History ChildSoldiers / FanWorks

[[AC:''LightNovel/TheFamiliarOfZero'']]

[[AC:''Franchiose/OnePiece'']]

* ''Fanfic/AdviceAndTrust'': Shinji, Asuka and Rei, fourteen-years-old kids pilot war mechs and fight a war against giant alien monsters. Asuka and Rei have been training her whole lives for it, and the former is especially devoted to it. Often they talk about how broken they are due to be someone else's war tools.

ChildSoldiers in fan works.

** The toll from this system is so high that halfway through, it's casually revealed that [[spoiler:Sakura, Kiba and Tenten are the only 'graduates' ''left'' -- all the other shinobi kids have been killed in action or DrivenToSuicide, leaving Team 14 as the only three non-clan kids still alive]].

* ''[[http://www.mediaminer.org/fanfic/view_st.php?id=112882&submit=View Digimon Clone Wars]]'' introduces the Red Ribbon Army (not to be mistaken with the one from ''Franchise/DragonBall''), a terror organization lead by Davis, who consists entirely out of the cloned children of the other Digidestineds. Taken [[UpToEleven up to eleven]] by the fact, that some of those children are not even two years old. The sad thing is, the author actually thinks Davis is a good guy, despite that and expects us, [[RootingForTheEmpire to root for him]].

* ''Fanfic/TheChildOfLove'': Shinji, Asuka and Rei are fourteen-years-old kids forced to or cajoled into fighting giant alien monsters. This is already pretty bad as it is, but it gets worse when Gendo decides [[spoiler:turning a newborn baby into a war weapon.]]

[[''Franchise/TolkiensLegendarium'']]
* FanFic/TheServantsOfUngoliant'': Darklanders that serve as Ungoliant's soldiers are inclined to be teenagers and young adults. Individuals older than twenty-six are relatively uncommon.

* In ''Fanfic/NewHopeUniversityMajorInMurder'', there is a character named Guiseppe Perfetto, more commonly known as Bepi. He was put at 6 years old in a military of people who wanted to break him and the others, breaking their minds. An example of this of these includes when he was put into a room with other children, with only one person going out alive. He didn't even have a name for a long time, being referred to as a number until he [[AwesomeMcCoolName chose his name]] to annoy his commanders.

Most importantly, the other alternative (that is, being a regular citizen rather than a ChildSoldier) is ''worse''.\\

* ''Fanfic/TheNightUnfurls'' presents a rare {{reconstruction}} of the '''Precociously Talented Type''' (or a LighterAndSofter {{deconstruction}} of the '''Just Plain Tragic Type'''). Since Sanakan, Hugh and Soren are [[KidHero Kid Heroes]] who participate in the war against the [[ArmyOfThievesAndWhores Black Dogs]], they would qualify in all but name. Notably, they are '''not''' portrayed as [[HeroicBSOD emotional]] [[ShellShockedVeteran wrecks]] [[PrecisionFStrike fucked]] up beyond repair from war, and the narrative does not [[RuleOfDrama milk]] the potential {{angst}} for all it's worth either.
** The setting is a MedievalEuropeanFantasy, rather than a modern/futuristic one. Therefore, DeliberateValuesDissonance is expected. Aside from the absence of UsefulNotes/TheLawsAndCustomsOfWar, their apprenticeship under [[{{Mentor}} Sir Kyril]], a [[{{Knighting}} legitimate]] [[BlackKnight knight]], brings to mind how kids are trained under feudal systems with a warrior-aristocrat caste (see the '''Real Life''' folder of the '''Precociously Talented Type''' for more details). In particular, Kyril outright refers to both Sanakan and Hugh as his [[TheSquire "squires"]].The minor differences include the fact that the three are of commoner blood rather than BlueBlood, as well as the more "fantastic" way of training.
** Their MentorInSourArmor happens to be quite decent. The best thing? He [[ResurrectiveImmortality can't die]], so they don't have to worry about [[MentorOccupationalHazard losing]] him.
** Last but not least, the other alternative (that is, being a regular citizen rather than a ChildSoldier) is ''worse''.
--->'''Kyril:''' You (Sanakan and Hugh) did ask for me to make you both stronger. But [[RedPillBluePill if you wish to still leave you are free to go]]. The contract is merely a formality under my ruling. You'll wake up from the Dream, forget about it and you can be on your merry way. You can live out your life until the [[ArmyOfThievesAndWhores Black Dogs]] take you as a [[SexSlave slave]] or [[DeathOfAChild kill you]].

