Late Teen Hero

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Love them or hate them, teenagers are things that exist. They often end up as the protagonist of a lot of works, especially in Anime and Manga. Using a teenage protagonist is effective because it reflects the target demographic of a lot of shows. For example, a lot of mainstream anime series target teenagers around the world, not just in Japan. They also allow the exploration of some mature themes, such as loss, grief, and mental stress. Both kids, teens, and adults can relate to a teenage protagonist. Young kids can see themselves as a teen in a couple of years. Adults can think back to their teenage years. No wonder why the Kid Hero trope is so popular!

The Sister Trope Early Teen Hero deals with twelve to fifteen year olds, as that is the range where a character is the most relatable. That range does post some limitations, though, thus the Late Teen Hero deals with sixteen to nineteen year olds. Using Early Teen Hero prohibits you from exploring some mature and adult themes, particularly those involving blood and gore. Audiences will be left thinking to themselves, Exactly why is someone so young going through all that trauma? Sure, that never stopped shows like Neon Genesis Evangelion and Puella Magi Madoka Magica, but it's best to be on the safe side.

Plus, an older teenage protagonist can venture out into the world by themselves without a parent, like the seventeen year old Suzume. It allows the protagonist to stay in an environment like a Wizarding School without their parents (see the Little Witch Academia and Harry Potter franchises), allowing them greater freedom. It can also be used to explore the transition from childhood to adulthood, with a hero who just turned eighteen.

Sister Trope to Early Teen Hero. Sometimes, if a work spans multiple years, The Hero will grow from being a regular Kid Hero into being an Early Teen Hero, and finally into Late Teen Hero. This trope has a lot of overlap with Kid Hero, although the heroes may be too old to be considered a "kid", and many older heroes covered by this trope aren't kids at all.

No real life examples, please; real life does not have this sort of heroes.

Examples of Late Teen Hero include:

Anime and Manga

• Almost every single student attending the Luna Nova Wizarding School in Little Witch Academia is sixteen years old. The Inept Mage hero Atsuko "Akko" Kagari's age is explicitly stated in the Nonsensical Witch and the Country of the Fairies light novel.

Now, at sixteen, I'd gotten my heart's desire and come all the way from Japan to attend Luna Nova.

• • This trope also applies to the two films, Little Witch Academia and Little Witch Academia: The Enchanted Parade, before the series continuity reboot.
• Studio Ghibli
  • The Cat Returns has the seventeen year old Haru.
  • Porco Rosso has the seventeen year old Fio Piccolo.
  • From Up on Poppy Hill has the sixteen year olds Umi and Shun.
  • Tales From Earthsea has the sixteen year old Therru.
  • According to storyboards, Ashitaka from Princess Mononoke is seventeen years old.
  • Sophie Hatter in Howl's Moving Castle was eighteen. Was eighteen. The trope is only briefly used, before she is cursed to become a much older lady around ninety in age.
• Nausicaä in Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind (both anime and manga) has an age which falls around this range. The age is never officially stated, though, although some sources cite it as sixteen.
• Makoto Shinkai seems fond of this trope:
  • The titular Suzume in (guess what) Suzume is seventeen years old, old enough for her to travel through Japan on her own, but still young enough for there to be drama between her and her family.
  • In Weathering with You, Hodaka is sixteen, and Hina is nearly eighteen. Hina lied about her age. She's closer to fifteen.
  • In Your Name, both Taki and Mitsuha are older high schoolers, putting their ages at around sixteen to seventeen. This allows Taki freedom to travel throughout Japan for the story, as well as allowing some workplace drama.
• Both Miyuki Shirogane and Kaguya Shinomiya in Kaguya-sama: Love Is War are seventeen. The supporting cast is around this age as well, being first or second years in high school. This allows for the show to explore the central "love is war" premise for people around this age.
• In Sword Art Online (and thus Sword Art Online Abridged), both Kirito and Asuna are sixteen by the time the whole "Sword Art Online" incident is finished.

Comic Books

• Several popular Marvel Comics heroes were this in the earliest stories, including Spider-Man and the original X-Men.
• Most of The Legion of Super Heroes either started as this or grew into it.
• Superboy and Supergirl, both occassional members of the aforementioned Legion.

Literature

• Howl's Castle:
  • A borderline example is in House of Many Ways. The main character Charmain Baker is implied to be around this age range. She's old enough to be sent away to look after a house on her own, indicating she is at least sixteen to be able to take on such a responsibility. However, in an Exact Words letter, she indicates that she is of age without specifying exactly what age she is of. The intended interpretation for the letter--which is false--is that she has come of age, and is at least eighteen. This is implied to be false, putting the upper boundary of her age at seventeen.
  • Sophie Hatter, the eldest of three siblings, starts the novel being eighteen. Her status as a Late Teen Hero doesn't last long, though. She is cursed to look like a ninety year old woman for the vast majority of the book. She's only this age for the first couple of chapters, and the last couple of pages.

Live-Action TV

• While the Power Rangers are usually Teenagers with Attitude they are usually this, aften growing into young adults before the end of their heroic careers.

Video Games

• Little Witch Academia: Chamber of Time, featuring the same characters and setting as the Little Witch Academia anime.

Web Comics

• In Pepper&Carrot, the main characters (Pepper, Saffron, Shichimi, Coriander) are all eighteen. Their ages are between fourteen to seventeen between episodes 2 and 20, according to the official wiki. This age allows the exploration of some family drama between Pepper and her caregivers, but doesn't get in the way of Pepper travelling independent throughout the web comic.