History Main / CompetenceZone

* In ''Literature/FullMetalPanic'', all the people who do ''any'' work or accomplish anything (especially with regards to saving the day) are 16 years old. Sort of explained as most of the 16-year-olds are actually Whispereds - special [[TeenGenius geniuses]] born with knowledge of Black Technology, all of whom were born at almost the exact same time. Except... the explanation still doesn't cover why Sousuke, who is also 16 (and who is ''the'' most useful character (he is the main character after all)),is still a [[TeenGenius young genius]] despite not being a Whispered. The rest of the characters (who are older) don't do ''nearly'' as much for the plot.
** However, Sousuke has more experience than some older characters. He has been a soldier since he was a child, while Mao and Kurz weren't. He is younger, not more inexperienced.

* Dipper and Mabel of ''WesternAnimation/GravityFalls'' run afoul of AdultsAreUseless constantly. In general, the only helpful people they encounter are preteens like themselves, and sometimes regular teenagers. The sole exception is Soos, who is a young adult, and often accompanies them on adventures.[[spoiler: That is until it's revealed that Grunkle Stan knew about the supernatural all along.]] However, he's such a ManChild that Dipper often seems more mature by comparison.

* In ''Lightnovel/FullMetalPanic'', all the people who do ''any'' work or accomplish anything (especially with regards to saving the day) are 16 years old. Sort of explained as most of the 16-year-olds are actually Whispereds - special [[TeenGenius geniuses]] born with knowledge of Black Technology, all of whom were born at almost the exact same time. Except... the explanation still doesn't cover why Sousuke, who is also 16 (and who is ''the'' most useful character (he is the main character after all)),is still a [[TeenGenius young genius]] despite not being a Whispered. The rest of the characters (who are older) don't do ''nearly'' as much for the plot.

* The age range for human characters in ''VideoGame/FireEmblemAwakening'' is fairly normal, ranging from mid-teens to roughly mid to late 20s and [[ReallySevenHundredYearsOld Manakete]] characters with ages easily into the ''1000s'', albeit still having the appearance of young girls. However, Gregor, who could vaguely be in his mid 30s or 40s at the very most is often treated like an old man by the other characters. Likewise, Aversa is often called an old lady or hag despite being in her late 20s. However, this also applies to young characters as well, as the game's resident ChildMage (around his early teens) is treated as a child by his fellow comrades. The game also notably plays this trope straighter than previous entries in the ''VideoGame/FireEmblem'' franchise, where middle-aged or even {{Old Soldier}}s were seen somewhat more often.

** This is actually enshrined in the US Constitution, which has minimum age requirements that must be met before someone can run for Congressman, Senator or President.

Subtropes include AdultsAreUseless and TeensAreMonsters. See also ImprobableAge, where the Competence Zone is imbalanced enough for viewers to notice. In a TeenageWasteland, the characters may or may not have reached the self-governance Competence Zone. Can overlap with ProtagonistCenteredMorality.

** Captain-Commander Yamamoto, who plays the trope dead straight. He's ancient, more experienced than all but one of his subordinates, and holds his position through AsskickingEqualsAuthority. His counterpart Yhwach is just as old as he is, commands an army of his own, and is a PowerParasite [[spoiler: later upgraded to TheAssimilator]] on top of that.

* Dipper and Mabel of ''WesternAnimation/GravityFalls'' run afoul of AdultsAreUseless constantly. In general, the only helpful people they encounter are preteens like themselves, and sometimes regular teenagers. The sole exception is Soos, who is a young adult, and often accompanies them on adventures.[[spoiler: That is until it's revealed that Grumble Stan knew about the supernatural all along.]] However, he's such a ManChild that Dipper often seems more mature by comparison.

* Dipper and Mabel of ''WesternAnimation/GravityFalls'' run afoul of AdultsAreUseless constantly. In general, the only helpful people they encounter are preteens like themselves, and sometimes regular teenagers. The sole exception is Soos, who is a young adult, and often accompanies them on adventures. However, he's such a ManChild that Dipper often seems more mature by comparison.

[[folder:Film]]

* ''Literature/TheBabySittersClub'' takes this trope UpToEleven.[[note]][[JustForPun Eleven is the minimum age of competence.]][[/note]] Mallory and Jessi are mature enough to babysit and be trusted to wander around Stoneybrook alone among other things. Most ten year olds are not. It becomes a major plot point a couple of times.

* Cheerfully [[AvertedTrope blown to pieces]] by ''Franchise/LyricalNanoha''. Where most magical girls lose their powers as they grow up, Nanoha's ability to blow shit up only gets bigger and flashier as she goes from a pre-teen in the original and A's series to an adult in [=StrikerS=] and a [[ActionMom mother]] in [=ViVid=], [=ViVid=] Strike, and Force. They actually had to remove "Girl" from the title in ''Force'' since Nanoha is 25 at that point.

* ''Anime/FutureBoyConan'' sets this line at around 10. The heroic kids are not only smarter than most of their adult counterparts, the title character is ''stronger and faster'' too. Once you become a grandparent you are competent again. At least until you get killed.

This occurs because the main cast of a series are often near the same age as the [[{{Demographics}} target demographic.]] We relate to them, so we can subjectively ignore ages even much higher than intelligence may indicate. However, any deviations from this become obvious, and seem to demand explanation.

