History Main / OldSoldier

Despite that, he may still turn out to be one of the [[OldMaster best mentors]] a young soldier can get. As well, despite the years, he may be respected as a CoolOldGuy who cuts a sharp figure with his [[SilverFox close-cropped silver hair]], hard, sinewy body, and crisp uniform. Some might have to stay in military spheres, either in the serviceor training newbies in boot camp, because they are [[NotUsedToFreedom too used to the structure of military life]] or because they have too much PTSD and too little anger management skills to effectively function in mundane civilian life.

Despite that, he may still turn out to be one of the [[OldMaster best mentors]] a young soldier can get. As well, despite the years, he may be respected as a CoolOldGuy. Some might be [[NotUsedToFreedom too used to military life]] or have too much PTSD and too little anger management skills to effectively function in mundane civilian life.

Despite that, he may still turn out to be one of the [[OldMaster best mentors]] a young soldier can get. As well, despite the years, he may be respected as a Cool lOldGuy. Some might be [[NotUsedToFreedom too used to military life]] or have too much PTSD and too little anger management skills to effectively function in mundane civilian life.

The old soldier is the grizzled veteran who has been through and seen everything in war. He would more than qualify for being a RetiredBadass, both in age and experience, and he's [[ShellShockedVeteran probably experienced the horror of battle already]], but he's still going into battle and odds are that he's the backbone of whatever unit he or (more rarely) she is in. This character type is almost never an officer or a commander, and is instead usually a SergeantRock. If he ''is'' an officer, expect a FourStarBadass. Generally you can expect them to be tough, to have a few [[RuggedScar badass scars]], and to be eternally pissed off at (or at least exasperated by) the younger, inexperienced troops around him. Despite that, he may still turn out to be one of the [[OldMaster best mentors]] a young soldier can get. Some might be [[NotUsedToFreedom too used to military life]] or have too much PTSD and too little anger management skills to effectively function in mundane civilian life.

The old soldier may head back into the fray years or even decades after his retirement if he has to respond to an attack on his community from the local BigBad or terrorists. If the soldier is really is too old to fight, or too [[DentedIron battered]] (or ''both''), but denies that fact and attempts to do so anyway, he may be a PerilousOldFool, which may be used as AnAesop aboutknowing how to accept your age.

Despite the famous quote that "Old soldiers never die, they just fade away" in a fictional work the old soldier has about a 50-50 chance at best of living a story, and are often prime candidates to die in a HeroicSacrifice of some kind or in a suitably impressive way. If this character dies early in a story, odds are you're dealing with a story [[SlidingScaleOfIdealismVersusCynicism that leans towards cynicism]], and that it's [[AnyoneCanDie likely to have a high mortality rate]]. If the veteran does a LastStand to protect someone he cares about, his mixture of combat experience and righteous rage will produce a high enemy body count before he finally succumbs to his wounds. The old soldier is typically experienced in the use of most small arms and military vehicles and they remain dangerous in unarmed close quarters combat, especially to poorly trained, inexperienced enemy troops.

If the soldier is really is too old to fight, or too [[DentedIron battered]] (or ''both''), but denies that fact and attempts to do so anyway, he may be a PerilousOldFool, which may be used as AnAesop aboutknowing how to accept your age.

The old soldier is the grizzled veteran who has been through and seen everything in war. He would more than qualify for being a RetiredBadass, both in age and experience, and he's [[ShellShockedVeteran probably experienced the horror of battle already]], but he's still going into battle and odds are that he's the backbone of whatever unit he or (more rarely) she is in. This character type is almost never an officer or a commander, and is instead usually a SergeantRock. If he ''is'' an officer, expect a FourStarBadass. Generally you can expect them to be tough, to have a few [[RuggedScar badass scars]], and to be eternally pissed off at (or at least exasperated by) the younger troops around him. Despite that, he may still turn out to be one of the [[OldMaster best mentors]] a young soldier can get. Some might be [[NotUsedToFreedom too used to military life]] to effectively function in the civilian life.

Expect the OfficerAndAGentleman to rely on him quite a bit in running the unit, a la CaptainSmoothAndSergeantRough. EnsignNewbie, on the other hand, will rarely know to do this or will actively tick off the old soldier in attempting to control a unit, a mistake he usually pays for. Despite the famous quote that "Old soldiers never die, they just fade away" in a fictional work the old soldier has about a 50-50 chance at best of living a story, and are often prime candidates to die in a HeroicSacrifice of some kind or in a suitably impressive way. If this character dies early in a story, odds are you're dealing with a story [[SlidingScaleOfIdealismVersusCynicism that leans towards cynicism]], and that it's [[AnyoneCanDie likely to have a high mortality rate]].

If the soldier is really is too old to fight, or too [[DentedIron battered]] (or ''both''), but denies that fact and attempts to do so anyway, he may be a PerilousOldFool.

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[[folder:Film ]]

[[folder:Live Action TV ]]

