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Elderly Sensei: Difference between revisions
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Break out the ^ sign on your calculator when this trope is applied to [[In Harm's Way|seasoned adventurers]] of any type; anyone who's managed to survive to a ripe old age while performing inherently dangerous work is [[Captain Obvious|obviously]] really damned good at it.
The '''Old Master''' is often the sensei to one of the main characters, training them so they can [[Passing the Torch|pass on the torch]] to the new generation (and maybe earn themselves a break). To do so, the character typically prefers the [[Wax On, Wax Off]] approach to education and the [[When You Snatch the Pebble]] approach to final exams. Crueler Old Masters, on the other hand, function as the [[Drill Sergeant Nasty]], and those who study under him had better be prepared for [[Training
Heavily overlaps with [[Hermit Guru]] and [[Stronger with Age]]. May double as [[The Obi-Wan]]. See also [[Badass Grandpa]], [[When Elders Attack]], and [[Weak but Skilled]]. [[Retired Gunfighter]] is the western, weaponized version of this. Contrast with [[Older Is Better]]. In martial arts movies, especially, the Old Master tends to be a [[Magical Asian]].
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* Druss from [[David Gemmell]]'s first published novel, ''Legend'', is an unusually blunt variant of this trope. Sixty years old, built like a bull, and quite capable of single-handedly slaughtering a dozen men half his age. His presence, and wisdom, inspire the younger characters to heroism; after all, he is a living legend. Meanwhile, he's trying to pretend he's not half-dead from exhaustion, agonised by arthritis, and determined to avoid senility through battle.
* Gandalf from ''[[Lord of the Rings]]'' of course. Théoden also kicks some serious ass.
* Larkin and Mkoll from ''[[Warhammer
** Mkoll was canonically the father of adult children (and probably grandchildren) before the series started, but they all died in the annihilation of Tanith. Similarly, Doc Dorden had a grown son in the regiment at the start of the series. A lot of the Tanith are quite old for Guardsmen. But then, you only have to survive one battle to be [[Redshirt Army|quite old for a Guardsman]]...
** Eldrad Ulthran, the late leader of Ulthwe craftworld. More than 10,000 years old, so old that his body has begun to crystallise. Before he was lost to a talisman of vaul, he was arguably the galaxy's most powerful living psyker. In fact, he was able to defeat Abaddon, one of the greatest warriors aligned with Chaos, in hand-to-hand combat by using his prescience to stall until the single perfect moment to strike.
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* In the 2003 version of ''[[Battlestar Galactica]]'', the main character, Commander Bill Adama is an Old Master. His morals and ethics dictate the conduct of the rest of the crew (i.e. characters remarking on more than one occasion "Cmdr. Adama would/would not do this"), and [[A Father to His Men|he openly regards many of them like children to him]] (which is extremely worrisome when you consider his terrible relationship with Lee, his ''actual'' son). This does not change the fact that, as we see in the season one episode "Kobol's Last Gleaming, Part 1", and the season three episode "Unfinished Business", Bill's capable of stepping into the boxing ring the crew has set up and beating the stuffing out of said "children" should he feel the need.
** He's pretty handy with a flashlight, too.
* Grasshopper, Master Po from ''[[Kung Fu]]'', surely one of the [[Trope
* Master <s>Bratak</s> [[Punctuation Shaker|Bra'tac]] of ''[[Stargate SG-1]]''. In his first appearance in the series, started off by complaining about his old age, then promptly incapacitated Colonel O'Neill in an embarassingly short fight sequence. Continues to refer to himself as an old man during the entire 10 seasons despite the fact that he is obviously one of the most skilled warriors in the galaxy.
** Some other Jaffa [[Idiot Ball|make the mistake of confusing his age with weakness]]. Too late and to their sorrow do they realize that a prominent man living a century and a half in an ''entire society of expendable warriors'' should have been a clue as to his badassery.
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== [[Tabletop Games]] ==
* The Old Master archetype from [[Feng Shui]] has the highest starting Martial Arts and Chi scores of the whole archetype list and five Fu Schticks, and though he only starts with a Body score of 4, his Unique Schtick allows him to use unarmed attacks to wallop characters with 10 base damage (equivalent of Body 8 or 9). You just know it's a bad move to mess with him.
* Monks in ''[[Dungeons
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*** Plus, {{spoiler|he can be insta-killed with the [[Game Breaker|Hidden Blade]], just like every other NPC}}.
** Although his true age is unknown, La Volpe from the sequel is clearly no spring chicken as his wrinkled face shows. Nevertheless, the first time Ezio meets him, the former is winded trying to keep him.
** Ezio and Altair eventually become this, as shown in ''[[Assassin's Creed: Revelations]]''.
* The magician Patrus from ''[[Betrayal at Krondor]]'' is a hardy old geezer. It doesn't matter if you're a tough dark elf fighter, mess with him and you'll be disposed off in an unceremonious huff.
** For that matter, Gorath also qualifies, after surviving in a position of leadership in a cutthroat society for close to two and a half ''centuries''.
* Fo Fai from ''Battle Arena Toshinden''. According to the manual, he's 103 when the first tournament starts.
* ''[[Final Fantasy XI]]'' has Maat, the old man responsible for raising the level cap from 50 to 75 (or just to 70 on a few expansion jobs). He uses both [[Wax On, Wax Off]] and [[Training
** Love him or hate him, you have to respect him. Even if you fought Maat as a Red Mage [[Nintendo Hard|back in the days before he was nerfed]], you have to smile when you see Maat whalloping the crap out of enemies [[Timey-Wimey Ball|in the past]] in the ''Wings of the Goddess'' expansion.
* Master Li in ''[[Jade Empire]]''.
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