History Main / ImprobableAge

** [[MagnificentBastard Light Yagami]] starts the series at 17, yet he manages to take on the best detective in the world (who himself is only 24), and [[spoiler:even out-gambit him]]. This example is particularly striking because both characters can predict human behaviour near-perfectly -- which takes experience that they're just not old enough to have yet.

** The main protagonist, Lelouch Lamperouge[=/=]Lelouch vi Britannia poses as the mysterious Zero, head of [[LaResistance The Black Knights]], a rebellion that grows to become one of the most powerful factions in the world... at 17 (18 after the TimeSkip). Later, [[spoiler:he becomes the ruler of Britannia at that same age!]].
** His opposite, Suzaku Kururugi, is the best pilot in the Britannian Empire. Also age 17/18. Compare this to other characters, who have to train for ''decades'' to become that good.

** [=LaCroix=] is also young for a Camarilla prince (one hundred eighty is no spring chicken, but not Elder by any standard of the millennia-old Camarilla), especially given the size and potential power of his domain. In his case, it's possibly justified by the implication that he's been KickedUpstairs and ReassignedToAntarctica by being given a 'princedom' with no actual power or influence attached.
** To a certain degree the PC (though that's likely for the sake of creating satisfying [=RPG=] progression). They're Embraced right at the beginning of the game, and even by the end, a few months ''at most'' have come to pass. That's practically being a ''newborn'' by vampiric standards, yet they have potentially mastered Disciplines that would usually take decades to master, and can earn the genuine respect of many of their elders. To boot, they can land themselves a cushy position as [[spoiler:Sheriff (basically second-in-command to the Prince) for Strauss, should they side with him. Likewise, they can earn second-in-command to Nines (or at the very least, gaining some sort of figurehead status or Barony) within the LA Anarchs, should they side with them.]]

* Artur Rimbaud is one of the most acclaimed poets of the 19th century. His first poem was published when he was 15, and he completely gave up creative writing at the age of 20. Rimbaud went on to live for 17 more years, dying at 37, but he wrote no more poetry during those years.

* ''Manga/AzumangaDaioh'''s Chiyo Mihama is a ChildProdigy who's smart enough to [[GradeSkipper start her first year of high school at age ten]], and graduates when she's 13 at the end of the series.

* Hunter Rose Of ''Grendel'', who is depicted as near super-humanly gifted. World-class fencer in his early youth. Becomes a best selling novelist and socialite while at the same time the crime lord Grendel, and later the adoptive father of the daughter of one of his victims, all before the age of eighteen.

* Harry (and by extension, the rest of the student characters) in ''Theatre/AVeryPotterMusical'' claims to be "just a 12-year-old kid," despite the rather mature romantic subplots and advanced spellwork present in the musical. This is played for humor.
* In ''[[http://www.fanfiction.net/s/2663682/1/Time_Gate_X Time Gate X]]'', a science fiction ''WesternAnimation/TheLandBeforeTime'' fan fiction, one of the main characters, Tanner Colvin, is a military scientist who is 14 to 15 years old.
* In the legendary satirical fanfic ''Fanfic/ATrekkiesTale'', the heroine [[TropeNamers Mary Sue]] is fifteen and a half years old and a [[Franchise/StarTrek Starfleet]] lieutenant.
* ''Fanfic/MarissaPicard'''s title character has her beat. She was captain at age 9!
* A milder, {{lampshaded}} example. ''Fanfic/{{Bait and Switch|STO}}'s'' Captain Kanril Eleya is well aware that at 29 years old she's very young to be commanding a ''Galaxy''-class starship. She puts it down at least in part to [[YouAreInCommandNow bloody wars and sickly seasons]]: as the fic is set in the ''VideoGame/StarTrekOnline'' time period, Starfleet is having to replace a lot of combat losses and anyone who shows even slightly above-average promise is getting to skip a grade or two. It also helps that she's been in the military since she was seventeen, albeit originally as an enlisted crewman in the Bajoran Militia.
* The point of the ''Literature/{{Oreimo}}'' fanfic ''[[http://www.fanfiction.net/s/7330418/1/My_Life_Cant_Lose_Its_Normality My Life Can't Lose Its Normality]]'' is to make the main character of the series, Kousaka Kyousuke, [[AdaptationalBadass cooler than he is in canon]]. It goes about this by having him and several other characters be part of a team of vigilantes who are just as badass as most special operatives, if not more. They're in high school.
* In ''Fanfic/BoysDoTankary'', in the flashbacks, characters who are even younger than the teenage protagonists of ''Anime/GirlsUndPanzer'' are shown crewing and commanding tanks, this time ''[[ChildSoldiers in actual war]]'', rather than tankery matches. In particular, Vincent joins the army at the age of six, and he and Gage become leaders of their own platoons at the age of seven. Disturbingly enough, the horrific implications of this are never explicitly commented on. In a less extreme example, Iris, "the Captain" is only eighteen.

