History Main / AChildShallLeadThem

** However long he actually ruled, [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Autobiography_of_Harkhuf Harkhuf]], governor of the southernmost province of Upper Egypt, is recorded to have written to Pepi that he had found a pygmy during an expedition to Nubia and was planning to send him to the royal court. The king--who was all of about 8 years old at this point--apprently dictated an extremely excited letter to his governor at this news, giving all kinds of instructions about how the pygmy was to be transported to Memphis and how Harkhuf was to be rewarded richly for delivering such a gift to the king. For his part Harkhuf apparently found this missive from the exitable child monarch so cute and adorable that he had the letter transcribed verbatim on the walls of his tomb.

* Egypt's Pepi II Neferkare (reigned 2278?-2184 BC) came the throne at the age of 6 and died ''94 years'' later (at least according to the historian Manetho).

* Egypt's Pepi II Neferkare (reigned 2278?-2184 BC) came the throne at the age of 6 and died ''94 years'' later.

* The Magius in ''VideoGame/MagiaRecordPuellaMagiMadokaMagicaSideStory'', with Touka and Nemu are ''elementary schoolers'', and Alina is the only leader who's older than them by five years, but is still a high-schooler and has yet to reach adulthood. {{Justified}} since Magical Girls who survived until adulthood is a rarity, and all three of them are ChildPriodigy who are WiseBeyondTheirYears.

* In the ''WesternAnimation/YoungJustice'' episode "Coldhearted," the ten-year-old girl whose donor heart [[FragileSpeedster Wally]] delivers turns out to be [[spoiler:Queen Perdita of Vlatava, and the only one keeping [[EvilPrince Count Vertigo]] from the throne]].

* At the end of ''Literature/DeltoraQuest'' series one, Lief of Del takes the throne. He's sixteen, and thinks more with his heart than with his brain... and yet, because the books were inspired by [[EasternRPG JRPG]]s of the mid-1990s, this ends well.
** Not quite. He's still a child, but he did grow over the story to understand that there was a time and place for emotions to rule. He thinks with both his heart and his clever mind. And, by the end of the series, he's 18 and has learned even more about evil, temptation, and duty.

** When Richard II was 14 years old, had to deal with the Peasants' Revolt--a mass popular uprising that was something like Communism in England 500 years before Karl Marx. He met the massive peasant army in person, accompanied only by a small royal party, on a field outside of London. He promptly got them all to pledge loyalty to him. After the moment had passed, [[ILied he broke all the promises he'd made]] and had all the rebel leaders executed. Some historians think that this helped contribute to the runaway ego and sense of invincibility that got him overthrown by Henry Bolingbroke's revolt of nobles in 1399.

This page is for the trope. For the fanfic, go [[Fanfic/AChildShallLeadThem here]].

* The ''Franchise/{{Transformers}}'' fanfiction called ''Fanfic/AChildShallLeadThem'' by Kenya Starflight about how Swoop the Dinobot becomes Prime instead of Hot Rod. Dinobots are canonically younger than the rest of the Autobots (at the time of the 1986 movie, they are twenty years old as opposed to millions of years), and the author's interpretation of the Dinobots gives them a younger mental age than the rest of the Autobots as well. For this reason, Swoop (aka Pterodactus Prime) qualifies for this trope.

* After Emperor Justinian was blinded in a coup attempt a third of the way through ''The Literature/BelisariusSeries'', Empress Theodora avoided a succession crisis by adopting the eight year old son of her best friend (who, incidentally, ''also'' happened to be the stepson of the Roman Empire's best general) and putting him on the throne. Of course, setting herself up Empress Regent and naming her husband Grand Justicar were not to be sneezed at.

* In ''WesternAnimation/TheDragonPrince'', young Aanya became queen of Duren after the deaths of her mothers. Ezran also becomes king following the death of his father, king Harrow. While Aanya is a competent queen, and perfectly willing to stand up to the older pentarchs, both she and Ezran are still kids. Aanya is implied to have grown up quickly due to being in charge of a DeadlyDecadentCourt, while Ezran's head councilor is far more kind and understanding, reccomending that he appoints a regent until he comes of age.