** The setting is a MedievalEuropeanFantasy, rather than a modern/futuristic one. Therefore, DeliberateValuesDissonance is expected. Aside from the absence of UsefulNotes/TheLawsAndCustomsOfWar, their apprenticeship under [[{{Mentor}} Sir Kyril]], a [[{{Knighting}} legitimate]] [[BlackKnight knight]], brings to mind how kids are trained under feudal systems with a warrior-aristocrat caste (see the '''Real Life''' folder of the '''Precociously Talented Type''' for more details). The minor differences include the fact that the three are of commoner blood rather than BlueBlood, as well as the more "fantastic" way of training.

* ''Fanfic/TheNightUnfurls'' presents a rare {{reconstruction}} of the Precociously Talented Type (or a LighterAndSofter {{deconstruction}} of the Just Plain Tragic Type). Since Sanakan, Hugh and Soren are [[KidHero Kid Heroes]] who participate in the war against the [[ArmyOfThievesAndWhores Black Dogs]], they would qualify in all but name. Notably, they are '''not''' portrayed as [[HeroicBSOD emotional]] [[ShellShockedVeteran wrecks]] [[PrecisionFStrike fucked]] up beyond repair from war, and the narrative does not [[RuleOfDrama milk]] the potential {{angst}} for all it's worth either.
** The setting is a MedievalEuropeanFantasy, rather than a modern/futuristic one. Therefore, DeliberateValuesDissonance is expected. Aside from the absence of UsefulNotes/TheLawsAndCustomsOfWar, their apprenticeship under [[{{Mentor}} Sir Kyril]], a [[{{Knighting}} legitimate]] [[BlackKnight knight]], brings to mind how kids are trained under feudal systems with a warrior-aristocrat caste (see the Real Life folder of the Precociously Talented Type for more details). The minor differences include the fact that the three are of commoner blood rather than BlueBlood, as well as the more "fantastic" way of training.

[[AC:''Franchise/{{Naruto}}'']

''Fanfic/BoldoresAndBoomsticks'': One of the things that horrifies Lusamine the most about her perception of Remnant is the idea that children who on Earth would be starting Pokémon journeys are instead trained to fight and kill Grimm.

* ''FanFic/ShinjiAndWarhammer40K'': Reconstructed with Mana when she declares that, yes, she has been traumatized, and yes, she has lost friends, but she is a soldier, it is her LIFE, and she refuses quitting.

* ''Manga/{{Evangelion 303}}'': Despite of the original material playing the trope, this fanwork consciously averts it. The creator does not keep the pilots' canon ages, and all of them are at least twenty-years-old.

[[AC:''Franchise/{{Pokemon}}'']]
* ''[[Fanfic/PokeWars Dawn of a New Era]]'' features the eponymous Pokémon coordinator as a badass but broken warrior.

