History Main / FeelingTheirAge

OldSuperhero is a subtrope specific to the SuperHero comics genre. Compare DentedIron, HeroicFatigue, OldSoldier, RetiredBadass, and JadedWashout. For a character who is going through a similar thing due to illness rather than old age, see IncurableCoughOfDeath and DefinitelyJustACold. For someone who is ReallySevenHundredYearsOld who is suddenly ''really'' feeling their age, see NoImmortalInertia. May occur before ''or'' after becoming OlderAndWiser. Contrast StrongerWithAge, where the reverse occurs.

* ''Series/OurMissBrooks'': In "Old Age Plan" the power of suggestion turns Boynton and Conklin into shambling wrecks with one foot in the grave. Miss Brooks is trying to sell an old age savings plan to the two men and, after reading the signs of old age to them, they come down with all the symptoms.

* In ''ComicStrips/{{Garfield}}'', some strips show Garfield himself being painfully aware of age catching up to him. For example, [[https://www.gocomics.com/garfield/2021/06/10 the June 10, 2021 strip]] shows him hunched over after he threw his own back out sneezing.

* Whitebeard from ''Manga/OnePiece'' is renowned as the WorldsStrongestMan [[spoiler: prior to his death]]. He is an extremely powerful man with a ridiculously earthquake based Devil Fruit powers who has proved more than enough that he is worthy of his title in the Marineford arc. However the moment he starts coughing up blood in the middle of battle, it's made clear that the man is no longer in his prime and that old age hasn't been kind to him. Based on his remaining strength though, it's less that he's significantly weaker, and more like that the monstrously strong old man was even more of a monster in the past. He even once stated, "I may be a monster... but I'm not gonna be the strongest forever!" His first appearance on-panel showcases both his monstrous strength (he's a huge muscular giant of a man) and his declining health (he's hooked up to life support while being monitored by nurses).

* ''Film/RockyBalboa'': While Rocky keeps himself in quite good shape for a man his age, and goes through a formidable TrainingMontage to get ready to face Dixon, [[RealityEnsues he]] ''[[RealityEnsues still]]'' [[RealityEnsues gets his ass kicked]] because Dixon is in his prime and faster, while Rocky's age and [[DentedIron injuries]] have slowed him down and taken away the things that made him a great fighter; it isn't until Dixon [[GameBreakingInjury breaks his hand]] that Rocky actually stands a chance.

* Music/GarthBrooks' song "Much Too Young (To Feel This Damn Old)" is all about this trope - a cowboy starting to feel older and noting that his competition's getting younger.

* [[WorldsStrongestMan All Might]] from ''Manga/MyHeroAcademia'' is this, unbeknownst to most of society. After a critical wound caused by his [[spoiler: not-so-]]dead archnemesis destroys some of his organs, he's forced to spend the time he has in his superhero form wisely, so as to not reveal the wound to the world. It's still made ''very'' clear that while he can't be All Might for much longer, he's still able to perform feats well above even some of his colleagues with ease. After defeating the [[BioweaponBeast No]][[HybridMonster mu]] in the USJ with 300 punches fuelled by all of his power, he states that in his prime (or even before his injury, he could have done so with just five. [[spoiler: His powers finally give out after one final confrontation with All for One in Kamino Ward, forcing him to go into retirement.]]

* [[WorldsStrongestMan All Might]] from ''Manga/MyHeroAcademia'' is this, unbeknownst to most of society. After a critical wound caused by his [[spoiler not-so-]]dead archnemesis destroys some of his organs, he's forced to spend the time he has in his superhero form wisely, so as to not reveal the wound to the world. It's still made ''very'' clear that while he can't be All Might for much longer, he's still able to perform feats well above even some of his colleagues with ease. After defeating the [[BioweaponBeast No]][[HybridMonster mu]] in the USJ with 300 punches fuelled by all of his power, he states that in his prime (or even before his injury, he could have done so with just five. [[spoiler His powers finally give out after one final confrontation with All for One in Kamino Ward, forcing him to go into retirement.]]