[[folder:Anime & Manga]]
* ''Manga/{{Bleach}}''
** The Captain Commander Shigekuni Yamamoto-Genryuusai is the leader of the Shinigami and by far the oldest, and he's been around so long and been part of so many battles that he's nearly impossible to beat in a one-on-one fight. He's more heavily scarred than any of the other shinigami, and tends to refer to other characters as "brats", and won't hesitate to belittle them if he thinks they aren't living up to their role as protectors of the spirit world.
** Second Espada Baraggan Louisenbairn is the physically oldest-looking and one of the most powerful members of Aizen's Arrancar army. When Aizen and his cohorts are trapped by Yamamoto's fire during the assault on the fake Karakura Town, Baraggan takes command without any objects from his fellows (including the [[BrilliantButLazy First Espada]]). It also helps that before Aizen came along and usurped him, he was the legendary God-King of Hueco Mundo and Hollowkind, and the light novels would reveal he's actually [[TimeAbyss one of the oldest living Hollows in existence]].
** Sternritter "N" Robert Accutrone is one of the visibly oldest of the Quincy serving Yhwach and tough enough to give Shunsui a hard fight while leaving [[EyeScream lasting injuries]]. It's even implied he was part of Yhwach's original Quincy army, given he knows better than most [[BadBoss how absolutely little Yhwach cares for his own]].
* ''Manga/FairyTail'': Among Zeref's [[QuirkyMinibossSquad Spriggan 12]] who are his elite forces, August is the only elderly among them (at least visibly), but also the most powerful. His age is around the same as Makarov's, only slightly younger by a year or so, although he is much younger than [[ReallySevenHundredYearsOld Zeref himself]]. [[spoiler:He is also Zeref's secret child.]]
* Lehm from ''Manga/{{Jormungand}}''. He is a former Delta Force captain who served in the Gulf War and has years of combat experience (with scars to show for it). He is one of the senior members of Koko Hekmatyar's cadre of bodyguards and often serves as a leader and mentor to the team. Lehm is skilled with many firearms and even acts as a sniper when needed.
* [[Anime/SuperDimensionFortressMacross Maximilian Jenius]] is this by the time of ''[[Anime/MacrossDelta Macross Delta: Zettai Delta Live]]'', having gone on to serve as a PrivateMilitaryContractor since the events of ''Anime/Macross7''. Even 68 years after Space War One, he has not lost his touch as the best AcePilot in the franchise, as he is able to give the much younger Hayate a run for his money during training and gets to fight alongside his own granddaughter Mirage.
* Grey Stoke in ''Manga/MobileSuitCrossboneGundam''. Given that he is [[spoiler: Judau Ashta]] and the story takes place almost 50 years after [[Anime/MobileSuitGundamZZ his previous adventures]], it's understandable that he is among the most experienced soldiers in the cast,
* Signum in ''Franchise/LyricalNanoha'' becomes this after being transported to the modern Mid-Childan society, where her old Belkan sensibilities undergo a transformation to adapt to a society based on (non-)humanism rather than wartime duty and knightly honor. Unlike Vita, who finds herself in training the new generation of mages in this new world, Signum continues doing what she did her entire, very long life—fighting—and declining opportunities to do anything else. While not as grumpy as the typical examples of this trope, she does call out the rookies (e.g. Teana) on their mistakes.
* ''Manga/{{Naruto}}'' offers Hiruzen Sarutobi and Onoki, the Third Hokage and Tsuchikage respectively. Both were students of the founding leader of their respective villages and have lived through three Shinobi World Wars. Despite their power and skill both are also notably past their prime, Hiruzen's chakra pool having dwindled due to age and Onoki suffering literally debilitating back pains. Danzo also qualifies to an extent, but has notably taken to avoiding direct battle in his old age due to [[spoiler:his fear of death.]]
* ''LightNovel/RebuildWorld'': There are several of these who each clash with TheRival Katsuya and his BoisterousWeakling young hunter friends and teammates.
** There's the minor ShellShockedVeteran Yazawa who has given up his ambitions only to get them rekindled upon seeing Akira's (VirtualSidekick granted) ImprobableAimingSkills, after being introduced bullying Katsuya and Akira.
** Most significant is SergeantRock Shirakabe who struggles with being saddled with the younger hunters from his PrivateMilitaryCompany Drankam whom he must protect and train. Being so used to this makes him shocked to find out Akira is a HumbleHero who lightly admires him. Shirakabe makes a GiveMeAReason speech to Katsuya and becomes a SinkOrSwimMentor to NewMeat Togami.
** Second most prominent is Kurosawa who quit Drankam over their policies, being contracted out to lead teams. He's TheBigGuy wielding a huge MorphWeapon, and TheSoCalledCoward who always puts TheMenFirst. Kurosawa gives a TheReasonYouSuckSpeech to Katsuya over his teams RightHandVersusLeftHand antics.
* Thorkell "The Tall" from ''Manga/VinlandSaga'' is fifty during his first appearance in the manga, and has recently been forcibly retired from the [[EliteArmy Jomsvikings]] due to advancing age. Despite this he keeps showing up to battles [[BloodKnight because he likes fighting]], and is still a complete terror who is FamedInStory for his long life as a career warrior.
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[[folder:Literature ]]
* Kat from ''Literature/AllQuietOnTheWesternFront''.
* ''Literature/TheArtsOfDarkAndLight'':
** Corvus is the FourStarBadass version, an old general who feels he is getting too old for generalship. However, he is then forced into politics instead, a field which is far less straightforward and even more dangerous.
** Lodi the Dwarf is a veteran of the famous Siege of Iron Mountain. In ''Summa Elvetica'', he tells the story of it to Marcus and the rest of the fellowship.
* Bob Shaftoe eventually becomes one of these in ''Literature/TheBaroqueCycle''.
* John Carter of Creator/EdgarRiceBurroughs' ''Literature/{{Barsoom}}'' series has, by his own admission, been soldiering for literally longer than he can remember, but for some never-explained reason still has the appearance, strength, and stamina of a man in his prime. The combination of peak physical form and decades of sword=fighting experience makes him rather formidable even on Earth, and when translated to Barsoom where the lower gravity allows him to leap moderately-sized buildings with a single bound, he's essentially a one-man army.
* ''Literature/BelisariusSeries'': Maurice is the best example. There are others who have seen quite a bit of war, but these are often ProudWarriorRaceGuy s whereas Valentinian is closer to the classic model of this trope, having a cynical, practical and plebian outlook on war. [[PublicDomainCharacter Flavius Belisarius]] himself, both in the series and in the real life. He was a Syrian Greek of peasant stock, a bunch that was noted for their practical outlook, and it was repeatedly said that he viewed the war not as [[ProudWarriorRaceGuy an honor]] or [[BloodKnight a joy]], but as [[HumansAreWarriors a work that has to be done]], which is why he was so good at it.
* The Dansker in ''Literature/BillyBudd'', an old sailor "of few words, many wrinkles, and some honorable scars," who always addresses Billy as "Baby."
* ''Literature/TheBlackArrow'': Nick Appleyard, one of the archers of Sir Daniel, is a veteran of the Hundred Years' War and the battle of Agincourt. An old, wrinkled, grey-eyed man who is constantly grumbling and prating about the late King Henry V, his eyesight is still as sharp as his wits, and although he would rather be left alone with his cabbages, people still trust him to put together a garrison and hold a fort.
* In ''Literature/TheBlackCompany'' series, this trope was written for Croaker [[spoiler:and all of the rest of the Company kept in a decades-long magical stasis]] in the later books, where he also [[spoiler:becomes a FourStarBadass]]: especially after [[spoiler:the Old Guard is resurrected from the magical]] imprisonment in [[spoiler:''Water Sleeps'']].
* ''Literature/{{Bolo}}'': Bolos can spend years or decades on the front lines. Of course, they're self-aware tanks armed with a WaveMotionGun and [[MoreDakka whatever else the designers could bolt on]], so they tend to fight on a larger scale than most examples here. Seeing as they don't age and can eat a near miss from a nuke, so some of them end up as ''really'' old soldiers.