* ''Franchise/ShinMegamiTensei'' in general uses this trope. The only characters who are capable of dealing with the world-ending crises are a bunch of high-school students in their late teens. ''VideoGame/Persona2: Eternal Punishment'', the ''VideoGame/DevilSurvivor'' [[VideoGame/DevilSurvivor2 duology]], and ''VideoGame/ShinMegamiTenseiStrangeJourney'' push the general maximum up to the mid-twenties; Baofu from ''Persona 2'' is the oldest character with a confirmed age at a positively ancient 32, while Ken Amada from ''VideoGame/Persona3'' is the youngest at a spry 10.

** Let's be fair. Ranma and friends are pretty messed up too.
** Let's not forget Hinako Ninomiya -- biologically in her late 20s, even if she's only that way outwardly (and mentally) half the time. She'd actually be pretty deadly if that were her aim, but all she really wants is to teach... which is a job she performs marginally better than Principal Kuno does his.
* The tween heroes from ''Anime/DigimonAdventure'' are apparently too old to save the world in ''Anime/DigimonAdventure02'' -- even though only three years have passed. Sure, they show up as cameo characters, passing on knowledge or [[IconicOutfit goggles]] to the new heroes, but with the exception of the two youngest, they make a big point of not participating in the struggle. The big justification here has more to do with the fact that they're simply too busy to do so now that life is catching up to them; hell, Mimi doesn't even live in Japan anymore.
** It is soon explained in the series itself that it's more the fault of their partner Digimon than the kids': they can't evolve at all with the Digimon Kaiser's Dark Towers around, so they are worth shit in a fight... hence the new recruits.
*** Or the writers' fault for enforcing the trope. DeusExMachina gives all the new {{Transformation Trinket}}s to the young ones, even when this results in some of them having two.
** They do eventually get rid of the black towers, but the original characters are still limited to cameos.
*** Except[[spoiler: near ''02''[='=]s conclusion, where the older kids travel the world with the younger ones.]]
** As soon as the Dark Towers were destroyed, there was a flashback explaining about how the ''Adventure'' characters gave up their ability to evolve to the Perfect level sometime during the TimeSkip, so even if there were no Dark Towers, as soon as Ken figured out how to control Perfect-level {{Mons}}, they would have been toast anyway. The fact that this wasn't mentioned until the series was half-over makes it come off as an easy, spur-of-the-moment contrivance to justify focusing on Daisuke and the others at the expense of the older kids.
*** Which in itself would be a fairly standard BagOfSpilling to let the new characters be useful. But they are too old to even try to get their powers back.
*** Despite this, Gatomon, who is actually an Adult digimon, was able to take her Perfect level form of Angewomom at one point.
** The cameos, while brief, make up for it in spades. [[SugarWiki/MomentOfAwesome Remember [=WarGreymon=]'s re-appearance?]]
** Arguably all the ''Franchise/{{Digimon}}'' series is this trope. Except perhaps Anime/DigimonDataSquad.
*** Don't forget Anime/DigimonTamers, where this trope is utterly skewered since many of the adult characters become extremely important characters (as in absolutely integral to the final battle). They aren't out on the front lines, but they are arguably the most helpful non combatant characters the franchise has seen thus far.

** Arguably all the ''Franchise/{{Digimon}}'' series is this trope. Except perhaps Anime/DigimonSavers.

* Ditto with Hay Lin's family on ''WesternAnimation/{{WITCH}}'' -- her grandmother is a Guardian, she's a Guardian, her parents are just clueless. The other parents on the show are decent but stupid.
** Not stupid, per se, they're just fairly good parents that don't know their daughters are [[WakeUpGoToSchoolSaveTheWorld saving the world]] when they break curfew thanks to the {{Masquerade}}. If they ''were'' stupid, it would actually make things ''easier'' on the girls.

* Happens in the ''Comicbook/{{Legion of Super-Heroes}}'' to various degrees, in the first years of the original, in the reboot, and in the threeboot, with teenagers being the only superheroes in the setting and R. J. Brande as the useful old mentor. Especially so in the threeboot, with the Legionnaires being on the forefront of youth rebellion throughout the galaxy and where Supergirl in the Legion was noticeably more mature than she was in her own book because she's not in the Competence Zone there. (In the current version the Legion has aged enough that the Competence Zone is just "adult" and not noticeable.)

[[folder:Table Top Games]]

** Shanks is only 35 years old and yet is one of the Four Emperors, the strongest and most feared pirates in the world. It becomes this trope when you realize he held that title ten years before the start of the series, at 25.

That sounds like common sense, but television often takes it a step further: the Competence Zone becomes a ''relative'' thing. A 17-year-old among twenty-somethings is just as much the "kid" as the ten-year-old among thirty-somethings; a 22-year-old is an "old guy" on a show about preteens just as much as the 55-year-old father is on a show about young adults. The only difference between shows is that the zone itself gets wider or narrower.

This occurs because the main cast of a series are often near the same age as the [[{{Demographics}} target demographic]]. We relate to them, so we can subjectively ignore ages even much higher than intelligence may indicate. However, any deviations from this become obvious, and seem to demand explanation.

** Captain-Commander Yamamoto, who plays the trope dead straight. He's ancient, more experienced than all but one of his subordinates, and holds his position through AsskickingEqualsAuthority. His counterpart Yhwach is just as old as he is, commands an army of his own, and is a PowerParasite [[spoiler: later upgraded to TheAssimilator)]] on top of that.

* Averted with a vengeance in the later seasons of ''Franchise/LyricalNanoha''. Where most magical girls [[GrowingUpSucks lose their powers as they grow older]], Nanoha and company get that much more badass as they go from their pre-teens to their mid 20s.