History Main / ShortLivedOrganism

'''Fly:''' ''[child voice]'' It's great, mister! When I grow up--''[becomes an adult]'' ... I'm gonna--''[ages into a rickety old grandpa]'' ... wish I had done more with my life, sonny! ''[coughs, falls over, and dies]''
-->--''WesternAnimation/Epic2013''

* In ''Anime/MacrossDelta'' Windermerians live an average of 30 years in exchange for enhanced physical abilities, but it can be shortened even more by use of their powers.
* In ''Manga/TokyoGhoul'' one variant of a half-ghoul is a Half-Human. The most prominent example in the series is [[spoiler:Kishou Arima]], and they are essentially human with increased physical ability and no other ghoul traits, and they are able to digest human food as opposed to being only able to eat human flesh like a full ghoul. However, they age much faster than either parent species and show age-related conditions in their 20s, with most lucky to make it into their 30s. Naturally born One-Eyed Ghouls like [[spoiler:Eto Yoshimura]], on the other hand, have a normal human lifespan with the best traits of both species and can eat anything with no issue. It's not entirely clear what causes one to be born a Half-Human as opposed to a One-Eyed Ghoul, but it's notable that the most prominent examples of the latter in the series are born to loving couples while the former are the results of a generations long SuperBreedingProgram and all the horror that implies.

'''Fly:''' ''[child voice]'' It's great, mister! When I grow up-- ''[becomes an adult]'' ...I'm gonna-- ''[ages into a rickety old grandpa]'' ...wish I had done more with my life, sonny! *cough* ''[falls over and dies]''

* ''Film/{{Guardians of the Galaxy|2014}}'': Discussed by Rocket, an [[UpliftedAnimal uplifted raccoon]], who claims that his lifespan isn't that long anyway.[[note]]This is TruthInTelevision; wild raccoons have a lifespan of around 3 years, while captive raccoons tend to live up to 20 years.[[/note]] Subverted in that Rocket is still shown perfectly alive and well even after the TimeSkip in ''Film/AvengersEndgame''.

* Dragons in Literature/TheSummerKingChronicles live only one year. Unfortunately, this means their history can get twisted in a very short time (by other species' standards).

** ''Series/StarTrekTheNextGeneration'': "[[Recap/StarTrekTheNextGenerationS7E22Emergence Emergence]]": The ''Enterprise'' exhibits peculiar behavior. The crew determines that the ship's computers are becoming sentient, and have embarked upon assembling a construct in one of the holodecks. Once this construct is teleported outside the ''Enterprise'', the ship returns to normal, having attained sentience for only the one episode, just long enough to produce an "offspring".

** ''Series/StarTrekEnterprise'': "[[Recap/StarTrekEnterpriseS03E10Similitude Similitude]]": Doctor Phlox uses Lyssarian desert larvae to make a clone of Trip. The clone goes through a full human lifespan in fifteen days.

** In 5th edition, [[BirdPeople Aarakocra]] mature at the age of three, and live for thirty years. When re-introduced in ''Monsters of the Multiverse'', the age information was absent, implying they live for a normal human lifespan.

* ''TabletopGame/Warhammer40000'': Tyranid Hormagaunts are usually birthed without ''digestive systems'', so even if they wanted to they wouldn't live beyond the battle they were bred to fight. Then again, their purpose is to [[ZergRush overwhelm opponents by sheer numbers]], so they're often killed in vast numbers hours if not minutes after they're pumped out onto the battlefield.
* ''TabletopGame/WarhammerFantasy'': On average, the ratlike Skaven have a maximum lifespan of about twenty years, but most die a lot earlier than that due to backstabbing, starvation, industrial accidents, being conscripted as cannon fodder or a hundred other different things. However, [[WizardsLiveLonger magic-users such as Grey Seers and plague priests can live to be hundreds of years old]] as long as they can navigate the pit of treachery of Skaven politics.