* In ''Fanfic/NeitherABirdNorAPlaneItsDeku'', Alexis Lois "Lexi" Luthor graduated from Metropolis University at the age of five and earned a doctorate in nanoengineering at seven. She's surprised at how easy it was for her to get into U.A.'s Support course and declares that she could have easily finished it when she was three.
* In ''Fanfic/UnstableEquilibrium'', Asami took over her deceased father's business at any only fifteen.
* In ''Fanfic/SonicAndDonna'', Donna works at a waitress at thirteen.

** ''Film/SilverLiningsPlaybook'' -- Tiffany has already been married for several years and been in and out of the mental hospital. Her book counterpart was in her thirties, and Creator/BradleyCooper (at 37) plays her love interest. She was 21 at the time. The part was originally for Creator/AnneHathaway, who was 28 at the time, making it slightly more believable.
** ''Film/AmericanHustle'' has her as a depressed housewife with an 8-year-old son. Rosalyn's real life counterpart was in her 40s when the ABSCAM took place, while Jennifer was 23. She's implied to have been something of a trophy wife but it still raises eyebrows.
** ''Film/Joy2015'' is loosely based on the life of Joy Mangano who didn't start inventing until she was 30 and spent about four years getting her designs sold. This time Jennifer was 25, making it rather surprising to see her as a divorcee with two children.

** In ''Film/TheForceAwakens'', General Hux is in his early 30s, but is among the most prominent leaders in [[TheRemnant The First Order]]. This is {{justified}} by the First Order being a military dictatorship [[{{Nepotism}} where his father was a high-ranking Imperial officer]], and it's strongly implied that [[KlingonPromotion he climbed to the top rather ruthlessly]]. Unlike many examples of it, General Hux does try to live up to the responsibility of the station. Plus the First Order needed lots of new blood after the Empire collapsed, as shown with Kylo Ren, who's around the same age as him.

* The short story ''Built Down Logically'' by Howard Schoenfeld opens with a lecture being delivered to an auditorium of students -- by a genius Ph.D. of the ripe old age of ''two''. When two students sitting at the back discuss the unlikelihood of this and decide the infant lecturer can't possibly be real, he promptly disappears in a PuffOfLogic.
* [[Literature/CalLeandros Niko Leandros]] may be [[WiseBeyondTheirYears Wise Beyond His Years]], he may have raised himself to take many levels in badass, with little or no help/schooling whatsoever in his childhood, but it's incredibly implausible to believe that as a ''4-year-old'', he was capable of taking care of a newborn baby.

* ''Literature/{{Discworld}}'''s Tiffany Aching, who defeats the Queen of TheFairFolk ''and'' stares down Granny Weatherwax, at the age of nine.

* Laurence E. Dahners ''Literature/EllDonsaii'' -- Ell herself. Many people initially think that NO WAY this young girl can be CEO of D5R. Until they told it's Ell herself. It's worse if if it's Ell video-calling person who didn't knew her before. Her son Zage. Nobody, except parents and Ell's security team knew WHO Gordito actually is. Everybody thinks Gordito is either really good biomedical scientist or nickname of team. He is. He is also 6 y/o at time of book 14.

** According to WordOfGod, Harry and Ron become Aurors later in life without finishing school -- since their reputations help them rise through the ranks. Hermione however does go back to school, finishes her exams and doesn't become [[spoiler: Minister for Magic]] in ''The Cursed Child'' until she's in her forties.

* Virtually every book Creator/TamoraPierce has ever written, though it's most highlighted in ''Literature/TheCircleOpens'', where each of the four protagonists is a fully qualified mage at the age of 14, much to the dismay of 18-year-old trainees who won't get their credentials for another couple of years. The ''Literature/TortallUniverse'' has this in general. It's justified due to the medieval setting when the age of adulthood was younger, so it's quite common to see [[Literature/BekaCooper a 16-year-old cop]].