* ''ComicBook/ArchieComicsSonicTheHedgehog'': Sonic himself suffers this in the Light Mobius timeline. While he's still a good fighter and retains his trademark SuperSpeed, he's in his 40s by this point and not as strong as he used to be, something that costs him dearly against TheAgeless Shadow.

* Mentioned briefly by Corvo in ''VideoGame/Dishonored2'' if you play as him. Since the game takes place a good thirty or so years after the first, Corvo is now a man in his 50s and notes in his journal how he's older and can feel it. Despite this, he still manages to kick butt and jump (or Blink) from rooftop to rooftop with no more difficulty than he did in the first game.

-->'''Ezio''': Someone my age. ''Imbecille.'' ''[moments later while climbing up a wall]'' Ugh. My back.

* ''VideoGame/PokemonSwordAndShield'' has Opal, the Gym Leader of Ballonlea. She's the oldest Gym Leader in the Galar League at 88 years old (though she [[BlatantLies insists she's 16]]), and when Dynamaxing she is notably the only one who struggles with the larger Pokeball, nearly falling over when she carries it. She also walks very slowly, more so than any other character in the game.

->'''Corvo:''' But I'm older. I can feel it. Like a heaviness. Sand in my joints.

* ''TabletopGame/{{Shadowrun}}'': The game's metaplot advances alongside real life time, meaning a lot of Shadowrunners from the game's first edition (2050 in-game, released in 1990) are well into middle age and beyond by the fifth edition (2075, released in 2015) and will often complain about the ravages of aging in threads on Jackpoint. And that's not even getting into characters like Fastjack, who were born in the 20th century and still shadowrunning in his seventies (being [[TheCracker a Decker]], he's ''slightly'' less hamstrung by this trope than usual, but his dives in VR are still limited by his body growing older). Of course, both Jackpoint and its predecessor Shadowland are also favoured haunts of actually immortal beings like dragons...

* ''TabletopGames/{{Shadowrun}}'': The game's metaplot advances alongside real life time, meaning a lot of the fresh-starting Shadowrunners from the game's first edition (2050 in-game, released in 1990) are well into middle age and beyond by the fifth edition (2075, released in 2015) and will often complain about it in their threads on Jackpoint. And that's not even getting into characters like Fastjack, who were born in the 20th century and still shadowrunning in his seventies (being a Decker, he's ''slightly'' less hamstrung by this trope than usual, but his dives in VR are still limited by his body growing older). Of course, both Jackpoint and its predecessor Shadowland was also a favoured haunt of actually immortal beings like dragons...

** ''WebVideo/MonsterIslandBuddies'': Franchise/{{Godzilla}} is still a very powerful monster, but a lack of constant training, time, and his own laziness have taken quite a toll on him. He's gotten [[FormerlyFit overweight]], alcoholic, and can no longer fight as gracefully as he used to do during his youth. This becomes a major plot point in the "Destroy all Godzillas" arc, in which Godzilla, despite his insistence to do things by his own because he's the King of the Monsters and that's what everyone expects of him, ultimately discovers he's past his prime after suffering from a couple of nasty heart attacks due to stress. [[spoiler: After [[BigBad Massacre's]] defeat, Godzilla ultimately decides to retire but not before [[PassingTheTorch passing his title onto his now-adult son]], Minilla.]]

* Occurs in ''Film/TheGuardian'' when Randall begins to realize he's becoming more of a liability than an asset on rescue missions, especially when compared to [[TheAce Jake]] who's fresh out of training.