* ''Videogame/AIWarFleetCommand:'' The Neinzul are especially short-lived, with individuals often living no longer than a single Earth day. Some of them can "mature" into longer-lived forms, but most of them have to resort to depositing their GeneticMemory back at their Enclave so that the next generation can pick up where they left off.
* ''VideoGame/CultOfTheLamb'' implies this, as, while the eponymous Lamb can never truly die as long as they have a flock, the cultists themselves age ''very'' quickly. As in, they reach elder age after only over a month or two in-game. There's no real Watsonian explanation for this, apart from the setting being a CrapsaccharineWorld (the Doylist explanation being, of course, that the point of an aging mechanic in a game is to happen in a gameplay-relevant time frame).

* ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyIX'': The Black Mages are artificially created to be automaton soldiers for TheEmpire, but some of the Black Mages spontaneously become sentient with human intelligence. The self-aware Black Mages form a community to live out their lives in peace, and find that they have a life span of only about one year.
* ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyXIV'': The Qitari are a diminutive rat-like race who rarely live past the ripe old age of twenty. This has led them to preserve their culture through meticulously kept records, a habit that made them ideal scribes for the Ronkan Empire before its fall. They also mature faster than other races, as Chaqurl Qhotl is a capable explorer at three years old, though he still has a WideEyedIdealist mindset and fumbles the pronunciation of longer words frequently.

* ''VideoGame/InazumaEleven Go Galaxy'': The fourth planet Earth Eleven goes to is Ratoniik, a jungle planet whose inhabitants evolved from bugs. This causes their lifespans to span from at least a week to a year at most, depending on the individual.

* ''Webcomic/InOurShadow'': Most of the uplifted animals of post-human Earth live less than a decade. Rats are particularly short-lived, generally only making it for seven years or so. Emperor Schorl, whose lifespan was extended by ancient human tech, is treated as practically an immortal god at the age of ''forty''.

* ''Webcomic/KevinAndKell'' has mayflies following a similar lifespan to their real-world counterparts, also integrated into society. They attend college for a shorter period of time, where their student debt is only 35 cents, and also receive placement as temporary workers known to die mid-task.

* ''Webcomic/TwoKinds'': Keidrans live for about twenty years naturally, and hit adulthood at age 8 or 9. Since this gives them an effective adult lifespan of just a little over a decade, this can be a serious issue for inter-species relationships, romantic and non, with the longer-lived humans and basitins.

[[folder:Web Original]]
* ''Blog/HamstersParadise'': The harmsters, thanks to their [[AlwaysChaoticEvil natural aggression and sadism]], usually don't live for very long before they die either as a result of their [[WeHaveReserves numbers-based combat style]] or killed by one of their own. Even for the ones who do survive, they won't have a very lengthy existence as fifteen is actually considered elderly to them.
[[/folder]]

* ''WesternAnimation/Animaniacs2020'': The sketch "Exercise Minute" has the Warner siblings encouraging the viewers to take a break from watching cartoons and do some exercise, joined by May, an anthropomorphic mayfly. Throughout the sketch, May insists that she doesn't have the time for exercise due to the mayfly's tiny lifespan, wanting to do more with life than exercise. Unfortunately for May, the Warners remain utterly oblivious and ultimately, she dies of old age before the workout is over. Her tombstone reads her birth and death as "9:15 AM -- 9:18 AM".
* ''WesternAnimation/BatmanTheAnimatedSeries'': In "[[Recap/TheAdventuresOfBatmanAndRobinE5HouseAndGarden House and Garden]]", [[Characters/BatmanPoisonIvy Poison Ivy]] had created a plant producing human/plant hybrids with a lifespan of several days. When Batman busts the operation, Ivy needs some muscle quickly, so she gives the newborn creatures a formula that accelerates their growth so that they'll only live a few minutes but hopefully kill Batman within that time.

