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Older Is Better: Difference between revisions
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{{quote|''"We extol ancient things regardless of the modern."''|'''Tacitus''', ''[[wikipedia:Annals (Tacitus)|Annales]]''}}
The idea, especially in Fantasy settings, that older things generally are better. The swords left behind by an old civilization are better than those made by their modern descendants. Same goes for armor, magic, or whatever. Anything that can be described as "ancient" is better than its modern counterpart, as if people are regressing rather than inventing new technologies and improving on old ideas. In fact, this technology is so superior that it continues to outperform modern ones [[Ragnarok Proofing|despite spending a dozen centuries half buried in dirt in a cave]]. This can be explained by a setting with [[Medieval Stasis]]: if technology is not advancing, then older items made by legendary craftsmen will be better than modern gear made by run-of-the-mill craftsmen. Sometimes this can also be explained by the source of the items being a [[Precursor]] race or Civilization, with the "modern" civilization having simply not caught up to them yet.
Subtropes of this include:
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== Anime ==
* Averted for fun in the ''[[Slayers]]'' tv series, where an ancient golem awakens to crush the heroes and promptly breaks down from centuries of disuse.
* In ''[[Yu-Gi-Oh!]]'', the older the magic, the better. This is especially seen in the Waking the Dragons arc. Got 5000 year old magic? Too bad, my magic is ''10,000'' years old.
* ''[[The Mysterious Cities of Gold]]'' - All of the [[Lost Technology]] of the [[Mayincatec]] [[Precursors]] is far superior to what is produced now, even by the European nations. They have boats moved by solar-powered engines while Europe has not even discovered the steam engine yet.
** To say nothing of their solar powered airplane.
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== Tabletop Games ==
* A standard trope in ''[[Dungeons
** Semi-averted in [[Forgotten Realms]]: After the [[Gotterdammerung|Fall of Netheril]] the world's magic circuitry is broken. Alas, it's impossible to cast spells as powerful as Mavin's Worldweave or Proctiv's Seal Crystal Sphere (11 level). On the other hand? There's constant development—Netheril in his prime had nothing as efficient as Virus Charm or Sammaster's Spellcaster. Even magic items of relatively recent era of Myth Drannor are sometimes fabled and sometimes plain inferior (like protections [[Overclocking Attack|exploding on overload]]).
*** Of course, Myth Drannor itself is "fabled" because humans ran in, got some of the old elven magical knowledge and began to ''rapidly develop'' on it, dragging elves along. [[Just As Planned]], since the Coronal made this unpopular decision after observing a few Mage Fairs and coming to the conclusion that though he and a handful of others are [[Too Much for Man to Handle|more powerful]], he wants the best human wizards to work with his folk, if and while possible.
* A major element in the ''[[BattleTech]]'' and ''[[Mechwarrior]]'' universe. Most of the galaxy's technological and industrial base ended up getting smashed in a lengthy series of civil war, losing them the ability to produce their highly advanced technology. Thus, newer mechs tend to be less capable in combat when paired up against similar mechs that were built hundreds of years earlier. Of course, if you HAVE such an old (but powerful) mech, you try to make sure it gets the best of maintenance so it will continue to be the best.
** This was only true up to around 3040. Modern designs like the ''Hauptmann'' and ''Uriel'' are at least as good as their Star League counterparts, and the Clans, who were unaffected by the Succession Wars, field mechs that are ''vastly'' superior to equipment from ''any'' era in the Inner Sphere.
* Obviously very prominent in ''[[Warhammer
** Human technology is locked in stasis due to technology [[Machine Worship|becoming a religion]] and 'discovery' effectively becoming archaeology - the only way an innovation will ever be approved by the high priests of the tech-cult is if it can be shown to have been an original part, or intended optional extra, of the base design.
** [[Space Elves|Eldar]] technology is similarly unable to improve a lot because they are, as a species, essentially all refugees and mostly unable to sustain their population, never mind their technological infrastructure. They do innovate though, but not often and only in terms of re-applying existing knowledge and not making new discoveries.
