History Main / KidHeroAllGrownUp

* ''ComicBook/TheBooksOfMagic'': Timothy Hunter is a young teenager for most of the comic's run, but is 18 by the events of ''Hunter: The Age of Magic''.

* A darker, more pessimistic variation comes from ''WesternAnimation/TeenTitans2003'', episode "How Long Is Forever?". Starfire pursues a time-traveling villain 20 years into the future, where she finds that, shortly after [[TheHeart she]] disappeared, the other Teen Titans disbanded and went their own separate ways. In this future Cyborg is stuck hooked up to Titans Tower's power supply since his enhancements are failing, Beast Boy is balding, overweight and has a miserable job as a one-man zoo, Raven has locked herself up in a mental asylum, and Robin is the only one who's still a hero, having [[spoiler:taken on a new identity, ComicBook/{{Nightwing}}]]. Near the end of the episode, however, [[spoiler: [[PuttingTheBandBackTogether all the Titans band together again]] to defeat the villain, and Starfire returns back to her time]].

[[folder:Anime and Manga]]

* Ever since ''Anime/GoPrincessPrettyCure'', we tend to see our heroines living normal lives after saving the world. Of note is ''Anime/MahoGirlsPreCure'', where Mirai is devastated at being normal because it meant never seeing her best friend Riko again. [[spoiler:Thankfully, TheMagicComesBack and they reunite.]]
* The Precure franchise also released a SpinOff miniseries, ''Anime/PowerOfHopePrecureFullBloom'', focusing on the casts of ''Anime/FutariWaPrettyCureSplashStar'' and ''Anime/YesPrettyCure5'' as adults.

** Joseph Joestar is 19 during the events of ''Manga/BattleTendency''. By ''Manga/StardustCrusaders'' he's 69 and has a daughter and grandson (plus an illegitimate son in Josuke), though still spritely enough to keep pace with his younger companions. By ''Manga/DiamondIsUnbreakable'', he's 79 and has allowed old age to take its course, with him barely able to move about without his cane.
** Jotaro Kujo is a 17 year old high-schooler during ''Stardust Crusaders''. In ''Diamond is Unbreakable'' he's a 28 year old Marine Biologist, his brief cameo in ''Manga/GoldenWind'' has him at 30, and by ''Manga/StoneOcean'' he's entering his 40s, had married, divorced, and had a daughter, Jolyne Cujoh, who's the protagonist of that story.
** Koichi Hirose is 15 in ''Diamond is Unbreakable'', 18 in ''Golden Wind'' and 22 in "Rohan at the Louvre".

* ''VideoGame/LapisReLights'' has Angelica, formerly "Ange". 3 years ago, she was part of one of the most powerful, talented, and legendary witch/idol units of Flora Girls' Academy, Ray. Among other achievements, she helped save an entire country from eradication by hordes of magical monsters. In the intervening time, she grew [[CelebrityIsOverrated tired of the life of a celebrity]], lost the innocent youth and cuteness she banked on as her main appeal, and became [[KnightInSourArmor much more cynical and jaded overall]], but when her old friend Chloe calls her back to the Academy she obliges.

* ''VideoGame/MegaManZX Advent'' has a part where you fight either Vent or Aile, the protagonists from the first game, who have grown up. Which one you fight depends on who you picked to play as.
* ''VideoGame/SpiderManPS4'': Like most incarnations of the character, Spider-Man began his superhero career at age fifteen. The game begins [[ExperiencedProtagonist eight years in]], with Peter in his mid-twenties and showing no signs of slowing down.

[[folder:Webcomics]]
* [[spoiler: Emi]] in ''Webcomic/{{Metacarpolis}}'' was a MagicalGirlWarrior since she was a kid. But after her team defeated the final villain became celebrities, she decided to move away and live a normal life, hiding her previous identity.

* [[TheChosenOne Aang]] and [[TeamMom Katara]] in ''WesternAnimation/TheLegendOfKorra'', the former of whom provides the page picture. Most of the heroes from [[WesternAnimation/AvatarTheLastAirbender the first series]], in fact, became powerful and successful leaders before they died/retired. Toph Beifong taught metalbending to any who would come to learn it, and shaped the Republic City Police Department as its chief in its nascent days, before resigning and settling down in [[spoiler:the Foggy Swamp]]. Sokka became a Republic City councilor. Zuko's reign as Fire Lord redeemed the Fire Nation in the eyes of the world in the wake of the Hundred Year War his three predecessors prosecuted, before he abdicated the throne in favor of his daughter, Izumi, and moved to Ember Island. The only member of the Gaang not mentioned is Suki, who became a recurring character late into the series and was also Sokka's girlfriend.