* ''WesternAnimation/RobotChicken'': In the skit "A Bug's Short Life", a parody of Disney/Pixar's ''WesternAnimation/ABugsLife'', Flik is annoyed and kept up all night by mayflies who are attempting to cram an entire lifetime of experiences (sex, having children, mid-life crises) into their three-hour lifespan.

* ''WesternAnimation/WildKratts'': In "Animals Who Live to be 100 Years Old," Martin is saddened by the death of his pet fruit fly, Juice, and learns that fruit flies only live for a few weeks. After this, the crew sets out to find animals who live to be 100.

* ''WesternAnimation/MenInBlackTheSeries'': The organization has the technology to produce "Quick Clones", which are perfect duplicates of people who have a very short lifespan. They reveal themselves to be quick clones when they start babbling gibberish, and then melt. They can also be deactivated by pressing an area on the jugular vein behind their ear.
* ''WesternAnimation/RickAndMorty'': In [[Recap/RickAndMortyS1E1Pilot the pilot episode]], Morty accidentally releases a being from a glass jar that quickly goes from being an infant to old age and dies in a matter of seconds. Rick's response to Morty regarding it is "don't think about it".

Opposite of LongLived.

* In ''Manga/TokyoGhoul'' one variant of a half-ghoul is a Half-Human. The most prominent example in the series is [[spoiler:Kishou Arima]], and they are essentially human with increased physical ability and no other ghoul traits, and they are able to digest human food as opposed to being only able to eat human flesh like a full ghoul. However, they age much faster than either parent species and show age-related conditions in their 20s, with most lucky to make it into their 30s. Naturally born One-Eyed Ghouls like [[spoiler:Eto Yoshimura]], on the other hand, have a normal human lifespan with the best traits of both species and can eat anything with no issue. It's not entirely clear what causes one to be born a Half-Human as opposed to a One-Eyed Ghoul, but it's notable that the most prominent examples of the latter in the series are born to loving couples while the former are the results of a generations long SuperhumanBreedingProgram and all the horror that implies.

* In ''Manga/TokyoGhoul'' one variant of a half-ghoul is a Half-Human. The most prominent example in the series is [[spoiler:Kishou Arima]], and they are essentially human with increased physical ability and no other ghoul traits, and they are able to digest human food as opposed to being only able to eat human flesh like a full ghoul. However, they age much faster than either parent species and show age-related conditions in their 20s, with most lucky to make it into their 30s. Naturally born One-Eyed Ghouls like [[spoiler:Eto Yoshimura]], on the other hand, have a normal human lifespan with the best traits of both species and can eat anything with no issue.

* In ''Manga/TokyoGhoul'' one variant of a half-ghoul is a Half-Human, the most prominent example in the series being [[spoiler:Kishou Arima]], is essentially human with increased physical ability and no other ghoul traits, and they are able to digest human food as opposed to being only able to eat human flesh like a full ghoul. However, they age much faster than either parent species and show age-related conditions in their 20s, with most lucky to make it into their 30s. Naturally born One-Eyed Ghouls like [[spoiler:Eto Yoshimura]], on the other hand, have a normal human lifespan with the best traits of both species and can eat anything with no issue.

* In ''Manga/TokyoGhoul'' one variant of a half-ghoul half-human, the most prominent example in the series being [[spoiler:Kishou Arima]], is essentially human with increased physical ability and no other ghoul traits, and they are able to digest human food as opposed to being only able to eat human flesh like a full ghoul. However, they age much faster than either parent species and show age-related conditions in their 20s, with most lucky to make it into their 30s. Naturally born one-eyed ghouls like [[spoiler:Eto Yoshimura]], on the other hand, have a normal human lifespan with the best traits of both species and can eat anything with no issue.

* In ''Manga/TokyoGhoul'' one variant of a half-ghoul half-human is essentially human with increased physical ability and no other ghoul traits, and they are able to digest human food as opposed to being only able to eat human flesh like a full ghoul. However, they age much faster than either parent species and show age-related conditions in their 20s, with most lucky to make it into their 30s. Naturally born one-eyed ghouls like [[spoiler:Eto Yoshimura]], on the other hand, have a normal human lifespan with the best traits of both species and can eat anything with no issue.