* Whitebeard from ''Manga/OnePiece'' is renowned as the WorldsStrongestMan [[spoiler: prior to his death]]. He is an extremely powerful man with a ridiculously earthquake based Devil Fruit powers who has proved more than enough that he is worthy of his title in the Marineford arc. However the moment he starts coughing up blood in the middle of battle, it's made clear that the man is no longer in his prime and that old age hasn't been kind to him. Based on his remaining strength though, it's less that he's significantly weaker, and more like that the monstrously strong old man was even more of a monster in the past. He even once stated "I may be a monster... but I'm not gonna be the strongest forever!" His first appearance on-panel showcases both his monstrous strength (he's a huge muscular giant of a man) and his declining health (he's hooked up to life support while being monitored by nurses).

* Creator/{{Frank Miller}}'s ''ComicBook/TheDarkKnightReturns'' portrays {{Franchise/Batman}} like this. He starts as a RetiredBadass, but soon returns to crime-fighting. Throughout the story Batman keeps on lamenting how slow he's become, culminating in the fight between him and the leader of a mutant gang, who is, like Batman himself states, "in his physical prime". [[spoiler: Batman loses, but only because he "tried to fight like a young man". Later he beats the mutant leader with some CombatPragmatist moves.]]

* Volume 4 of ''ComicBook/TeenageMutantNinjaTurtlesMirage'' is set 15 years after the original comics, and features the Turtles now into their early 30's. As such, their abilities have begun to deteriorate, with [[RoofHopping jumping over rooftops]] now starting to become a lot harder.
* While the mainstream version of ''ComicBook/ThePunisher'' hasn't aged much (mainly because his origin story has been moved to the Iraq war rather than Vietnam), the MarvelMAX version is feeling the 60+ years he really is. By the time the final story arc rolls around, he has become DentedIron, and its clear to everyone that he is on his last legs.

** Shown with Quarrel II, Crackerjack, and on the villain side, Steeljack. Quarrel II and Crackerjack deal with being BadassNormal and having to deal with age beginning to dull their skills and slowing their recovery when they get injured (they're both in their 50's by this point) in contrast to their superpowered allies such as Black Rapier whose aging slowed to a crawl thanks to a SuperSoldierSerum.
** Steeljack on the other hand does have powers, SuperStrength and durability from a steel alloy bonded to his skin, but is still feeling his age (he's well into his 60s). He's starting to get out of shape, and his skin is feeding on itself, requiring him to take iron supplements.

* In the MassivelyMultiplayerCrossover fanfic ''Fanfic/BloodAndRevolution'', Saitou is a BadassNormal surrounded by youkai and granted immortality and youth; by World War II, he's a hundred year old in a thirty-year-old body and his internal narrative brings up that he's not a young man anymore fairly regularly. More obvious before he got his immortality -- by the time he was fifty the story was highlighting that he couldn't summon more than one of his special sword techniques anymore and by his seventies he'd had to retire from the police and used his sword only to help him walk.
* ''Fanfic/WithThisRing'' has Alan Scott, the original ComicBook/GreenLantern. Originally, despite being in his 90's, his ring had been rejuvinating him after he began wearing it again (though he didnt realize it). However, after giving his Lantern to Orange Lantern, Scott eventually returns to his original age, and now begins to suffer from all the ailments that a man in his 90's would, to the point where a fall lands him in the hospital.

* ''Film/LethalWeapon'' series. Murtaugh's CatchPhrase was "I'm getting too old for this", appropriate for an older family man who had to deal with a wild card younger partner in Riggs. Nevertheless he continued to say it through all the movies and it eventually came around to Riggs in ''Film/LethalWeapon4'', as he started to feel his age too.

* In ''[[Literature/{{Quiller}} The Berlin Memorandum]]'', British spy Quiller, a veteran of World War Two, constantly talks of how he is getting old. Unfortunately Quiller turned out to be a popular character [[ComicBookTime so he had to stop doing this as his adventures continued up until the Nineties.]]