** One of the books is even called ''Old Soldiers.''
* ''Literature/Camp30'': The guards at the camp are all older soldiers, veterans of UsefulNotes/WorldWarI and members of the Veteran Guards of Canada who wer too old to serve on the frontlines in UsefulNotes/WorldWarII. Jack and George were skeptical of their ability to keep the prisoners in because of their age.
* Les Dillon is a Marine sergeant in the Creator/HarryTurtledove ''Literature/DaysOfInfamy'' novels who was a UsefulNotes/WorldWarI veteran who is called back into action in UsefulNotes/WorldWarII and soon proves himself as the toughest [[SergeantRock Marine sergeant]] in the Pacific War.
* ''Literature/TheDresdenFiles'' has Ebenezar [=McCoy=], BraveScot, OldMaster, and former captain of the Wardens. He doesn't too much fighting anymore, but when he does, he does fun party tricks like killing 200 people with a couple usages of [[spoiler: the Blackstaff]] and [[ColonyDrop dropping satellites with pinpoint precision onto an enemy's stronghold]].
* The narrator in ''Literature/{{Elfstruck}}'' found [[http://www.amazon.com/Elfstruck-ebook/dp/B0082CBZFM/ref=sr_1_6?s=digital-text&ie=UTF8&qid=1341413900&sr=1-6&keywords=elfstruck here]].
* In the ''Literature/HarryPotter'' books, Aurors are somewhere between cops, [[UsefulNotes/SecretIntelligenceService spies]], and soldiers, but Alastor "Mad-Eye" Moody and Rufus Scrimgeour unquestionably fit this trope. Mad-Eye specifically is covered with war wounds, he's an old friend and confidant of [[BigGood Dumbledore's]] and considered by Dumbledore to be the most trustworthy and reliable wizard in England. Sure enough, [[PuttingTheBandBackTogether when the Order of the Phoenix gets back together]] (with many roster changes) Moody is part of its backbone. [[spoiler:His death early in the last book is a big sign of just how harrowing things are going to be.]]
* Common in the ''Literature/HonorHarrington'', where the prolong anti-aging therapy allows for very long careers. The title character is in her 60s and many admirals, such as Hamish Alexander, are centenarians. Horace Harkness is a particular example, being in his 70s with a tendency to take less experienced officers and enlisted under his wing for seasoning.
* Nestor from ''Literature/TheIliad''. He's described as having at least a generation on the next oldest soldier present in the battle.
* ''Literature/TheKingdomAndTheCrown'' has an old Roman Centurion named Sextus Rubrius.
* Druss "The Captain of the Axe" in ''Legend'' by Creator/{{David Gemmell}}. Right down to being brought out of a 'leave me alone' retirement to become the heart of a heroic defense against an overwhelming foe. There is a strong implication that without Druss there the defenders would have routed within a few days of the Nadir army arriving at the gates of the fortress. Druss's presence not only provides a massive morale boost but he also provides invaluable tactical advice since in his life he has participated in dozens of similar sieges as both the attacker and defender. He also has an almost supernatural instinct for the ebb and flow of battle and what to do when it looks like your side might be about to break.
* In ''Literature/TheLordOfTheRings'', Gamling. He expresses concern that the army mostly consists of men his age and their grandsons, because of the high casualty rates Rohan has suffered recently.
* ''Literature/MalazanBookOfTheFallen'':
** Whiskeyjack has been fighting Imperial wars for decades. He is quite disillusioned with most of it, and tells the young Ganoes Paran to find himself a more worthy dream than becoming a soldier in the prologue of ''Literature/GardensOfTheMoon'', but he himself keeps going nonetheless. He is grizzled, greying, gruff and down-to-earth, despite having been a commander once, and is now the Sergent of the 9th squad of the [[EliteArmy Bridgeburners]]. He immediately develops a CaptainSmoothAndSergeantRough dynamic with the (now) Captain Paran when the latter is assigned to the Bridgeburners, and turns out to be a FourStarBadass and a MasterSwordsman in ''Literature/MemoriesOfIce''.
** Fiddler becomes this as the series goes on. He starts out as a member of Whiskeyjack's squad and is said to have joined the army together with the latter. After technically deserting at the end of ''Literature/GardensOfTheMoon'', he rejoins the army under a different name because he can't think of of doing anything else than fighting for the Malazan Empire, and though everyone can tell he's a deserter who came back, they value his experience more. He is assigned a squad and inadvertently takes on the role Whiskeyjack used to have in ''his'' old squad, constantly grumping about how he is too old for this and how the recruits are still all green, but he keeps the squad together and is the leading DemolitionsExpert of the [[BadassARmy Bonehunters]].
* Several of the characters in Creator/GeorgeMacDonaldFraser's ''Literature/McAuslan'' series, particularly the Colonel, and Wee Wullie, the battalion disciplinary problem, both of whom joined up in 1914 and are still there in 1947.
* Sergeant Jackrum from ''Literature/MonstrousRegiment'' has been on the Borigovian Army's payroll for ''six decades''[[note]]three officers have signed off on notes concerning "obvious" clerical errors regarding what has to have been another NCO of the same name[[/note]]. His most recent term of service was supposed to be twelve years, and he managed to keep ahead of the discharge papers for another four years after that.
** And though not technically soldiers, the Silver Horde consists of barbarian adventurers who are all at least eighty. The fact that they are all still alive after more than half a century each -- in a line of work that kills most people that go into it in a year or two -- means that they are very, ''very'' good at not getting killed.
* ''Literature/MoongobbleAndMe'': The Rusty Knight, who is mostly retired due to age wearing on him (he claims to have had one joust too many, and now his ears are always ringing). This doesn't stop him from coming to help Moongobble on his quest in book 1 when they convince him they really need his help.
* Ajax the Archer in Robert Asprin's ''[[Literature/MythAdventures Myth Conceptions]]''.
* Fighting in secret war, but Griffin from ''Literature/PresidentsVampire'' qualifies. He has been [[FriendlyNeighborhoodVampire Cade]]'s partner for over three decades and there's little that would surprise him anymore. Even before this assignment, he was FBI agent, so he has a lot of experience to draw from.
* ''Literature/TheReynardCycle'': Grymbart, a mercenary with a wife in every major city, plays this straight. He's the first man onboard the Quicksilver to befriend Reynard.
* Sergeant Jean in ''Literature/{{Seven Men of Gascony}}'' by R. F. Delderfield. Nicholette is this in a sense and is an interesting enough character to deserve mention. She is a camp-follower selling wine to Napolean's army, not a soldier per se (that is she doesn't carry a musket). However she grew up in her circumstances and was an Old LadyOfWar at age sixteen. She knew the tricks of surviving including those specific to her circumstances such as avoiding giving away more of the other kind of refreshments than she was willing to give by the adroit use of a DeathGlare, and by a non-canonical(presided over by the sergeant not a priest that is) but faithfully kept marriage to each of the members of TheSquad until they [[AnyoneCanDie were killed]]. I know {{Squick}} y but ItMakesSenseInContext. She is one of the most interesting characters of the book.
* Ser Rodrik Cassel from ''Literature/ASongOfIceAndFire''. A tough, loyal, dependable, and sensible knight, who, unfortunately, is very much given the short end of the stick in the series. [[{{TheMagnificent}} Barristan the Bold]] A.K.A Barristan the Old from the also qualifies.
* ''Literature/StarshipTroopers'': Sergeant Zim (no relation), and a few other veterans like Jelal probably qualify. It's also not uncommon for older men (such as Juan Rico's father) to enlist in the Mobile Infantry, those who make it through training are often fast-tracked.
* Colonel Kraft in ''Literature/{{Victoria}}'', the {{chessmaster}} rebel tactician who is already aging when first introduced and quickly steps down from active duty once the Confederation is established.
* Broxigar "The Red Axe" of ''VideoGame/{{Warcraft}}'' definitely qualifies. As an orc who lived through the wars of all three games, he was greatly respected by Thrall and revered by the soldiers. Despite his age and maturity, he gets a good amount of CharacterDevelopment through his SurvivorGuilt.