* ''Literature/NoCountryForOldMen'': Discussed by Sheriff Bell, who recalls how he campaigned for and won the office of sheriff of a county as big as Delaware at the age of 25. He notes similar stories, such as an 18-year-old deputy and a 21-year-old pastor who was a pillar of his community.
* In ''Literature/VillainessLevel99'', reaching level 99 in this RPGMechanicsVerse is an accomplishment that no one expected to be possible within a lifetime, therefore people are skeptical when they learn Yumiella is already level 99 at merely 15 years old.

* ''Series/SavedByTheBell: The College Years'' straddles the line with Jeremiah Lasky. He's only 32 but is a qualified professor, has published two books and had time to be married and divorced with a child. The actor playing him was in his late 20s at the time, so the age appears to have been increased to make this slightly more plausible.

* ''Series/StrikeBack'''s Colonel Alexander Coltrane's TragicBackstory includes an especially traumatic mission as a lieutenant in the Balkans in 1992. At that time, his portrayer (Creator/JamieBamber) would only have been 19 and would be very unlikely to have been ranked that high[[note]]The minimum age of entry for British Army officer training is 17 years and 9 months; add 44 weeks at Sandhurst and a year as a second lieutenant, and it's theoretically possible to make lieutenant at 19 years and 7 months -- however, a teenager with no higher education is unlikely to be recruited into intelligence.[[/note]].
* Franchise/SuperSentai:

* Ciel from ''VideoGame/MegaManZero'' is a human who is leading the Reploid LaResistance at the age of 14, after she built Copy X, a near perfect replica of one of the (if not the) most powerful and advanced [=AIs=] in the world, at the age of 6. She may be a gene-boosted human, but that's still impressive.
* In the ''VideoGame/MegaManBattleNetwork'' games, Enzan/Chaud may not be ''quite'' as accomplished as his anime counterpart, but he's still a high-ranking Official [=NetBattler=] who gets a lot of important missions... only to be shown up by the equally young PlayerCharacter Lan, of course. He also skips a lot of grades, to the point where he's starting college when Lan's in sixth grade.

* ''VideoGame/TalesOfTheAbyss'' plays with this trope.
** Van Grants looks a ''lot'' older than 27, and yet he's TheLeader [[ChurchMilitant Oracle Knights]] because he's powerful and charismatic . He got a lot of flak for it when he was first promoted, and so he grew a beard to make people think he was [[OlderThanTheyLook older than he really was]].
** Jade Curtiss was capable of Fonic Artes (i.e. magic) that would take an adult decades to fully master at [[TeenGenius a young age]] and was adopted into a military family who noticed his talents, but despite this he's never stepped beyond Colonel (he's 35 at the time of the story). DisMotivation is implied to have a role in this as he claims 'I have my hands full just being a colonel'.
** Luke, TheProtagonist is [[spoiler:7 years old because he's a clone but looks more like]] seventeen and a skilled swordsman because he has nothing better to do than practice all day.
** The head of the most powerful organization (the Order of Lorelei) is ''14'' years old. [[spoiler:And actually ''two'' due to being a replica like Luke.]] His guard is only thirteen as well. And Tear is 16 and yet a somewhat experienced ''sergeant'' in the order as well. Improbable Age seems to run rampant in Auldrant.
* ''VideoGame/TalesOfXillia'' does the same thing: the hero, Jude, is a medical student close to graduation...at age ''fifteen''. Milla, an incredibly powerful magic swordsman is only 20. Gaius [[spoiler:won a fighting tournament at age twelve and then went on to make a name for himself in a war soon after that]] and, discounting spoilers, managed to [[AsskickingLeadsToLeadership become]] king at age 22. Elize, who is only twelve, is an ''incredibly'' talented and powerful spirit artes user though she has the benefit of [[spoiler:Teepo being a booster and thus increasing her output.]]
** The [[VideoGame/TalesOfXillia2 sequel]] continues the trend with Julius being a top agent for Spirius at age 28 and supplementary materials reveals he's been active since he was a preteen. Jude now has a medical degree and is the top researcher for spyrites...one whole year later from the first game.