* Methos says "I'm too old for this" in the ''Series/{{Highlander}}'' episode "Deliverance" after Duncan throws him over a wall to land several feet below. Double subverted example, since he's an [[TheAgeless ageless immortal]] who will always be in his physical prime, but at the same time he actually is 5000 years old. If he can't feel too old for this, who can?
* The idea is name checked in ''Series/HowIMetYourMother'', actually called [[ShoutOut "The Murtaugh List."]] Ted puts together a list of things you can't do once you pass a certain age. Barney takes it as a challenge and ends up injuring himself. Ted is meanwhile challenged to do things he is too young to start doing, such as going to bed at 8:30. When he can't go to sleep that early he marathons the ''Film/LethalWeapon'' movies and realized that Murtaugh never let his age stop him, so [[AnAesop he shouldn't either]].

** Dr. Cox was approaching middle aged in the early seasons, which came to a head when he threw out his back making a (successful) slam dunk to show up Turk. He later confessed to Carla that having a very young son at his age he was worried he was always going to be seen as an old man to his kids.

* The Theatre/MrsHawking play series: In part III: ''[[http://www.mrshawking.com/?page_id=1913 Base Instruments]]'' Mrs. Hawking's slow recovery from an injury is a harsh reminder of how it's tougher to do superheroing when you're forty than when you're twenty. Her preoccupation with own eventual physical decline is what pushes her to try to mold Mary in her image.

* Snake feels this way for the entirety of ''VideoGame/MetalGearSolid4GunsOfThePatriots'', although his age is due to accelerated aging. For example, when he crouches and walks for too long, his back suffers, which didn't used to happen in previous installments. It also helps to mention that his hair is gray in this game just to add to the fact.

* Raul Tejada in ''VideoGame/FalloutNewVegas'' is a 200+ year old ghoul, but due to ghouls aging slower than humans he's probably equivalent to a 50 or 60 year old man. Either way, he certainly spends some time lamenting his old age and feeling like he's no longer any good in a fight, until the Courier completes his companion quest. Either you convince him to come around on the idea of getting old and retiring, which improves his skill as a repairman; or convince him that [[YouAreBetterThanYouThinkYouAre he's still got plenty of fight left in his creaky old bones]], [[HesBack which boosts his fire rate with revolvers so high that the Courier can never match it no matter what stats and perks he/she has]].

** ''WebVideo/MonsterIslandBuddies'': Franchise/{{Godzilla}} is still a very powerful monster, but a lack of constant training, time and his own laziness have taken quite a toll on him. He's gotten [[FormerlyFit overweight]], alcoholic and can no longer fight as gracefully as he used to do during his youth. This becomes a major plot point in the "Destroy all Godzillas" arc, in which Godzilla, despite his insistence to do things by his own because he's the King of the Monsters and that's what everyone expects of him, ultimately discovers he's past his prime after suffering from a couple of nasty heart attacks due to stress. [[spoiler: After [[BigBad Massacre's]] defeat, Godzilla ultimately decides to retire but not before [[PassingTheTorch passing his title onto his now-adult son]], Minilla.]]

* ''WesternAnimation/{{Recess}}'' has an episode where Miss Finster sprains her ankle, and has to hop around on crutches. After trying and failing to keep order on the playground like she usually does, she laments to Randall that when she was a young woman, she would just have walked off this kind of injury but she's too old and decrepit to just bounce back now. It gets to the point that the main cast feel too guilty to take advantage of Finster's injury and talk the other kids into behaving until she's back on her feet.

* Music/NineInchNails' song "The Background World"'s second half is a looping instrumental where each loop is more degraded and distorted than the last. It loops a total of fifty-two times, the same age NIN frontman Trent Reznor was when the song was released.

* ''WesternAnimation/{{Recess}}'' has an episode where Miss Finster gets a hip injury, and has to hop around on crutches. After trying and failing to keep order on the playground like she usually does, she laments to Randall that when she was a young woman, she would just have walked off this kind of injury but she's too old and decrepit to just bounce back now. It gets to the point that the main cast feel too guilty to take advantage of Finster's injury and talk the other kids into behaving until she's back on her feet.