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* Alex Vaughn, the main protagonist from ''Fanfic/TheTerminatorsArmyOfLegend'' series was kidnapped when he was only three years old and forced into the military. By the time he founds the Terminator Militia, he's only four years old.
* ''Fanfic/TheWarOfTheMasters'':
** Owing in part to a bureaucratic mistake between species with different aging rates (Klingons are physically adult several years sooner than humans or Gorn), the Klingon Defense Force and allied services ended up inducting Gorn and Moabite human minors as full soldiers. The practice was abolished after somebody with sense managed to get the age problem across to the Klingon high command, but not soon enough to prevent Moabite teens developing war-induced PTSD, especially after [[ApocalypseHow the Fek'Ihri invasion of Moab III and New Saigon]].
** Elizabeth Tran, RebelLeader and future First Minister of the Moab Confederacy, started recruiting anyone old enough to aim a gun into her independence movement months before the events of ''Fanfic/InThePresenceOfHeavenWouldYouChooseHell'', where Moab comes under attack from Orion slavers and then secedes from the Federation to ally with the Klingon Empire. The numbers of the militia on Moab itself are augmented with cloned soldiers who are also biologically young teens when activated. The child soldiers, especially the vat-grown ones, ''are'' very effective, and the Moab Confederacy tries to justify this with the fact that they've got to build a military ''fast'' and have very few experienced soldiers (the entire country has only 500 million people, and most of their trained personnel are defectors or retirees from Starfleet, surviving Maquis, or Klingon advisers), but these kids are thrown headlong into many of the bloodiest battles in the continuity, which [[ShellshockedVeteran leaves many of them with severe PTSD]]. When the practice is finally discovered, it causes a ''huge'' international incident and the Moab Parliament's hamhanded attempt to fix the problem only makes things worse.

* ''Fanfic/ChildrenOfAnElderGod'': Played for horror in this Evangelion/Franchise/CthulhuMythos crossover. All adults who try to synch with an [[HumongousMecha Evangelion]] go mad, mutate or die. The only ones capable of piloting an Evangelion are six fourteen-year-old kids who have to fight Cthulhu and co. to save humanity, and whose bodies change and mutate whenever they kill an EldritchAbomination. Eventually they stop being human, and although they don't go mad, they're very traumatized.
* In ''Fanfic/OnceMoreWithFeeling'': Several characters like Kaji highlight that NERV is using kids to fight giant alien monsters, and the Eva pilots have an awful deal, but unfortunately the survival of mankind demands sacrifices. Even so, Shinji is understandably bitter about it.
-->'''Shinji''': You are asking a fourteen year old child to put his life on the line, going into combat against things that tear through divisions of crack troops.

* ''Fanfic/LetUsBeYourPoison'': Even before joining Beacon and similar academies at seventeen, students have already long-since begun their huntsman training. Many children learn from a very young age to fight like adults. The protagonist Ruby is especially young for a Beacon student, being only fifteen when she's [[GradeSkipper skipped]] into Beacon.
* ''Fanfic/SeventhEndmostVision'' uses their past as Teen Soldiers as a consistent element of [[SuperSoldier Tifa]] and [[FallenHero Aerith's]] characterization; Tifa explicitly states she was a few months shy of fourteen when she first joined SOLDIER.
* ''Fanfic/TheirBond'': Zelda and Link both began fighting in a war at age 13. The war traumatized them. Link was already an [[TheAlcoholic alcoholic]] and [[spoiler:drug addict]] before age 18. During [[spoiler:Zelda's treason trial]], Link being a child soldier is discussed because Hyrule has laws against it. More specifically, it's considered "corruption of a minor" (someone under 18) to "give a minor tasks specified for an adult". Link is a special case because he had previously given a sworn statement saying that he fully understood what he was getting into.
* In ''Fanfic/LoveWorthWaitingFor'', one of Mulan's recruits, dubbed "Little Brother", claims to be fourteen, however he's clearly closer to twelve. Mulan hates seeing such a young boy train to be a soldier.
* In ''Fanfic/NewHopeUniversityMajorInMurder'', there is a character named Guiseppe Perfetto, more commonly known as Bepi. He was put at 6 years old in a military of people who wanted to break him and the others, breaking their minds. An example of this of these includes when he was put into a room with other children, with only one person going out alive. He didn't even have a name for a long time, being referred to as a number until he [[AwesomeMcCoolName chose his name]] to annoy his commanders.