* Because of the way things work in ''WesternAnimation/CodenameKidsNextDoor'', a child ''has'' to be leader of the organization. First in was Numbuh 274 until he turned thirteen(and traitor) and then it was Numbuh 362 for the rest of the series.

** It's not just Ender either; all of Battle School is made up of genius children being trained to be commanders of the fight against the Buggers. Several of the former Battle School students end up in positions of high power; Virlomi becomes the "Goddess" of India, Han Tzu becomes Emperor of China, Fly Mojo becomes leader of the Philippines, Alai becomes Caliph (though he's at least particularly a PuppetKing), Bean Delphiki becomes Peter's right-hand man and helps him bring about the unity of the world, Petra Arkanian also works with Peter to bring about world unity and leads Armenian troops during the civil war on Earth and Suriyawong is given control of planning for the Thai Army and becomes Bean's ally and works along with Peter. The fervor they attract is so much that Peter convinces most of them to leave Earth just to avoid the inevitable conflicts they bring about, and even then it's wth the promise of a colony, so they end up ruling in space as well.

* ''LightNovel/TheTwelveKingdoms'':
** Played with. Shushou, the Queen of Kyou, became queen at age 12 to save her ravished lands... 90 years before the story starts. And she still looks like a teenage girl, since she stopped aging after she ascended to the throne.
** A bit straighter in Youko's case, as she's as much 17 and has just become the Queen of Kei.

** Slightly more justified than some examples, since the Keeper of the Flame is believed to be a reincarnated position [[{{Expy}} in the vein of the Dalai Lama in real life]].

* Deconstructed brutally in ''Manga/AkameGaKill'' as the child emperor is nothing more than a naive child easily manipulated by an EvilChancellor. Even though he had no clue what the advisor's machinations were doing to his kingdom he's still blamed for and executed because of this. Painfully he's a genuine NiceGuy who's too naive to see how evil his advisors truly are.

* ''ComicBook/{{Prez|1973}}'', a short-lived 1970s comic book, depicts Prez Rickard, the first 18-year-old President of the United States. He's WiseBeyondHisYears and a staunch opponent of the political machine.

* The most recent incarnation of the ''{{ComicBook/Prez|2015}}'' comic book features Beth Ross, a teenage girl elected president by Twitter in 2036.

* Queen Mashiro of ''Anime/MaiOtome'' is a RoyalBrat at first, but becomes this after learning her lesson at the tender age of 14.

** Jon Snow [[spoiler:is made Commander of the Night's Watch at the age of 16. While he is just as honourable as his father, heroic, and quite a competent leader and strategist for his young age, very few of his older officers respect him. Compounded with mistrust from some due to his young age, his time with the Wildlings, his sympathy for the hardships faced by Wildling men, women, and children, and changes he makes in his efforts to save everyone from the [[GreaterScopeVillain oncoming army of the dead]], he eventually gets betrayed and stabbed by a group of his own men and it's left ambiguous whether or not he survives.]]

** Robb Stark becomes [[spoiler:the King in the North at age 14. Similar to his half-brother Jon Snow, he is honorable like their father, a young leader, competent in rulership for his age, and does his best to do the right thing but ends up displeasing some very important allies when he breaks a betrothal agreement. These allies -- some of whom are his own men -- betray and kill him in an event known as 'The Red Wedding'.]]

** Two of Chunghye's sons became king, and both of them were this trope. [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chungmok_of_Goryeo Chungmok]] became king when he was seven and died when he was eleven. His half-brother [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chungjeong_of_Goryeo Chungjeong]] became king when he was ten. He was deposed aged thirteen and died aged fourteen. [[{{Squick}} Disturbingly]], Chungjeong fathered at least two children before his death.

* In ''Guilty Pleasures'', the first book in Laurel K. Hamilton's ''Literature/AnitaBlake Vampire Hunter'' series, a cruel and tyrannical child ruler, known as Nikolaos, serves as master vampire of the city, though she is technically one-thousand-years-old. She reflects a villainous version of Mina Tepes, the ancient child-bodied master vampire from ''Dance in the Vampire Bund'' (mentioned in 'Anime').

* In ''Literature/RedoulnRising'', Riley Bank and his fellow Redoulnite Leaders of the new generation rule over the kingdom of planet Redouln.