* ''Literature/TheWarlordChronicles'': Most of the characters [[AnyoneCanDie who survive]] until the third book are Old Soldiers. Sagramor, who has been a soldier nearly his entire life and main character Derfel are major examples, but one of the coolest examples is Culhwch. There's a bit very close to the end of the series where he walks out in the space between two opposing armies and dares someone from the other side to try to become famous by killing him in single combat. When no one comes out, Culhwch [[BoisterousBruiser taunts the entire army]] about their cowardice and reluctance to take on a bald old man. When Culhwch turns his back to return to his own side, one of the enemy {{Mooks}} does in fact try to [[InTheBack backstab him]], but Culhwch effortlessly guts the poor bastard. He then waits for a minute to see if anyone else is going to come forward before really returning to his place in the shield wall.
* ''Literature/WillInScarlet:'' Sir Osbert is about sixty, has served the Shackleys since he was Will's age, and is still eager for a fight against people like Guy of Gisbourne. The family members like to joke about just how long Osbert's been a soldier.
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[[folder:Video Games ]]
* {{Deconstructed}} in ''VideoGame/AceCombat7SkiesUnknown''. Mihaly is in his seventies, yet he’s still flying fighter craft for Erusea. However, as noted by Dr. Schroeder, flying fighter craft takes a toll on his body, as he comes back from each sortie exhausted from the fatigue. Late in the game, Mihaly was given a flight suit that wasn’t tested, and it did nothing to improve his flying abilities. After that, Schroeder had a flight suit made based on his specifications, and it allowed Mihaly to fly the way he wanted. [[spoiler:However, after Mihaly’s third and final dogfight against [[PlayerCharacter Trigger]], the ending reveals that he survived getting shot down, but his body was unable to handle the stress anymore, and it left Mihaly bedridden for the remainder of his life, which Mihaly considered a FateWorseThanDeath.]]
* The appropriately named Sensei from ''VideoGame/AdvanceWars'', his outfit is an old paratrooper uniform from [=WW2=]. It's implied that he used to be a fearsome and practically unbeatable general back in the day. His name in the original Japanese is shared with Mr. Yamamoto, a PurposelyOverpowered C.O. from ''Super Famicom Wars'', suggesting that [[CallBack they may have been one and the same.]]
-->'''[[SmugSnake Adder]]:''' You... You're an old man! For you to have defeated me... Who... Who are you?\\
'''Sonja:''' Sensei! You did it! You are victorious!\\
'''[[ScatterbrainedSenior Sensei]]:''' Hm? I am? Oh, that's nice.\\
'''Adder:''' Wait! Now I remember... It was in the reports... This country once boasted a CO who was said to be unbeatable... A man whom everyone feared... Impossible... It couldn't be!\\
'''Sensei:''' Who, me?\\
'''Adder:''' Uh... [[NeverMyFault Today was... unlucky. A bad day.]] We'll meet again, old... This is not finished!\\
'''Sensei:''' Seemed to have pulled through in one piece. Sonja? Are you all right?\\
'''Sonja:''' Sensei? You were unbeatable? Everyone... feared you?\\
'''Sensei:''' Who, me? Oh, that's so long ago, I'd almost forgotten. There might have been a rumor of that nature at some point, but... Come now, there are battles yet to be fought. Let's go.\\
'''Sonja:''' Yes... Yes, sir!
* ''Videogame/{{Battletech}}'', in addition to several existing examples from tabletop canon like Natasha Kerensky or Morgan Kell[[note]]although he's still relatively young at the point in cqanon when the game takes place[[/note]], has Sir Raju "Mastiff" Montgomery. He doesn't get much chance to shine in-game, only appearing during the tutorial mission, but he's a top-notch mechwarrior who personally trained [[LadyOfWar Lady Kamea]] and [[TheBaroness her cousin Victoria]] and has over forty years of experience.
* Carter in ''VideoGame/DeusEx''.
* In ''VideoGame/DiabloIII'' the male barbarian [[ExecutiveMeddling was meant to be]] the same BarbarianHero from the second game in the series, albeit 20 years older and sporting a gray beard.
* Sten from ''VideoGame/DragonAgeOrigins'' acts like this although you never get a grasp of how old he actually is (digging in character files with the official developer's toolkit lists him as merely '''30''', making him actually an aversion of this trope -- [[YoungerThanTheyLook not that you'd ever guess that from looking at him]]).
** A more straightforward example is Teryn Loghain, who on top of being an [[StrategyVersusTactics exemplary general (if a terrible politician)]] puts up a serious fight against your chosen champion in his DuelBoss TrialByCombat [[spoiler:and can even join your party as a Gray Warden in time for the final battle.]] Depending on past choices, Loghain can show up in ''Videogame/DragonAgeInquisition'' as [[spoiler:a Grey Warden]] and fighting despite the fact that he's likely in his late-50s at the very least.
* ''VideoGame/DynastyWarriors'': Huang Zhong. Most of his lines invoke his experience and age; the source material ''Literature/RomanceOfTheThreeKingdoms'' suggests that he was ''63'' when he first appeared in the story to fight Guan Yu. Although he is actually a year younger than Jia Xu. However, Jia Xu appears much earlier in the story and as such is depicted as being much younger looking.
** Huang Gai (no relation) of the kingdom of Wu also merits a mention, being cast as a muscular old marine (that is, a shipborne warrior, as befitting his kingdom's naval tradition) in particular, and ever since ''Dynasty Warriors 6'' he's portrayed with gray or white hair. Also true to most of his ''Three Kingdoms'' characterization.
* ''Videogame/EchoesOperationStranglehold'': Colonel Strickman, 65, is both a capable fighter and the leader of one of the largest guerrilla cells fighting against the Hybrid Pantheon.
* ''Franchise/TheElderScrolls'':
** The ancient [[OurElvesAreDifferent Chimeri/Dunmeri]] FounderOfTheKingdom Lord Nerevar was (at least) in his 300s at the time of his death and still serving as a FrontlineGeneral. Granted, the races of Mer are LongLived compared to the races of Men, but that is still quite old for a Mer. (Not counting those who've enhanced their lifespans with magic or divine powers.)
** Frandar Hunding, the legendary Redguard/Yokudan hero MasterSwordsman, was around 60 when he led the [[TheOrder Ansei]] to victory against Emperor Hira and then traveled to Tamriel. He would have pushing ''90'' when he fell in battle against the giant goblins of Hammerfell.
* The Regretful Soldier from ''VideoGame/FallenLondon'' fits quite well. [[ShellShockedVeteran He's always drunk and frequently weeping]], but he's still one of the best brawlers there are.
* In ''VideoGame/FarCry2'', Josip is 48-years-old and a heavy drinker, but still described as a man "who will break you in two."
* ''Franchise/FinalFantasy'':
** Despite otherwise being an irreverent old coot, Galuf of ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyV'' gets very serious whenever it comes to BigBad Exdeath. Turns out he was one of the four Dawn Warriors who fought Exdeath thirty years ago [[spoiler:and has been ruling Bal in a thoroughly warrior-king way ever since. When Galuf dies in battle against Exdeath -- a battle he fought with zero HP -- his last words to the party aren't sentiment, but telling them in no uncertain terms to finish the job while they beg him not to die. He does have more caring words for his granddaughter, though.]]
** Auron from ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyX'' is an unusually young example, being only around 35, but considering [[TheMentor his role]] in the group, that the rest of the party is in their teens to early 20s, and that Auron was a longtime warrior monk before he became a guardian, (and then the only guardian to ever survive a successful Pilgrimage, which is enough to make him a LivingLegend by itself) and his general SeenItAll attitude, Auron being considered the old soldier is more than justified.
* ''Franchise/FireEmblem'' has many older soldiers fighting alongside their younger peers in the battlefield. Unsurprisingly, they are usually the CrutchCharacter who starts off with more experience in a fight (with base stats higher than their younger soldiers) but their low growths make them very difficult to catch up once the younger soldiers gain more stats. This include [[VideoGame/FireEmblemShadowDragonAndTheBladeOfLight Jagen, Lorenz]], [[VideoGame/FireEmblemGaiden Mycen]], [[VideoGame/FireEmblemThracia776 Xavier]], [[VideoGame/FireEmblemTheBindingBlade Marcus, Douglas]], [[VideoGame/FireEmblemTheSacredStones Duessel]], [[VideoGame/FireEmblemPathOfRadiance Tauroneo]], and [[VideoGame/FireEmblemFates Gunter]].