* ''Fanfic/TheMasksWeWearJiggleWigs'': In chapter 1, Ozai confronts and kills a spy who is still a teenager himself. The boy is not even large enough to fit into the adult guard's uniform.
* Many of the [[WebAnimation/{{RWBY}} Beacon students]] in ''Fanfic/RemnantInferisDOOM'' end up suffering from this as a result of the trauma of fighting the [[VideoGame/DOOM2016 demons]]. Nora is frequently on the verge of suffering from breakdowns and needs Ren to calm her down, Jaune starts cracking from the pressure of the responsibilities given to him, ''all'' the members of team RWBY have suffered from BreakTheCutie moments either from horrific nightmares brought about by the trauma or being forced to kill [[spoiler:fellow Beacon students that betrayed them]], and all of them are still teenagers. Ruby gets it the worst, as at fifteen, she's been subjected to so much violence and bloodshed in such a short time that it's causing her a great deal of SanitySlippage.
* ''Fanfic/EquestriaGirlsFriendshipSouls'': Downplayed with Quincy. Most of them are trained since a young age to fight Hollows and spend most of the time perfecting their skills. With how regular Quincy is outclassed in terms of power compared to Arrancars and Soul Reapers, it's necessary. Sugarcoat mentions that, while they have times off, they have hard time maintaining their social life. Still, they're kept away from serious fights (the one time when they were brought to the battlefield it ended with many of cadets dead, without limb or like [[spoiler: Twilight]] showing sings of ShellShockedVeteran) until they graduate to soldats and have a chance to leave instead of joining them. The age at which they start their training also varies from person to person. [[spoiler: Twilight and Diamond Tiara]] for example were [[GiveHimANormalLife unaware of their families business]] until recently, while [[spoiler:Silver Spoon]] was being trained since the day she was able to walk.
** Played straight with Guto's army. To become part of it, children have to pass series of gruesome tests and if they don't, they're being starved. The final part is a group fight where only a handful of them survives. Gilda says that before [[FriendToAllChildren Lament]], it was this or staying in the warrens, trying to not being eaten.
* Child soldiers in the ''Anime/PuellaMagiMadokaMagica'' fic, ''Fanfic/ToTheStars'', are both precociously talented and tragic. Magical girls are the only thing holding the line between humanity and the genocidal aliens, and they suffer horrifically for it. The collective human guilt sees underaged magical girls being granted the same legal privileges as adults, and everyone knows that is inadequate for what they must do.
* ''Fanfic/BoldoresAndBoomsticks'': One of the things that horrifies Lusamine the most about her perception of Remnant is the idea that children who on Earth would be starting Pokémon journeys are instead trained to fight and kill Grimm.

* A particularly ridiculous version is the ''Franchise/StarTrek'' fanfiction series about FanFic/MarissaPicard, in which a twelve-year-old is given command of the Enterprise saucer section, and does so well with it that she is permanently promoted to Ensign (not acting, like Wesley Crusher at 16). She starts up a "Kids' Crew" organization that is a shadow government for starships, in which children, none of whom seem to be over 12, can take over the running of a ship if its senior crew are incapacitated. Their ranks are acting, but so long as they're still 'activated' they can tell any properly commissioned officer what to do. Few of the adults over whose heads they jump seem to mind, and those that do quite reasonably resent it are depicted as idiots. By way of comparison, in ''TNG'', there was a "cadet crew" made up of some of the teens and older pre-teens, but their activities were realistically limited. The only time they actually did anything "for real" was during an exceptionally severe shipwide emergency where everyone available was needed. Even then, they were limited to doing what they'd actually learned.

