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{{trope}}
[[File:ff4-porom_palomporom palom.jpg|link=Final Fantasy IV (Video Game)|rightframe]]
 
You've seen it before. For lack of a better introduction, the main magic user in the game or story happens to be the youngest person in the group. Possibly because the story writer wants to have a character that young for comic effect and can't imagine said character being proficient in a sword or other conventional weapons, so they let them summon meteors with their mind. The lesson apparently being that magic is ''just that easy''. Or [[Child Prodigy|They're just that good]]. And [[Muscles Are Meaningless]].
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This trope extends towards the [[Little People]] sometimes, as well, considering many have a child-like appearance (or even mannerisms). Just don't say that to the [[Napoleon Complex|dwarves]].
 
See also [[Tyke Bomb]], which is not necessarily a magic user, and [[Squishy Wizard]], which a [['''Child Mage]]''' is almost guaranteed to be, or [[Cute Bruiser]], when the character actually ''does'' have physical prowess instead of magic, despite their size.
 
If they have psychic abilities instead of magic it's [[Psychic Children]].
 
{{examples|Examples:}}
 
== [[Anime]] and [[Manga]] ==
* Pretty much any [[Magical Girl]] series, especially ones where the characters are children below high school ages.
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* Schierke from ''[[Berserk]]'' is the youngest member of Guts' new party. Her spells are incredibly powerful but needs time to cast (and she's in a trance whenever that happens), so Guts and the other fighters [[Sword and Sorcerer|cover her while she gets ready]].
* ''[[Magical Girl Lyrical Nanoha]]'', and several of her friends/rivals... she was ''nine'' when she started using magic, and yet, she's kicking ass in the interdimensional league.
* In ''[[Umineko no Naku Koro Ni (Visual Novel)|Umineko no Naku Koro Nini]]'', {{spoiler|Maria}} is one of these, but she's a little bit... ''[[Creepy Child|different]]''.
* While many characters in ''[[Fairy Tail (Manga)|Fairy Tail]]'' are mages, [[The Medic|Wendy]] [[Blow You Away|is an example]] of this trope.
** Notice, though, that Alternate Windy is full-grown and buxom. And that Natsu & Gajille are apparently over the age of EIGHTY, or in some other way were bound by the barrier designed to keep Makarov in... She might not be a child mage after all.
* ''[[Naruto]]'' certainly qualifies as this, on the grounds that [[Ninja|Their Ninjas Are Different]].
* Sakura Kinomoto from ''[[Cardcaptor Sakura (Manga)|Cardcaptor Sakura]]'' was ten years old at the beginning of the story and not much older at the end.
* Lily in ''[[Rune Soldier Louie]]''.
 
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* In ''[[The Death Gate Cycle]]'', Bane is a ten-year-old magical prodigy. Unfortunately, he's also [[Enfant Terrible|evil]].
* Zilpha Keatley Snyder's ''The Changeling'' keeps it charmingly ambiguous whether the three-year-old Josie is this or whether her sister and friend just convince themselves she is.
* Ged is this early on in ''[[Earthsea Trilogy|A Wizard of Earth SeaEarthsea]]'' before he goes on to become [[The Archmage|Archmage]]. His aunt, a witch, notes that he has unusual magical power, and when he was eight or nine, he saved his entire village from the [[Barbarian Tribe|Kargs]] using a spell he essentially made up on the spot. Some time after, he goes to Roke, which as it's the Hogwarts of ''[[Earthsea]]'' is also full of [[Child Mage|Child Mages]].
* ''The ''[[Young Wizard SeriesWizards]]'' series by Diane Duane states this trope a good number of times in many books. Child wizards are naturally stronger because of their imagination and removal from a serious life. Older wizards balance this out with their knowledge and experience
* Petra, the younger sister of the protaganistprotagonist of ''[[The Chrysalids]]'' by [[John Wyndham]] is the most powerful telepath of the group. It's the strength of her powers that bring the woman from [[New Zealand|Sealand]] to rescue the group.
* ''[[The Malazan Book of the Fallen]]'' has a few examples, most of them being appropriately horrifying. Sin is one example.
* In ''[[Septimus Heap (Literature)|Septimus Heap]]'', the titular character is an adolescent who has the makings of becoming a powerful wizard one day.
* In the [[Sword of Truth]], most of the wizards at the Palace of the Prophets are [[Really Seven Hundred Years Old]] because the palace was designed as a spell-form. Richard, and even Zedd (despite him being one of the oldest characters in the series otherwise), are as children to them.
** Zedd refrains from teaching Richard magic so that Richard will default to his instincts, which seem to be magically augmented by being a War Wizard and honed so that he was worthy of being named Seeker. It turns out to be justified; the conventional understanding of how magic works turns out to be limited, Richard has more powers than anyone in the last several thousand years, and he accesses those powers in a different way.
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== [[Live Action TV]] ==
* Mordred in ''[[Merlin (TV series)|Merlin]]''. Merlin counts also, since out of the six main characters, he is the youngest.
* Eden and (arguably) {{spoiler|baby Jewel}} in ''[[Maddigans Quest|Maddigan's Quest]]'', young even by the other [[Kid Hero|Kid Heroes']] standards.
 