* ''VideoGame/FurFighters'': Roofus Hound fits the bill. He has since retired along with the rest of his squad but this WWII veteran is still out kicking ass with the best of them when Viggo pops up.
* ''Franchise/{{Halo}}'':
** Sgt. Avery Johnson is at least almost 70-years-old in the main trilogy, and has survived about half-a-century's worth of constant frontline combat fighting Insurrectionists, Covenant, and Flood. [[spoiler:The fact that he's a [[SuperSoldier Spartan-I]] probably explains at least part of it.]]
** On that note, all of the Spartan-[=II=] SuperSoldiers are about 41 by the time ''VideoGame/HaloReach'' occurs, and they've all been fighting since they were 14. Nevertheless, their augmentations, along with plenty of cryo-sleep, help keep them physically younger than their ages suggest.
** Edward Buck fills this role in both ''VideoGame/Halo3ODST'', where he's 42, and ''VideoGame/Halo5Guardians'', where he's 48.
* Jolee in ''VideoGame/KnightsOfTheOldRepublic'' acts like this sometimes.
* William "Bill" Overbeck from ''VideoGame/Left4Dead'', a former Green Beret and two-tour Vietnam vet who is the oldest of the original Survivors. While he may not be in peak fighting condition, he still fights just as well as his other teammates, and (from in-game dialogue) is considered to be the mentor of the group. [[spoiler: He is also one who canonically commits a HeroicSacrifice, though for [[ActorLeavesCharacterDies different reasons.]]]]
* ''Franchise/MassEffect'':
** Urdnot Wrex in the [[VideoGame/MassEffect1 first game]], who's [[ReallySevenHundredYearsOld ancient even for a krogan]] and has been a soldier and mercenary since Earth had Vikings.
** Admirals [[AFatherToHisMen Anderson]] and [[FatherNeptune Hackett]] embody this trope for the Alliance, having fought in every major engagement of the last three decades. Anderson is said to have enough medals to melt into a lifesize gold statue of himself, while Hackett's [[AsskickingLeadsToLeadership service record]] is apparent from the sheer amount of [[CoveredWithScars scars]] he has across his face.
** Zaeed Massani from ''VideoGame/MassEffect2'', who is arguably the toughest member of the team aside from Garrus, and of course, Shepard.
** Kaidan expresses feeling like one of these at the end of the third game. He's thirty-six at most by that point, but WarIsHell. Shepard him/herself expresses similar feelings despite being even younger than Kaidan, especially by the end of the game thanks to an extreme case of HeroicFatigue.
** ''VideoGame/MassEffectAndromeda'' has Nakmor Drack, who is even older than Wrex. He's not ''quite'' old enough to have been around when the krogan first got uplifted, but he can remember the immediate aftermath. He's spent his entire life, all fifteen hundred years and counting of it, fighting and killing. As a result, he's down one limb and several organs. He's also a good chef and a doting grandfather, and a good source of emotional support if you haven't upset him.
** There's also Alec Ryder, who's probably about the same age as Anderson, also a vet of the First Contact War, and an [=N7=], meaning he serves as a OneManArmy.
* "Old" Snake by the time of ''VideoGame/MetalGearSolid4GunsOfThePatriots'', although he had everything but the physical age by the time of the first ''VideoGame/MetalGearSolid''. Old Snake is [[YoungerThanTheyLook 42]]. Aside from Old Snake, there are also Revolver Ocelot, who's 70 by the time of ''[=MGS4=]'', and [[spoiler: Big Boss, who's 79.]]
** The End of ''VideoGame/MetalGearSolid3SnakeEater'' takes this to its logical and literal extreme. He's over 100 years old when you battle him, prone to dozing off at random, and can ''[[EasterEgg die of old age]]'' if you take too long to fight him. He still manages to be ThatOneBoss.
* The ''Videogame/Metro2033'' series of games features Colonel Sviatoslav Melnikov (also known as "Melnik", "Miller" in the English translation), a FourStarBadass and leader of the [[BadassArmy Spartan Order]]. Despite his age, and [[spoiler: the prosthetic replacement of his lower legs in ''VideoGame/MetroExodus'' after the Battle of D6]], he still kicks as much, if not more, ass as the player character. Highlights include bludgeoning a cannibal to death with a helmet and ripping a path through mutants with a [[ScavengedPunk homemade]] railgun.
* ''VideoGame/{{Overwatch}}'' has a few:
** [[ShellShockedVeteran Soldier:76]], AKA Jack Morrison was a super soldier during the omnic crisis and one of the founding members of Overwatch. After the group was disbanded, he became a vigilante, waging a personal war to expose the truth behind Overwatch's collapse.
** Reinhardt Wilhelm, also a founding member of the team, even at 61-years-old, still proves to be a stalwart, [[LargeHam hammy]] and even jovial ally on the battlefield. He's got a giant ''[[RuleOfCool rocket]]'' [[DropTheHammer hammer]], an even bigger barrier field and a suit of PoweredArmor, and can soak up as much damage as he dishes out.
** To a [[JustForPun shorter]] extent, there's Torbjorn Lindholm, 57, who was Overwatch's chief engineer while the group was active. After the group was disbanded, many of his weapons and creations were stolen and stashed away around the world, and now he tries to make sure those weapons don't fall into the wrong hands.
** Ana Amari, Jack Morrison's second in command, ''was'' the world's best sniper, until a CriticalHesitationBlunder incapacitated her and her cybernetic dominant eye was shot out by Widowmaker. After faking her own death for years, she decided to put retirement on hold to aid the people she loves, in particular her daughter, Pharah. In game, she is a support sniper whose rifle shoots darts filled with biotic chemicals that [[HealingShiv heal]] allies as well as damage enemies.
* Peppy Hare from the ''VideoGame/StarFox'' series is a veteran of the Cornerian army, having served alongside James [=McCloud=], before the two of them broke off to form the eponymous mercenary commando unit. However, after [[FatBastard Pigma]]'s betrayal and James' declared death, Peppy joined up with James' son Fox as a wing pilot and mentor figure in the new Star Fox team.
* ''VideoGame/StarWarsTheForceUnleashed'': General Rahm Kota.
* Largo from ''VideoGame/ValkyriaChronicles'' had served in the First Europan War some twenty years before the game's events, and is one of the older members of Squad 7. It came as no surprise when he initially saw Welkin as little more than a young upstart cashing in on fame.
** Most squad members in the game are barely teenagers. Some, however, are much older. [[FriendlySniper Catherine]] and [[SergeantRock Musaad]] are also First Europan War veterans and 35- and 43-years-old respectively, and [[GeniusBruiser Wavy]] is a 37-year-old BadassTeacher. All of these pale in comparison to storm-trooper Coby, who is ''65'' and still kicking ass.
* In ''VideoGame/ZeldaIITheAdventureOfLink'' there are a pair of Hylian soldiers from the last great war who, despite not being at the peak of their physical ability as they once were, can still teach Link sword techniques.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Real Life]]
* The entire ''Heer'' (Army) leadership of [[UsefulNotes/NazisWithGnarlyWeapons the Wehrmacht]] in UsefulNotes/WorldWarII. The average ''Heer'' NCO (one per ten-to-twenty men) was forty-something or older. The average ''Heer'' general (one per 2k-4k men) was in his fifties. For contrast, while the average Soviet NCO was also in his forties or late 30s, Soviet Generals were all in their forties as well. This was thanks partly to the purges and prewar expansion of the Red Army, but largely to wartime promotions.
* The French Army senior officer corps before and during [[UsefulNotes/WorldWarII the disastrous 1940 campaign]] was populated by old veterans. The commander in chief General Maurice Gamelin had been born in 1872, his successor General Maxime Weygand had been born in 1867 and lived to nearly 100, and Field Marshal Henri Philippe Pétain had been born in 1856, making him the oldest man to ever become head of state in French history. When Prime Minister Paul Reynaud asked their opinion of UsefulNotes/CharlesDeGaulle (who was 50 back then), they called him "an unruly kid".
