Young Gun



""The graveyards are full of boys who were very young...and very proud.""

- Vin (Yul Brynner) in The Magnificent Seven

The Young Gun is the Western equivalent of the Kid Samurai: a younger, less-awesome version of The Gunslinger, looking to make a name for himself. Expect him to be hot-headed and impetuous. He will probably attach himself to an older, more experienced character, looking up to him as a mentor figure, only to be told that this is no kind of life for anyone and that he should get out while he still can.

The Young Gun differs from his counterpart The Gunfighter Wannabe in that the Young Gun actually has what it takes to be a gunslinger, but just needs a little training/experience/maturity in order to get up to speed. The Gunfighter Wannabe, by contrast, lacks the talent or temperament to make it as a gunslinger and his attempt to try to make a name for himself despite the warnings of his elders generally doesn't end well.

Anime and Manga

 * Subverted in Katekyo Hitman Reborn with the titular character, since he
 * Played straight with Lambo, the 5-year old hitman with an arsenal of weapons stored in his afro. His target Reborn does not even care enough to not be amused.
 * Colt from Saber Rider and The Star Sheriffs.
 * Hot Shot from Transformers Armada.
 * Yuna of Mahou Sensei Negima, who proved herself to be very talented at fighting with Guns Akimbo during the Mages vs Martians game and has continued to wield the guns she used then even after the Mahora Festival. However, she still has a long way to go before she reaches the likes of Mana or even the gun-using mage teacher.
 * Teana at the start of Magical Girl Lyrical Nanoha Striker S. It took some time and a few knocks to the head for her to grow out of her hot-headed recklessness and mature to a truly effective Gunslinger.
 * Doraemon (yeah): This is, out of all people in the world, Nobita whenever the cast travel to a Western-y age/planet/dimension/whatever. Boy might be a total loser in other aspects of life, but when the plot requires that someone be shot, he does the shooting competently.

Comic Books

 * In the Marvel Universe there was Jeff Packard a.k.a. Understudy, one-time sidekick to the Rawhide Kid.
 * The Kid, one of the Alamo Renegades in Marvel Comics Western Gunfighters.
 * Kit Willer from the Italian comic Tex Willer.

Film
"Inman: I will not shoot you, but nor am I walking down that mountain looking over my shoulder for you.
 * Chico from the movie The Magnificent Seven, the Western version of Katsushiro from Seven Samurai.
 * Fee "The Kid" Herrod in The Quick and The Dead
 * The Schofield Kid in Unforgiven
 * Hunt Bromley in the movie The Gunfighter
 * Morgan Earp as he is portrayed in movies like Tombstone and Wyatt Earp.
 * Marty McFly in Back to The Future Part III with the subversion that he does get out while he still can.
 * Colorado Ryan (Ricky Nelson) from Rio Bravo. A slight subversion in that Wayne says about him: "It's nice to see a smart kid for a change." and Stumpy agrees. "Yeah, he's not like the usual kid with a gun."
 * More of a Midwestern example (since the character is from Missouri): Tom Sawyer in The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen
 * Billy the Kid was portrayed this way in The Three Stooges film The Outlaws Is Coming.
 * The Elusive Avengers from the titular Russian ostern.
 * Scott in Day of Anger.
 * Young Guns and Young Guns II have Billy the Kid as the personification of this trope.
 * Cotton and his gang from Once Upon a Texas Train.
 * Jake in Silverado.
 * Lampshaded in Cold Mountain:

Bosie: That's what you call a conundrum. I tell you what I've got on my side.

Inman: What have you got on your side?

Bosie: The confidence of youth."

Literature

 * Ironically, in The Dark Tower series, kid gunslinger Jake is not the Young Gun. That role falls to the older (twenty-something) Eddie, who otherwise fits the part to a T.
 * However, it is arguable that
 * Also, Roland and his ka-tet in the flashback parts of Wizard and Glass approach this trope, although due to their exceptional training they are more self-controled and self-reliant than the norm.
 * The JT Edson character Waco is a hard-eyed youngster of about sixteen when he is first encountered, and already has several notches on his gunbelt, all of them nominally "fair fights" but several, as he later admits, for no good reason at all. He reforms after being pulled out from in front of a cattle stampede.

Live Action TV

 * John "J.D." Dunne from The Magnificent Seven series.
 * "Whip" Morgan from The Adventures of Brisco County Jr.
 * The Young Riders had a young James (AKA Wild Bill) Hickok, and a young Jesse James.
 * Deputy Johnny McKay is this in early seasons of Lawman. He gains maturity as the show goes on.

Video Games

 * Major Ocelot matches up to this in Metal Gear Solid 3. In the other games however...
 * Axl of the Mega Man X series fits this trope to a T.
 * Hoopz Barkley, the Chosen One 12-year-old son of Charles Barkley, in Barkley Shut Up and Jam Gaiden.

Web Comics

 * Gordito in The Adventures of Dr. McNinja subverts or parodies this trope, being very capable and Badass as the Kid Sidekick to a ninja-doctor and occasionally fighting alongside said doctor's Crazy Prepared ninja family.
 * He pulls off things like picking off each and every member of a SkyPirate crew one by one when the McNinjas accidentally forget and leave him behind during a mission. He flies the ship back to base on his own, arriving just as the realize they forgot him.

Western Animation

 * Fievel daydreams about being a Young Gun at the beginning of An American Tail: Fievel Goes West, complete with his hero Wylie Burp telling him to get out while he still can, and Fievel blatantly disobeying him and shooting out a gang of villainous cats.