 
== [[Tabletop Games]] ==
* ''[[Dungeons and& Dragons]]'' both inverts this trope and plays it straight in 3rd edition - of the two major arcane spellcasting classes, wizards have the highest minimum starting age while sorcerers have the lowest. The idea being that Wizards gain their power through countless years of study, while Sorcerers have an innate gift, and so can cast magic at a much younger age. The minimum starting age for any character is still 16 though.
** ''[[Eberron]]'' has [[Fan Nickname|the Loli-Pope]] Jaela Daran, the head of the Church of the Silver Flame and a eleven-year old girl. She's a 3rd-level cleric on her own merits... but when communing with the Silver Flame, she's one of the most powerful spellcasters in the setting.
** The Mystara setting used these in ''The Principalities of Glantri'', a supplement describing a nation ruled by wizards. Because only wizards can inherit noble titles in Glantri, magic-user families teach their kids to cast spells at extremely young ages, so if their parents should die prematurely, the title will stay within the family.
*** And one B-list schemer described is one of these, a necromancer with a level beyond his age. It is noted that treating him as a child is a ''very bad idea''.
** Played straight in ''[[d20 Modern]]''. Child characters are ''supposedly'' playable according to the core rulebook, but they can't select an occupation other than Athlete due to minimum age requirements, and likely can't select Athlete due to it requiring a high ability score in a stats children are penalized in, giving it the rare distinction (shared with ''[[Traveller]]'' and ''[[FATAL]]'') of being able to fail character creation. [[Urban Fantasy]] focused [[Splat]] book ''Urban Arcana'' adds two occupations they can qualify for, Hedge Wizard and Novitiate, both of which offer casting abilities and are paths to magic based advanced classes.
* ''[[Pathfinder]]'', a third party continuation of 3rd Edition ''D&D'', includes the same minimum starting ages. What's new is the iconic character for the Kineticist class is Yoon, a young girl, constantly accompanied by a stuffed toy, and is capable of shooting fire from her hands.
* ''[[Wiz Kids]]''.
* While averting the trope with magicians, 3rd Edition ''[[Shadowrun]]'' had the Otaku- children capable of accessing the Matrix without any technological apparatus, who lostlose their abilities as they agedage. 4th Edition changed this, however- the abilities stay with age and they're known as Technomancers.
* Early supplements for ''[[Mage: The Ascension (Tabletop Game)|Mage: The Ascension]]'' gave the possibility of [[Child Mages]] some attention, but the idea rapidly fell out of favor with gamers who saw it as "cutesy"...or incredibly dangerous. [[Reality Warper|They may have had a point.]]
* ''[[Savage Worlds]]'' has the Young hindrance, which is such a handicap the character gets two "Bennys" per session in addition to the standard benefit for a major hindrance (which are typically things like "one arm") of a "free" attribute increase or edge. The edge a major hindrance brings can be used to start with the Arcane Background needed to cast spells at character creation, but what makes this worth noting is that a Benny can, instead of its standard [[Luck Manipulation Mechanic]], be used to recharge 5 power points instantly, which is big when the initial power point pool is 10.
 