* Jean Thurel served in the French Army from 1716 until his death in ''1807''. He was 107 when he died, and was consequently known as "the Oldest Soldier in Europe".
* Similarly, William Hiseland was the last survivor of the English Civil War, living to the ripe old age of 112. He fought in his last battle (during the War of Spanish Succession) at the age of ''89.''
* Samuel Whittlemore, the oldest man known to have participated in the American Revolutionary War. At the ripe old age of 78 he single-handedly ambushed a British brigade, shot and killed three redcoats, was shot in the face, bayoneted 13 times and {{left for dead}} in a pool of his own blood. He was found a short time later, still alive and trying to reload his musket. The doctors said he had zero chance of survival. Even so, ''he recovered and lived another 18 years.''
* Due to the nature of the job, some soldiers are affectionately known as "Old Man" or something similar despite being several years away from middle-aged.
* The Old Guard of Napoleon's Imperial Guard. There were also a Young and a Middle Guard, but the Old one was the creme de la creme of the greater French empire. Composed entirely of veterans of Napoleon's earliest campaigns, with at least ten years of service, they were highly valued by Napoleon. Since they were the only soldiers who could dare complain about their conditions in front of the emperor, they were known as "Grognards" (grumblers). Militarily, they served as a reserve thrown into battle at a critical moment to tip the scales, though more usually were kept in the back to avoid taking losses. When the Old Guard broke and routed at the final stage of Waterloo, the rest of the French army followed soon upon hearing of it, such was their MemeticBadass status.
* The silver shield pikemen, ''Argyraspides'', from the war of the successors. These men had followed Alexander the Great in his campaigns and continued fighting in the wars of his successors. Most were over sixty by the time of their last battle. They formed a unit that was undefeated in battle, the only reason they surrendered was when the rest of the army had been routed and their camp, which had their wives, children, and loot, were taken by an enemy army. Afterwards they were disbanded and sent two at a time on suicide missions that they never returned from.
* UsefulNotes/WarOfTheTripleAlliance featured DukeOfCaxias, supreme commander of the Triple Alliance in the later part of the war, who was nearly ''70'' and still leading his troops in the vanguard.
* Gerd von Rundstedt joined Germany's elite military academy in 1892, before Hitler had even gone to pre-school. One of the oldest field marshals and a dedicated Prussian officer, he lead forces in France and ukraine well into his ''late sixties'' -- making him the oldest soldier in a senior command position in UsefulNotes/WorldWarII, and quite definitely the most competent man in his age bracket.
* Field Marshal Count [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joseph_Radetzky_von_Radetz Radetzky]], already veteran of the Napoleonic Wars, won his most renowned victories, at Novara and Venice, aged 82. He still lived for 9 more years and actively ruled Northern Italy as a Viceroy of the Austrian Emperor. His death had been due to injuries in an accident.
* Field Marshall C.G.E. Mannerheim. He joined the Imperial Russian Cavalry in 1882[[note]]In context: out of the gallery of major power leaders in WWII, he got into military school before Hitler, F.D. Roosevelt, Tojo and De Gaulle were even born[[/note]], fighting in the UsefulNotes/RussoJapaneseWar, UsefulNotes/FirstWorldWar and UsefulNotes/RussianRevolution. After the collapse of Imperial Russia, he retired 1917 in the age of 50 as General, returning to his native Finland. Little did he know his great years were only ahead. He was immediately assigned as the commander-in-chief of the [[UsefulNotes/FinnsWithFearsomeForests Finnish White Army]], leading them in victory in the Finnish Independence War. He was again nominated as Supreme Commander as Field Marshall, leading the country through the entire Second World War. He was 78 when he retired 1945, taking the office of President of Finland. Sadly, his health broke down and he passed away 1951.
* The last serving soldier to have seen active service in [=WW2=] left the British Army in 1983, with general officer's rank.
** General Lauri Sutela, Commander-in-Chief of the Finnish Armed Forces, retired likewise 1983. He had served as First Lieutenant in Engineer Corps in the Winter War 1939.
** Dr. Earl Fox of St. Petersburg, Florida was confirmed as the last WWII veteran in the U.S. military, having served in the U.S. Navy and Coast Guard from 1941 until 1999.
** Wolfgang Altenberg, who retired in 1989, served as Chief of Staff of the Bundeswehr from 1983 to 1986 and Chairman of the NATO Military Committee from 1986 to 1989. He started his military career as a Wehrmacht soldier during the Second World War.
** All Marshals of the Soviet Union, including the ones promoted in the last years of the USSR, were veterans of the Second World War with the Marshals promoted in the final years of the Soviet Union having served as junior officers during the Great Patriotic War.
* [[https://www.af.mil/About-Us/Biographies/Display/Article/105037/major-general-alfred-k-flowers/ Major General Alfred K. Flowers]] holds the distinction as the longest-serving Airman in US Air Force history, and longest-serving African American in the US Department of Defense. He enlisted as a supply warehouseman in 1965, rose to the rank of Master Sergeant, received a commission as a Second Lieutenant, and continued to serve as a commissioned officer until he retired in 2012 after 46 years on active-duty (for comparison: most military personnel can opt for retirement after 20 years of service).
* [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hyman_G._Rickover Admiral Hyman G. Rickover]] holds the distinction of being the longest serving U.S. sailor, along with the longest serving U.S. service member in history. A career submarine officer and veteran of UsefulNotes/WorldWarI and UsefulNotes/WorldWarII, immediately after that war he was chosen to find a military use for the embryonic nuclear power technology for something other than making things explode. He thus led the effort to design and build the first-ever nuclear-powered submarine, ''USS Nautilus'' and many others to follow, literally inventing new technologies and uses as he went. For decades he trained generations of a new breed of nuclear sailors and set enormously high standards for safety and craftsmanship in the new military nuclear power industry. As nuclear technology grew in importance, so did Rickover's position, and he eventually became the first sailor to be promoted to four-star Admiral in a non-command position.[[labelnote:*]]His position was technically as an engineer, technical designer, instructor, and standards and safety overseer, all enormously important, but he did not exercise command over any ships or armed forces besides those in his immediate directorate and design bureaus.[[/labelnote]] He finally retired in 1982 after 64 years of active duty service, just after his 82nd birthday.[[labelnote:*]]Much of the reason he lasted so long was that his position as Navy Nuclear Reactors Director was invented just for him and was outside any regular military chain of command, making him unaccountable to anybody besides civilian leadership, who all almost universally loved him, leading to him holding the position for over half his career.[[/labelnote]]
* At the Great Siege of Malta in 1565, the Knights of St. John were led by Grand Master La Valette, who was 71 at the time, while the Ottomans were led by Dragut Reis, who was 80, and their ground forces were led by Mustapha Pasha, who was 70. All led from the front, and La Valette and Dragut were both wounded in action.
* There are a lot of (admittedly anecdotal) stories from people who served in Iraq and Afghanistan, where patrols would encounter jihadis of mixed ages. Most of them would be younger guys with [=AKs=] who fought like fanatics but employed HollywoodTactics and fell in droves, but occasionally there would be an older man among them with an old Enfield or Martini-Henry or even an older [[CoolGuns traditional, home-made Afghan jezail]]. These guys were the ''really'' dangerous ones.
* The Argyraspides or Silver Shields of Alexander the Great continued existing as a unit for decades after his death, serving in both Wars of the Diadochi and remaining formidable soldiers well into their 60s.
[[/folder]]