* ''VideoGame/XenobladeChroniclesX'': The "top, all-around fix-it gal for BLADE" is a 13-year-old girl. It quickly becomes clear that she's more than competent enough for her job, and given the situation New LA is in, they can't afford to not take advantage of every able engineer they can get. Played a little more realistically in that Lin is noted in-universe to be an exceptional genius (she is the only under-18 character ''in the entire city''), and she's far from perfect, making a number of big mistakes in her primary project that almost cause the whole thing to get scrapped. Her emotional maturity is also rather lacking: she's the first to make impulsive, irrational decisions, and she doesn't keep a lid on her negative emotions and stress as well as most of the adult characters do.
* ''VideoGame/XenobladeChronicles3'':
** Alexandria is the commander of Colony Iota at age 15, which even in this insane world is shockingly young. [[YoungerThanTheyLook She wears makeup to look older]] because she's worried people won't respect her otherwise. This contrasts with Valdi, commander of her rival Colony 30, who is the same age as her but looks even younger. Of course, Colony 30 isn't really interested in combat; Valdi got his job due to his engineering skills, and has largely left all administrative duties to his NumberTwo.
** Due to the fact that [[BornAsAnAdult everyone is born at ten years old]] and [[YourDaysAreNumbered dies ten years later]], some of the character timelines end up looking a little improbable. Teach's tragic backstory sounds more like something you would expect from a forty year-old veteran, not a nineteen year-old man, even if he has been serving in active duty for ten years. Segiri is even worse, as she is physically ''twelve'' (and has only been alive for three years this incarnation), but talks about how she's been part of the SecretPolice and her sister disappeared a long time ago. Colony 0's timeline is so confusing that one common theory is that [[spoiler:they are aware of the cycle of reincarnation, so they know they've been doing their jobs for centuries]].

** "E Pluribus Wiggum" has Ralph Wiggum running for the US presidency even though the minimum age is 35 years and he never went to electoral college. Bart explains that under the Bush administration, the U.S. Constitution has been rendered meaningless.
** Deconstructed in "Springfield Up", [[OriginsEpisode which shows the origin story]] of Eleanor Abernathy aka the CrazyCatLady: at a young age, she aspired to be both a doctor and a lawyer, and by age 24, Eleanor already acquired her degrees and became both. However, by age 32, she was getting burned out from the stress of having both occupations, and we see her getting her first cat. Skipping ahead to age 40, and she's since become the Crazy Cat Lady.

* Tintin in ''WesternAnimation/TheAdventuresOfTintin1991'' but maybe he's an incredibly well preserved runt ...
** In the non-{{canon}}ical novel, he has a genetic condition that keeps him as an early teen. When he considers the complexities of adult life, he considers this a blessing.

* ''WesternAnimation/WorkItOutWombats'': In "Cafe Chaos," Duffy sprains her ankle and has to stay home from cooking at the Eat 'N Greet, leaving Kaya to try to cook and wait tables at the same time. Kaya hires Zeke and Louisa to wait tables, even though the both of them are only four years old. Justified, because there was no one else to do the job.

** Nico Robin was forced to become a fugitive at the age of eight, and managed to survive multiple betrayals by the adults who took her in and successfully escaping the marines for twenty years. She is said to have destroyed six Marine battleships, but this is actually a lie. [[spoiler:It was actually her friend [[OurGiantsAreBigger Jaguar D. Saul]] who destroyed the ships, but blaming Robin gave the World Government a convenient excuse for her large bounty while concealing their much darker reasons from the public ''and'' sparing them the embarrassment of admitting that Vice Admiral Saul had turned traitor (since he was killed shortly after sinking those Marine ships, they could just pretend he never existed).]]

* ''VideoGame/RecettearAnItemShopsTale'': Recette is maybe 13 years old at oldest and opens up her own item shop. Justified though due to her DisappearedDad leaving her no real choice and having [[FairyCompanion Tear]] to guide her.

** There's also Tetra from ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaTheWindWaker'', who is the captain of a pirate ship despite being a preteen girl. This is lampshaded by one of her crew members, who jokes that [[OlderThanTheyLook she's actually 35]].

** Prequel books reveal that Master Chief attained said rank when he was only 15. The youngest Master Chief Petty Officer in real life was 44 when he was promoted. Of course, the same book also shows that Master Chief received it through a field promotion due to extreme circumstances[[note]]He was being placed in command of a squad of ODST's, all much older and more experienced than he was at the time, and the Commander of the operation wanted to make it extremely clear that John-117 was in charge[[/note]].