** Harry seems to be slowly drifting into this, being 13 at the start of the first book. Unusually for this trope, almost all the adults in his life explicitly trying to keep him ''out'' of trouble, being entirely aware of the problems of this trope. However, thanks to a mix of his ChronicHeroSyndrome, uncanny nose for trouble, and a number of major villainous entities and power-groups (e.g. HYDRA) wanting to eliminate him before he becomes a serious threat, and above all, the manipulations of Doctor Strange (who's shaping Harry to ultimately take on Thanos) he winds up becoming something like this - doubly so after the Avengers and other adults reluctantly start training him in earnest because he's going to need to know how to defend himself, while also trying to make sure that he maintains a relatively normal social life. Unlike most examples, he's increasingly a ShellShockedVeteran, but fairly stable, more of a KidHero... then, early in the sequel, during the ''Forever Red'' arc, he runs into the Red Room, creators of the Winter Soldier and the Black Widows. They end up [[spoiler: reprogramming his - unknown to them - empty body as the Red Son, the Winter Soldier's superpowered successor, and using him on 6-months-in-12-days of missions involving assassination and MindRape.]] When he gets [[spoiler: his body and]] the memories back, he a) goes berserk, b) even after being reined in, he exhibits classic symptoms of PTSD and admits that he's 'not entirely sane'.
** To one extent or another, his friends start ending up like this, which is why he explicitly wants to keep Ron, Hermione, and [[spoiler: Clark]] out of the more action-packed side of things.
** [[spoiler: Maddie Pryor a.k.a. Rachel Grey]], the stolen at birth twin of [[spoiler: Jean Grey]], is raised as a straight example of this, being trained from birth to be a LivingWeapon and is barely able to interact normally with other people after her HeelFaceTurn.
* In ''FanFic/{{Exoria}}'', Hylian Joint Intelligence is revealed to have hijacked the Spencer Welfare Program, an initiative designed to raise and educate orphaned children so they can serve the government when then grow up. Joint Intelligence keeps tabs on the program to search for candidates for the intelligence agency, and provide them underage military training covertly. Agent Link became an exceedingly young agent of Joint Intelligence this way. On one hand, Link doesn't seem to be too badly off with this upbringing, but Princess Zelda clearly disapproves, and, given the story's narrative slant, it's too early to tell how this will come back to bite Link in the ass.

* Played for drama (obviously - it is a ''Manga/{{Bokurano}}'' concept applied to ponies) in ''FanFic/OurEquestria'' - a group of children gets tricked into FallingIntoTheCockpit. It gets FromBadToWorse from there.

* [[WesternAnimation/DCNation Fauna]] considers the [[ComicBook/TeenTitans Titans]] to be this, [[WhatTheHellHero and hasn't much respect for the JLA (or Doom Patrol) as a result]]. She also finds it very disquieting to see the Titans' children so eager to follow in their parents' footsteps. [[http://community.livejournal.com/jla_watchtower/973271.html She keeps her opinion mostly to herself to avoid offending her teammates, only confessing it to Troia, who tried to justify it]]. It still makes her seriously question the ethics of choosing a caped hero's life.
* Tabitha, as portrayed in the ''LightNovel/TheFamiliarOfZero'' fics ''Fanfic/PointsOfFamiliarity'' and ''Fanfic/TheHillOfSwords'', is one by dint of her EvilUncle sending her on impossible missions in the hope of getting her killed. She persists in disappointing him.
* Deconstructed during the ''FanFic/TamersForeverSeries''