* In ''Manga/TokyoGhoul'' one variant of a half-ghoul half-human is essentially human with increased physical ability and no other ghoul traits, and they are able to digest human food as opposed to being only able to eat human flesh like a full ghoul. However, they age much faster than either parent species and show age-related conditions in their 20s, with most lucky to make it into their 30s. Naturally born one-eyed ghouls like [[spoiler:Eto Yoshimura]], on the other hand, have a normal human lifespan with the best traits of both species and can eat anything no issue.

* In ''Manga/TokyoGhoul'' one variant of a half-ghoul half-human is essentially human with increased physical ability and no other ghoul traits, and they are able to digest human food as opposed to being only able to eat human flesh like a full ghoul. However, they age much faster than either parent species and show age-related conditions in their 20s, with most lucky to make it into their 30s. Naturally born one-eyed ghouls, on the other hand, have a normal human lifespan with the best traits of both species and can eat both with no issue.

* ''ComicBook/{{Invincible}}'': The Thraxans, whom Omni-Man lives with for a short while, can survive only up to a full year before dying because of their natural accelerated aging. The only exception to this rule is Oliver, a Viltrumite/Thraxan hybrid whose Viltrumite genes from Nolan ensure that he'll live much longer but at the same time, his Thraxan genes still don't allow him to have a longer childhood, as he reaches physical adulthood in only a few short years.

* ''Manga/DeliciousInDungeon'': [[{{Halfling}} Half-feet]] live for fifty years on average, and their lives run proportionally faster. Chilchuck, nearing twenty-nine, is middle-aged or close to it (despite his childlike looks), and has three daughters who are all grown adults at thirteen. However, it's mentioned centenarian half-feet are possible, if rare.

** The salarians are an amphibious species with by far the shortest lifespan of the Citadel Council races, maxing out around forty years. (For comparison, given the advancements in the setting, humans regularly live past 100.) To offset this, the salarians only need to sleep about one hour per night, allowing them to get more accomplished in their shorter overall lifespan.
** The vorcha are the shortest-lived sapient species in the galaxy, rarely living past ''20''. On the plus side, they possess a powerful AdaptiveAbility that allows them to survive in nearly any environment. Extreme temperatures, poisonous environment, even ''without oxygen''... This extreme adaptability and short lifespan means that the vorcha have basically no culture or society of their own. Some asari tried an experiment involving raising vorcha like they were their own children, but it ended fairly tragically as it was discovered that they just didn't live long enough to raise their own children and the asari found it too depressing to keep going after raising several generations only to watch them die.

* ''TabletopGame/MagicTheGathering'': The aetherborn of Kaladesh are humanoids who spontaneously form in areas where magic gathers. They're "born" as fully aware adults, but the solidified aether that makes up their bodies isn't stable and, from the moment of their birth, begins to dissolve back into the environment. Average aetherborn lifespans range from four years to as little as four weeks. Culturally, they're split into two camps about this: some accept their short lives and strive to savor and enjoy each moment that they have, while others vampirically drain life from other beings to sustain their crumbling bodies.

* In ''Manga/TokyoGhoul'' one variant of a half-ghoul half-human is essentially human with increased physical ability and no other ghoul traits, and they age much faster than either parent species and show age-related conditions in their 20s, with most lucky to make it into their 30s. Naturally born one-eyed ghouls, on the other hand, have a normal human lifespan and the best traits of both species.

* In ''Manga/TokyoGhoul'' one variant of a half-ghoul half-human is essentially human with increased physical ability and no other ghoul traits, and they age much faster than either parent species and show age-related conditions in their 20s, with most lucky to make it into their 30s. One-eyed ghouls, on the other hand, have a normal human lifespan and the best traits of both species.