History Main / CastFromLifespan

* In the LegionOfSuperHeroes, Kid Psycho could project a forcefield at the cost of one year of his life.

** This makes perfect sense when you consider that Lookshy fields the Gunzosha commandos. Gunzosha power armor is one of the few artifacts in the entire game line that can be used by non-{{Mana Essence}} users--at the cost of a year of your life ''for every twenty minutes of use''. This can be mitigated by having aegis-insert amulets surgically implanted, allowing a commando to use his armor free of charge...but the amulets themselves cause you to age twice as fast as normal.

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** There's also many spells and processes that had ExperiencePoints as part of their cost. Considering that XP can represent all sorts of things, this likely fits.

** In module I9 ''Ravager of Time'' the BigBad Nuala aged one year per spell level each time she cast a spell. She used her LifeBane power to drain youth from her victims to negate this aging.

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* ''DungeonsAndDragons'': Several spells caused aging as a side effect of using them, including ''Gate'', ''Haste'' and ''Wish''. Varies from edition to edition.

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* ''{{Faust}}'': The TropeMaker of DealWithTheDevil had this part in the contract.
* In one of the ''ArtemisFowl'' books, Holly uses magic to heal Butler from a fatal gunshot wound, but her magic is not enough and the spell starts drawing on Butler's life energy as well. For the rest of the series, he feels about ten years older than he ought to be.
* In Nora Roberts' ''Key Trilogy'', three women are tasked with finding [[MacGuffin three keys]], with the caveat that if they fail, each loses an undisclosed year of her life.
* The titular magic patch of skin in ''[[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/La_Peau_de_chagrin La Peau de Chagrin]]''.
* In DianeDuane's ''TheTaleOfFive'' books, wielders of the Fire die young.
** And in her ''YoungWizards'' series, powerful spells may result in a reduced lifespan or death. Much of ''Deep Wizardry'' revolves around Nita's participation in a ritual that requires the central wizard's death, and in ''High Wizardry'' she uses a shield spell that drains a year of the wizard's life each time it's activated.
** Similarly, in ''The Book of Night with Moon'' (which takes place in the same setting as the ''YoungWizards'' series), one of the cats sacrifices one of her nine lives to fuel a wizardry.
* In the ''Magister'' trilogy, any use of magic shortens the caster's lifespan- except for the titular Magisters, who have learned how to shorten ''other peoples''' lifespan instead.
* The [[WitchSpecies Qirsi]] from the ''Winds of the Forelands'' are shorter lived than the non-magical Eandi because their magic burns up their life-force.
* Mages from the ''{{Mithgar}}'' books age rapidly when using their magic, though they can enter a trance-like state to regain their youth (this also allows them to be functionally immortal, as long as they don't over-exert themselves). [[EvilSorcerer Black Mages]] have a way around this by basically becoming psychic vampires, drawing on the fear and misery of others instead of their own lives.

* Mozenwrath from the ''{{Aladdin}}'' series sacrificed two things for his magical gauntlet. The immediate price was the [[NightmareFuel flesh from his right hand]]. In the last episode starring him as the villain it's revealed that his lifespan was also severely reduced and he is at death's door. He tries and nearly succeeds in performing a GrandTheftMe on Aladdin in a bid to cheat death.

* In one of the YoungWizards books, Nita fashions a shield spell to protect her from enemy fire that would otherwise be fatal. When her companions are visibly impressed, she remarks that each blast the shield absorbs takes a year off her life.

** Some FanWank has concluded that the incurable disease Gold Roger had during his final years is the result of him relying too much on these and it finally catching up to him.

* [[RealityWarper Robert]] from ''UekiNoHousoku'' has this. Each use of his ability cost him a year of lifespan.

* In one episode of DoctorWho the doctor sacrifices ten years of his life to restore the damaged TARDIS.

* In ''Castlevania'', use of the unsealed Vampire Killer by someone who is not a direct descendant of the Belmont clan will shorten their life.

* In ''FullmetalAlchemist'', Ed once used his own soul as a Philosopher's Stone (read: a huge energy source) to heal himself from mortal wounds, shortening his lifespan in process.