* ''[[FanFic/KakashisKid Kakashi's Kid]]'', a ''Manga/{{Naruto}}'' fic, has one of the genius's children as the narrator. She has no hopes of leading a nonviolent life, [[spoiler:especially if her mother is indeed an Uzumaki]].
* Also from ''Manga/{{Naruto}}'',''[[FanFic/SpiderThread Spider Thread]]'' has the main trio becoming ninja at a very young age.
* Again, this is a major premise of Naruto, so it naturally comes up in the Justice League {{crossover}} ''FanFic/ConnectingTheDots''. The principled Justice League is horrified to discover there is a whole dimension of child assassins, even though Flash points out that the League employs plenty of teenagers.
* [[http://www.mediaminer.org/fanfic/view_st.php?id=112882&submit=View Digimon Clone Wars]] introduces the Red Ribbon Army (not to be mistaken with the one form Dragon Ball), a terror organization lead by Davis, who consists entirely out of the cloned children of the other Digidestineds. Taken [[UpToEleven up to eleven]] by the fact, that some of those children are not even two years old. The sad thing is, the author actually thinks Davis is a good guy, despite that and expects us, [[RootingForTheEmpire to root for him.]]
* The Cutie Mark Crusaders officially become ones in chapter 16 of ''[[{{Fanfic/AceCombatEquestriaChronicles}} Ace Combat: The Equestrian War]]''. To their credit, they actually ''want'' to fight the griffins and they helped in defending Ponyville ealier.
* [[FanFic/TheServantsOfUngoliant Darklanders]] that serve as Ungoliant's soldiers are inclined to be teenagers and young adults. Individuals older than twenty-six are relatively uncommon.
* In ''Fanfic/BoysDoTankary'', several of the characters have actual military experiene despite not being older than the ''Anime/GirlsUndPanzer'' cast. Nyra is 12, her crew consists of several teenage girls. On the more extreme side, Vincent was ''six'' when he entered the army, and he and Gage were ''[[ImprobableAge seven]]'' when they got leadership of their own platoons. While the war is portrayed fairly disturbingly, the implications it would have on the kids are not fully explored, although Vincent and Gage are driven to drink by a series of events that resulted in Nyra's death [[spoiler:or so they thought at the time]].
* PlayedForLaughs in ''WebVideo/ScootertrixTheAbridged'', where the Cutie Mark Crusaders are not only in the military, but are '''[[AChildShallLeadThem leading it]]''' as Celestia's most trusted generals, in a three way war between Equestria, Sombra, and The Changeling Empire. Much to [[OnlySaneMan Luna's]] horror.
* [[Anime/PokemonTheSeries Ash Ketchum]] in ''Fanfic/{{Traveler}}'' ends up working for the Pokemon League [[spoiler:as an Elite Four Trainee]] after his incredibly talent is recognized. Notably, others like Steven are far more concerned about the fact Ash is only 12 and getting into life and death situations than he is.
* Played surprisingly straight in ''Fanfic/ToTheStars''. Not with the veteran Magical "Girls", many of whom [[ReallySevenHundredYearsOld comfortably predate the anti-aging treatments applicable to the general population]], but freshly contracted kids as young as their chronological early teens are invariably drafted and sent to the front lines of an interstellar war with alien invaders within weeks of being identified. They get the most comfortable billets available and all the psychological help that can be found. They are automatically [[EnsignNewbie commissioned]], and the power-armored centenarians under their nominal command have standing orders to protect them at all costs. Such things take the edge off... some... but the use of Magical Girls is the only reason humanity has not been wiped out yet.
* ''Fanfic/StarkitsProphecy'': Starpaw is such an amazing fighter that she's made a warrior after being apprenticed for only 3.14 days. Cats become apprentices at only 6 months, so she's barely the equivalent of a teenager (if even that).
* Downplayed with six year old [[spoiler:Link]] in ''Fanfic/BlindCourage'', He's begun his training but he won't be expected to be a full-on guard until he's older.
* ''Fanfic/CoventinasCrown'': By seventeen, Morain is one of the greatest warriors that the Nameless Zone has ever known.

* Jyn Erso in ''Fanfic/{{Precipice}}'' is first seen helping raid an Imperial facility alongside Saw Gerrera's crew at just over thirteen. Rex, thanks to his experiences in helping raise Leia, can't help but find it off-putting that someone so young is able to take part in such high-stakes missions.