** Admirals [[AFatherToHisMen Anderson]] and [[FatherNeptune Hackett]] embody this trope for the Alliance, having fought in every major engagement of the last three decades. Anderson is said to have enough medals to melt into a lifesize gold statue of himself, while Hackett's [[AsskickingEqualsAuthority service record]] is apparent from the sheer amount of [[CoveredWithScars scars]] he has across his face.

The old soldier is the grizzled veteran who has been through and seen everything in war. He would more than qualify for being a ShellShockedVeteran, both in age and experience, but he's still going into battle and odds are that he's the backbone of whatever unit he or (more rarely) she is in. This character type is almost never an officer or a commander, and is instead usually a SergeantRock. If he ''is'' an officer, expect a FourStarBadass. Generally you can expect them to be tough, to have a few [[RuggedScar badass scars]], and to be eternally pissed off at (or at least exasperated by) the younger troops around him. Despite that, he may still turn out to be one of the [[OldMaster best sources of mentoring or seasoning]] a young soldier can get. Some might be [[NotUsedToFreedom too much used to military life]] to effectively function in the civilian life.

Expect the OfficerAndAGentleman to rely on him quite a bit in running the unit, a la CaptainSmoothAndSergeantRough. EnsignNewbie, on the other hand, will rarely know to do this or will actively tick off the old soldier in attempting to control a unit, a mistake he usually pays for. Despite the first page quote, old soldiers have about a 50-50 chance of dying in a work of fiction, but usually not until rather late in the story, generally in a HeroicSacrifice of some kind or in a suitably impressive way. If this character dies early in a story, odds are you're dealing with a story on the [[SlidingScaleOfIdealismVersusCynicism cynical end of the scale]], and that it's [[AnyoneCanDie going to have a high mortality rate]].

