This is discussion archived from a time before the current discussion method was installed.
Scifantasy: Do Plasmius and Danny, or Snape and Harry, fit here? The past grudge with the fathers is very clearly the centerpiece...
Lale: Grudge with the father, not the hero.
Whogus The Whatsler: Yes, but there's obvious transference going on. I'm not familiar with Danny Phantom, but at least in the case of Snape and Harry, Harry looks and acts so much like his father that Snape a) projects onto Harry all the genuine flaws — arrogance, showing off, cruelty to his enemies — that James had but Harry doesn't have, and b) uses him as a surrogate to act out a sort of belated revenge on James.
The point is, that with those examples there is an obvious reason why the villain dislikes the hero so thoroughly. It's not a smart reason, but it's there and it's convincing.
Lale: Good way to put it. I worked that into the page.
Paul A: I thought Whogus meant that the Danny Phantom and Harry Potter examples, because they have obvious and convincing explanations, aren't examples of this trope, not that all the examples of this trope have obvious and convincing explanations.
Scrounge: I can't help but think part of the reason is to try to void having things look like superhero little league. Teen or child heroes are given adult villains to defeat so that the audience will take them seriously. Not sure how to phrase this for the pagem though...
Thinks Too Much: Are we sure Axel and Roxas from Kingdom Hearts are an example? There's actually not that much of an age gap - five years or so at most, and possibly less (look how old Riku looks at the end of the second game). I haven't finished it, though, so I don't know if we get a definite age for Axel.