== [[Video Games]] ==
* Rydia in ''[[Final Fantasy IV (Video Game)|Final Fantasy IV]]'' the first time she joins the party, though after being separated, she [[Year Inside, Hour Outside|spontaneously]] [[Plot -Relevant Age -Up|ages several years]] before she rejoins later on. From the same game, Palom and Porom are about five (and twins), and serve as your major magic source for about the second fifth of the game.
** However, none of these three characters lose any magical prowess as they grow older (outside of the usual [[Bag of Spilling|between-game level resetting]]), though none of them ''gain'' any physical prowess, either.
*** Rydia does lose her white magic after she rejoins the party and never gains acess to it again, however Rosa and Pororm fill the white mage roll well enough. (a bonus dungeon in the GBA/PSP version where she returns to a child does restore it however)
* Both Vivi and Eiko from ''[[Final Fantasy IX (Video Game)|Final Fantasy IX]]''
* ''[[Final Fantasy XI (Video Game)|Final Fantasy XI]]'' pretty much distills this trope into an ''entire race'', the [[Little People|Tarutaru]]. Tiny, child-like, wickedly magic inclined.
* Yuu in ''Luminous Arc 3''.
* '[[Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles]]'': The party members are all depicted as youngsters no older than fourteen or so, based on interaction with their family members. This includes the magically-inclined Yukes, who despite their age, are around the same size as adults from other tribes...
* ''[[Final Fantasy XIII (Video Game)|Final Fantasy XIII]]'': Hope, once he is given his l'Cie powers, is statistically oriented to become the party's [[Squishy Wizard]]. He is the only character in the game to learn every offensive spell.
* Roan from ''[[Grandia II (Video Game)|Grandia II]]''.
* Genis from ''[[Tales of Symphonia (Video Game)|Tales of Symphonia]]''.
* Cooke and Mack from ''[[Lost Odyssey]]''. These two get a bonus for being only eight and ''six''.
* The Sprite in ''[[World of Mana|Secret Of Mana]]''.
* Rita from ''[[Tales of Vesperia (Video Game)|Tales of Vesperia]]'' is the second youngest member of the group at age 15, and the party's only [[Squishy Wizard]]. [[Hand Wave|Handwaved]] with Rita being a prodigy in the fields of magic and blastia.
* Caillou from Recettear.
* Ivan from ''[[Golden Sun (Video Game)|Golden Sun]]'' is the youngest party member and he's the black mage. In the sequel, Sheba also fills in this role.
* Some ''Tales'' games play with this trope: Meredy from ''[[Tales of Eternia (Video Game)|Tales of Eternia]]'' is 16, and looks about 12. However, on her home planet, not only is she considered an adult and and owns her own lavish house, she's ''one of the most accredited and famous geneticists in the world.'' Beryl Benito from ''[[Tales of Hearts (Video Game)|Tales of Hearts]]'' likewise looks prepubescent, but is actually 18, and simply revels in her youth.
* MOMO from ''[[Xenosaga (Video Game)|Xenosaga]]''. She's the youngest party member, a robot girl who looks like a preteen (and may even be [[Younger Than They Look|Younger Than She Looks]]) and the best healer, a user of ranged magic-like attacks, and even a part-time [[Magical Girl]]. However, this is because she's an [[Artificial Human]], not because she's a child.
* The ''[[Fire Emblem]]'' series has many mages that are children.
** Ewan from Sacred Stones follows this trope and he starts as the weakest spellcaster in the game but [[Magikarp Power|if you spend the effort to train him...]]
** Also Subverted in Radiant Dawn with two of the most important mages, Soren and Micaiah. {{spoiler|they're both products of breeding between the two species, meaning they age slower. They're really older than their comrades.}} Empress Sanaki and Tormod, however, fit this trope.
* Leon of ''[[Star Ocean the Second Story (Video Game)|Star Ocean the Second Story]]'' is the youngest potential recruit, being only twelve, and is a prodigy who excels at magic. He's also a bit of a jerk, though he {{spoiler|softens up after having a [[Heroic BSOD]] after his parents and everyone save Claude appear to be wiped out in a shipwreck. This is also the point where he becomes permanently recruit-able, though he's only accessible if you're playing as Claude.}}
* Trucy Wright from the ''[[Ace Attorney (Visual Novel)|Ace Attorney]]'' series is a realistic example of this Trope.
** Pearl Fey, if spirit channelers count. She's only nine and is already at least as powerful as her eighteen-year-old cousin who is of the more powerful 'main family' bloodline rather than Pearl's 'branch family'. If Maya was out of the way she'd probably be first in line to be the Kurain Master. {{spoiler|Which is why Pearl's mother keeps trying to kill Maya.}}
* Toyed with in the mage origin of ''[[Dragon Age]]''. The campaign starts with the player character finishing his/her Harrowing, marking him/her as an adult and fully-fledged mage, but is noted to be young to be taking the Harrowing, and is almost certainly the youngest member of the party aside from perhaps Alistair, who himself seems to be in his early twenties.
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** Emizel in Disgaea 4 is this for the group.
* Carlie (Charlotte) of [[Seiken Densetsu 3]] (though she claims to be 16, she uses [[Third Person Person]] and has very child-like mannerisms).
** The reason she claims to be 16 when she doesn't look it is because she's a [[Half -Human Hybrid|half-elf]].
* The Mage in Dungeon Fighter Online.
* Annie from [[League of Legends]]. Doubles as a [[Creepy Child]] because of her [[Playing Withwith Fire|propensity for burning things.]]
* Alvin from ''[[The Witcher]]'' has an inherent gift that makes him the most powerful mage known. Unfortunately it's so powerful it's a hazard to himself and others, and he needs help keeping it under control. In the books, Ciri had a similar role, but she managed to seal it and swear off magic when [[Growing Up Sucks|she grew up]].
* [[RunescapeRuneScape]] has Kennith. He's first met as a child in a quest. The next quest in the series, he's a young adult, and together with two other characters and the player he forms a party of four. The player's age is discussable, but Kennith most probably is the youngest member of said party. And he can cast even the high-level spells without any effort or even material components usually needed for casting.
* ''[[Dragon Quest V (Video Game)|Dragon Quest V]]'' has two - Bianca and Madchen. While Bianca is not that strong until she grows up, Madchen, however, has no excuse for being able to cast powerful ice spell and transform into a dragon at the age of 8.
* If physhic power counts for how it work exactly like magic in ''[[MOTHER]]'' series, Ana, Ness, Paula, Poo, and Lucas are all this.
* A good quarter of the pawns in ''[[Dragon's Dogma]]'' are young girls, most mage classes due to the penalties short/light characters get in carry weight and melee.
 
