lived to be 122. She was born in 1875 and died when the Music/SpiceGirls were topping the charts. She was married for 48 years but still spent 55 years as a widow.
137	* Enrico Dandalo, born in 1107, became the Doge of Venice aged 85 and blind. Venice reached the height of its power during his rule, which lasted until he died at the age of 98.
138	* The reason the average life expectancy in olden days was lower than it is now was because of the significantly higher infant mortality rate, which brought down the average. If a person managed to survive past early childhood they actually had a good chance of living into their sixties, seventies, or even eighties. Sometimes they would even live longer than that; Pope Agatho was born in 577 A.D. and died in 681 A.D., making him ''104 years old'' when he died. Then again, being Pope would give him all the best food, lodging and medical attention known to mankind.
139	** Though this may also be a [[{{Pun}} clerical error]]. At the time years weren't being kept track of quite as meticulously as later centuries. This is also why we don't actually know the real date of Jesus's birth, as it was counted backwards at this time period by people with incomplete archives.
140	** According to Tradition, John the Apostle lived to be 109. Again, the Tradition component is with regard to his birth year; he is said to have died in 115 AD. During his life, there were rumors that he would never die, but instead live to see the return of Jesus, and he was supposedly the only Apostle to die of natural causes.
141	* Some monarchs are known to also be this, such as Queen Victoria for the UK and Emperor Franz Josef of Austria-Hungary. Coincidentally, his descendant Otto von Habsburg, had he ruled, would have given ''both'' of them a run for their money: born before UsefulNotes/WorldWarI, he died in 2011; if he had actually taken the throne in 1922 (when his father historically died, but after the abolition of the monarchy in Austria) and lived as long as he did (i.e. to 2011), he would have had an 89-year reign--the longest of any monarch in human history, with the possible exception of Egyptian Pharaoh Pepi II, mentioned below.
142	** UsefulNotes/ElizabethII was also a prime example; on 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]]. She would reign for 70 years, two years shy of UsefulNotes/LouisXIV.
143	** UsefulNotes/LouisXIV reigned for exactly 72 years and 110 days, though he only died at 76, which is the average global lifespan today. Louis ascended to the throne at the age of ''4'', which is how he was able to amass a lengthy reign.
144	** The possible record-holder is [[AncientEgypt Pharoah]] [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pepi_II_Neferkare Pepi II]], who may have reigned for 94 years. However, some Egyptologists question this based on an absence of records dating beyond the 64th year of his reign.
145	** The longest reigning monarch with a verifiable reign length was [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sobhuza_II Sobhuza II of Swaziland]], who reigned for 82 years.
146	* Creator/JackNicholson and Creator/MichaelCaine are the only two actors who have been nominated for Oscars in TheSixties, TheSeventies, TheEighties, TheNineties, ''and'' the TurnOfTheMillennium.
147	* Dick Clark has often been cited in various media as immortal, including in a song written for/about him by Benny Mardones. His passing in April of 2012, however, proved the immortality attributions to be not so accurate. Even before that, he suffered a massive stroke that made his age frighteningly obvious.
148	* This trope may apply to a star. It's not uncommon for slow-burning stars to stay luminous for a few billion years, but [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HD_140283 HD 140283]] appears to have been around ''since the very beginning of the universe!''
149	* 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.
150	* The Greenland Shark is the longest-living vertebrate known. They don't reach sexual maturity until they're around 150 years old and are estimated to have a lifespan of 400-500 years. There might be some swimming around out there that were alive during the Tudor era!
151	[[/folder]]

Context Main / MethuselahSyndrome