** [[The Soulless|The Necrons]]...basically ''are'' an Ancient [[Precursor]] race, only made into immortal, self-repairing robots and locked in stasis for 65Myr. They haven't improved their technology because it's already vastly superior to everyone else's and they are now unthinking automatons, for the most part.
** Chaos avert this in that they are constantly coming up with new stuff or, rather, are prepared to let their [[Eldritch Abomination|gods]] change their old stuff in unpredictable ways (that usually involve lots of [[Spikes of Villainy|spikes]] as well) for them.
** The Tau, on the other hand, avert this entirely; as the naive upstart race they are constantly updating and upgrading their technology, seeking alliances with other species and generally acting entirely counter to the tone of the setting...unless you are foolish enough to get in their way.
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** Averted in Skyrim in a way that applies to the rest of the series: dwarven armor is made from dwarven metal, which can only be found in dwarven ruins (in the form of dwarven-made metal objects). Once you have the metal, you can make dwarven armor to your heart's content, and even improve upon it beyond what you'll find sitting around the ruins.
* ''[[Dragon Age]]: Origins - Awakening'' has the Sentinel Armor Set, easily the best Massive Armor in the expansion. According to the lore, however, it belonged to the Grey Warden who killed the very first Archdemon ''over one thousand years ago''.
* In ''[[Diablo II]]'' (and clones) all of the items with more obscure ancient names are for some reason better.
* ''[[
* In [[Kingdom of Loathing]], the pieces of the Antique Arms & Armory are the first pieces of equipment to hit the power ceiling, with each of them having 200 power. However, they also have drawback effects (most notably being [[Breakable Weapons]]) that make them [[Awesome but Impractical]]. But then again, the stuff you can dig up at the bottom of the sea are all [[Infinity+1 Sword|Infinity Plus One Swords]], as are the pieces of the Legendary Regalia (old, powerful artifacts that have a connection to your class). So there are at least three examples here.
** Parodied in the Slime Tube with 1950s clothing and toys that are nonetheless extremely powerful.
* In [[Star Control 2]], the massive galaxy-dominating battleship was a repurposed artifact from The [[Precursor]]s; most of the ultra-powerful devices are Precursor in origin.
* In ''[[Sword of the Stars]]'' the player-buildable Asteroid Monitors introduced in ''Argos Naval Yard'' are inferior to the [[Random Encounters|Randomly]]-encountered ones built by past Morrigi.
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** Recent studies are beginning to disprove this, making this an aversion on technical merits, but played straight for sentimental (and monetary) value. Obviously no possessor of such ancient instruments is willing to have them dissected for this purpose, but other studies that present a number of instruments, old and new, to a number of musicians shows that no one is capable of telling the difference between an old and new instrument, either in the playing or the listening. Arguably, this makes the modern versions superior, as you can buy them, then drive yourself to the performance in a brand new car you bought with your antique violin funds.
*** Since some musicans refer to their electric guitar as their "axe", would that make this an example of an [[Ancestral Weapon]]? <insert [[Rimshot]] sound here>
* Newer technology often depends on certain assumptions and can be ineffective or even useless outside of that context. This can result in having "obsolete" technology used in places where new technology fares poorly or kept around as a backup. See [[Rock Beats Laser]].
** The US military phased out pack animals in the 1950s, only to be reminded that wheels are poorly suited to the rugged terrain found in areas of Afghanistan. In 2004, the US Army printed ''Special Forces Use of Pack Animals'', which "captures some of the expertise and techniques that have been lost...over the last 50 years."
*** The same happened back in WWII. Cavalry was among the Soviet troops who caused most troubles to Germans on the early stage after control and logistics were lost. Because in short term they needed only machinegun/rifle ammo and food for men, and horses are good for bad terrain. In comparison, Soviet [http://www.wwiivehicles.com/ussr/tanks-heavy/kv-2.asp heavy tanks] were by far the most powerful of their time, but without directions and supply got reduced to light fortifications lonely holding a tiny spot until out of shells—at best.
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[[Category:Elders]]
[[Category:Index]]
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