== [[Web Comics]] ==
* In ''[[Haru-Sari]]'' magic can only really be used by "elves", people born with a mutation, either naturally or more commonly artificially induced. The downside of that power? Elves physically stay prepubescent children forever, at least until their thirties -- whenthirties—when their magic has poisoned their bodies enough to kill them. And that does not even count in the common psychological disorders and bad social standing.
* Ariana Rael in ''[[Van Von Hunter]]''.
* The children of [https://web.archive.org/web/20130518103227/http://badwebcomics.wikidot.com/hathor-the-cow-goddess Hathor the Cow Goddess] are unusually smart. But this is just to illustrate how well she thinks unschooling works and to make her adult [[Straw Loser]] opponents look even dumber by comparison.
* The students in ''[[Wizard School (Webcomic)|Wizard School]]'' are already experienced mages -- asmages—as opposed to Graham, the adult, who is clueless. Alas, just about everyone is subject to [[Good Is Dumb]].
 
== [[Western Animation]] ==
* Orko from ''[[He -Man and Thethe Masters of Thethe Universe]]''. Very small compared to the others, [[Really Seven Hundred Years Old]], but he certainly acts like a kid.
* [[The Smurfs]]: Baby Smurf, believe it or not. He was occasionally seen casting spells (although none of the others see this), and is heavily implied to be Papa Smurf's successor.
* In ''[[Batman Beyond (Animation)|Batman Beyond]]'' the current [[Green Lantern]] is a child - not technically a mage, but pretty much the same effect.
** Explored on a similar vein in an episode of ''[[Justice League Unlimited]]'', with a [[Fountain of Youth|kiddified]] John Stewart unable to settle on what he wants until Wonder Woman yells at him.
** There's also an episode where Terry has to rescue a psychic little girl from an evil organization of telepaths who want to initiate her via kidnapping. While he saves her, he also gets her help since she's a pretty powerful kid.
* In ''[[Gargoyles (Animation)|Gargoyles]]'', in the backstory of "Long Way to Morning," the Magus was both very young and a good enough mage to cure the prince. (Granted, he did need the [[MacGuffin|Grimorum]] to do it...)
* [[The Incredibles|Jack-Jack Parr]] is something like this in ''Jack-Jack Attack''.
* Kyle the Conjurer and Sigmund the Sorceror in [[Fanboy and Chum Chum]].
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[[Category:Youngsters]]
[[Category:Between My Brother and Me/Characters]]
[[Category:Video Game Characters]]
[[Category:A Home Far Away (Video Game)]]
[[Category:Wizards and Witches]]
[[Category:Child Mage{{PAGENAME}}]]
[[Category:Trope]]
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