If the soldier is ''too'' old to fight, or too [[DentedIron battered]] (or ''both''), but denies that fact, he may be a PerilousOldFool.

->''"Old soldiers never die; they just fade away."''
-->-- '''UsefulNotes/DouglasMacArthur'''

* Kang, Kor and Koloth, all Klingon captains from ''[[Series/StarTrekTheOriginalSeries Star Trek]]'' who had confrontations with Captain Kirk. They're still fighting, killing and generally being badasses over a century later in ''Series/StarTrekDeepSpaceNine''. All three had earned the rank of ''Dahar'' Master, which made them legendary even among Klingon warriors.

* In FanFic/WorldwarWarOfEquals, The Vietnamese Defense Ministry re-recruits many UsefulNotes/VietnamWar vets to train their current generation of soldiers in guerrilla warfare against the alien menace.

** Corvus is the FourStarBadass version, an old general who feels he is getting too old for generalship. However, he is then forced into politics instead, a field which is far less straightforward [[ActioPolitician and even more dangerous]].

* Zaeed Massani from ''VideoGame/MassEffect2'', who is arguably the toughest member of the team aside from Garrus, and of course, Shepard.
** Urdnot Wrex in the first Franchise/MassEffect game, who's [[ReallySevenHundredYearsOld ancient even for a krogan]] and has been a soldier and mercenary since Earth had Vikings.

* William "Bill" Overbeck from ''VideoGame/Left4Dead'', a former Green Beret and two-tour Vietnam vet who is the oldest of the original Survivors. While he may not be in peak fighting condition, he still fights just as well as his other teammates, and (from in-game dialogue) is considered to be the mentor of the group. [[spoiler: He is also one who canonically commits a HeroicSacrifice, though for [[McLeaned different reasons.]]]]

** A more straightforward example is Teryn Loghain, who on top of being an [[StrategyVersusTactics exemplary general (if a terrible politician)]] puts up a serious fight against your chosen champion in his DuelBoss TrialByCombat [[spoiler:and can even join your party as a Gray Warden in time for the final battle.]]

* ''Series/TheAmericans'' features a female spy example in Claudia, the Jennings' KGB [[TheHandler handler]]. She would do anything for the Motherland, and first served as a partisan in Stalingrad. She also looks more like a grandmother than a spy, which is why she is so effective.

** Kup takes this UpToEleven. Thanks to some unwanted time travel shenanigans, he's actually older than the universe itself.

* General Immortus from ''WesternAnimation/TeenTitans'' takes this UpToEleven. He's a [[TheStrategist brilliant military tactician]] since, in the words of a fellow villain, he's experienced every war in history.

** The Captain Commander Genryusai Yamamoto is the leader of the Shinigami and by far the oldest, and he's been around so long and been part of so many battles that he's nearly impossible to beat in a one-on-one fight. He's more heavily scarred than any of the other shinigami, and tends to refer to other characters as "brats", and won't hesitate to belittle them if he thinks they aren't living up to their role as protectors of the spirit world.

** Sternritter N Robert Accutrone is one of the visibly oldest of the Quincy serving Yhwach and tough enough to give Shunsui a hard fight while leaving [[EyeScream lasting injuries]]. It's even implied he was part of Yhwach's original Quincy army, given he knows better than most [[BadBoss how absolutely little Yhwach cares for his own]].

** There's also Alec Ryder, who's probably about the same age as Anderson, also a vet of the First Contact War, and an [=N7=], meaning he serves as a OneManyArmy.

* ComicBook/ThePunisher was often portrayed as this during the mid-late aughts, back when it was still ''feasible'' for him to be a Vietnam veteran who manages to carry out his lifestyle. ''MAX'' in particular seems to depict him as at least in his mid-50s. Later comics tend to quietly ignore or retcon the Vietnam thing to justify drawing him as a man of forty at most.

* ''ComicBook/{{Cable}}'': While we first see him, Cable is a baby, and ends up taken to the future to be cured of the Techno-Organic Virus. When he reappears as the founder of ''ComicBook/XForce'', he's a grizzled veteran of the wars in the far future against Apocalypse and Stryfe, being somewhere in his mid to late 40s (as both younger versions of Cable and his half brother, [[ComicBook/XMan Nate Grey]], have demonstrated, his hair goes white early, starting with a SkunkStripe in childhood), so it takes a while for the connection to become apparent. His age is rendered more ambiguous by his time travelling, and at least one deaging/reaging incident, but considering that he spent 16 years raising Hope Summers, by the time of his death in ''Extermination'' he's at least 70. It should also be noted that despite his age and having his powers crippled by the virus that's killing him, he still takes down one of the most powerful Avengers rosters of all time prior to ''ComicBook/AvengersVsXMen''.