* ''Fanfic/AdviceAndTrust'': Shinji, Asuka and Rei, fourteen-years-old kids pilot war mechs and fight a war against giant alien monsters. Asuka and Rei have been training her whole lives for it, and the former is especially devoted to it. Often they talk about how broken they are due to be someone else's war tools.
* In ''Fanfic/AllAmericanGirl'', Chrysalis used her abilities to produce numerous pony/changeling hybrid (or "pepsis") children from [[ChildByRape her rape of Shining Armor]]. She then uses her magic to accelerate their growth so they reach young adulthood pretty much at birth. Though some manage to prove themselves and act like generals or elite operatives, she really only views them as tools and pawns in her plans, and is perfectly willing to kill them or send them on a SuicideMission if they show any "weakness" (ie, empathy or morality), and she doesn't really her pure changeling offspring as anything more than tools either, or maybe potential rivals in the case of her princess daughters. Twilight Sunburn can attest to that.
* ''Fanfic/TheChildOfLove'': Shinji, Asuka and Rei are fourteen-years-old kids forced to or cajoled into fighting giant alien monsters. This is already pretty bad as it is, but it gets worse when Gendo decides [[spoiler:turning a newborn baby into a war weapon.]]
* ''Manga/{{Evangelion 303}}'': Despite of the original material playing the trope, this fanwork consciously averts it. The creator does not keep the pilots' canon ages, and all of them are at least twenty-years-old.
* In ''Fanfic/DumbledoresArmyAndTheYearOfDarkness'', at least half of the members of the Dumbledore's Army die horribly, and a good amount are crippled or killed in the sequel. However, the fic tends to glorify the hardened child soldiers in comparison to Harry, who hasn't embraced the military mindset. What's more, it gets taken to utterly ludicrous levels. Somehow, they manage to form a complete mock-military structure despite being from a culture with ''no'' armed forces, develop a martyrdom mindset that in real life requires indoctrination from toddlerhood, and in general make an absolute mockery out of the subject. And the injuries they suffer are only terrible because the author's forgotten the ''Literature/HarryPotter'' universe has extremely powerful magical healing.
* The ''Series/{{Firefly}}'' fanfic ''Fanfic/{{Forward}}'' has a reveal later on that some of [[SchoolForScheming the Academy's]] test subjects are pre-teens. It is implied that one of them managed to kill several security guards when a training exercise went out of control.
* ''Fanfic/{{HERZ}}'': Shinji, Asuka and Rei were child soldiers in the past, and the ordeal broke them down. Twelve years after they have mostly recovered but not entirely, and the past will not leave them alone.
* The Franchise/{{Pokemon}} fanfic ''[[Fanfic/PokeWars Dawn of a New Era]]'' features the eponymous Pokémon coordinator as a badass but broken warrior.
* The Sufferists from {{Fanfic/Hivefled}} are led by a WellIntentionedExtremist with a penchant for FantasticRacism, and consist mostly of kids and youths who skipped conscription, with the few adults being mostly disabled. [[spoiler: Said leader later leads all 250 of them into battle with the thousands-strong Alternian fleet, which ends [[CurbStompBattle about as well as you'd expect.]]]]

* ''Fanfic/BoldoresAndBoomsticks'': One of the things that horrifies Lusamine the most about her perception of Remnant is the idea that children who on Earth would be starting Pokémon journeys are instead trained to fight and kill Grimm. Like most of what Salem tells her, it's a half truth. Beacon's students aren't ''adults'', but they're all at least in their late teens, older than Ash and every player character in the games.

* [[Anime/{{Pokemon}} Ash Ketchum]] in ''Fanfic/{{Traveler}}'' ends up working for the Pokemon League [[spoiler:as an Elite Four Trainee]] after his incredibly talent is recognized. Notably, others like Steven are far more concerned about the fact Ash is only 12 and getting into life and death situations than he is.

ChildSoldiers in fanfiction.