* ''Series/CobraKai'' is a DistantSequel to Film/TheKarateKid, where Daniel [=LaRusso=] is now middle-aged and has to deal with things like being a father, running a business and mentoring a new generation of karate students, as Mr. Miyagi once did for him. Problems arise however when his old bully and rival Johnny shows up again in his life and re-establishes the ThugDojo Cobra Kai...

What happens to a KidHero after they save the world? Kid Hero All Grown Up is a common play on the Kid Hero trope, showing what happens to our hero many years later. This trope can be a permanent change, by having a Kid Hero grow up in the story, or a temporary look into the future. It can also be used as backstory by introducing an adult character and then revealing that they used to be a Kid Hero.

* The Elseworld ''ComicBook/SupermanAndBatmanGenerations'' had its premise revolve around the DC superheroes' decades of adventures occurring under a more realistic passage of time, and this included reintroducing elements of canon that had been dropped by the mainstream continuity at the time. Aside from this continuity following the Pre-Crisis canon's element of Superman starting out in his youth as Superboy before eventually becoming Superman in adulthood, there are also examples in Bruce Wayne (who donned the guise of the Flying Fox to help Superboy fight his kidnappers when he was a boy before briefly becoming the first Robin in his late teens and eventually becoming Batman in adulthood), Dick Grayson (who became the second Robin as Batman's sidekick before becoming the second Batman as an adult), Bruce Wayne, Jr. (who started out as the Robin to Dick Grayson's Batman before becoming the third Batman after Grayson was killed by the Joker) and Supergirl (who joined Bruce Wayne, Jr. and other young heroes in forming the Justice League of America when she was a pre-teen and continued being a heroine after she grew up).

** The original ComicBook/{{Superboy}} is the prequel version of the trope, which tells the adventures of a younger Characters/{{Superman|TheCharacter}}.

** [[Characters/RobinTimDrake Tim Drake]] The [[ComicBook/Robin1993 third Robin]], adopted the ComicBook/RedRobin identity before the reboot after having Robin taken from him. Post reboot he is shown as the last surviving Teen Titan who eventually becomes ComicBook/{{Batman|Beyond}}.

** Several stories, beginning with "Batman in Bethlehem" in ''Batman'' #666 and including the ''Damian, Son of Batman'' miniseries, have shown a possible future where [[Characters/RobinDamainWayne Damian Wayne]] is a trenchcoated Batman who has abandoned ThouShaltNotKill.

** Dick Grayson aka ComicBook/{{Robin}} aka ComicBook/{{Nightwing}}, is probably the most prominent example in comic books, having started as Batman's KidSidekick before eventually becoming a successful independent hero.

** Jason Todd, like Dick Grayson, was a boy when he started his partnership with Batman. After being brought BackFromTheDead and [[ComicBook/RedHoodTheLostDays making his way back to Gotham]] as the ComicBook/RedHood, he's a young man, though a bit less of a hero.
** The [[ComicBook/Robin1993 third Robin]], Tim Drake, adopted the ComicBook/RedRobin identity before the reboot after having Robin taken from him. Post reboot he is shown as the last surviving Teen Titan who eventually becomes ComicBook/{{Batman|Beyond}}.

** Several stories, beginning with "Batman in Bethlehem" in ''Batman'' #666 and including the ''Damien, Son of Batman'' miniseries, have shown a possible future where Damien Wayne is a trenchcoated Batman who has abandoned ThouShaltNotKill.
* Much like his best friend Dick, ComicBook/WallyWest a.k.a. ComicBook/TheFlash is another iconic example in the comic books, starting as the sidekick of the second Flash (Barry Allen), before growing up and taking the mantle himself.
* ComicBook/BuckyBarnes is this zig-zagged: He was originally a KidSidekick, then died, then got ret-conned into a 17-year-old highly trained commando, then became a villain, then became TheAtoner.
* In addition to Dick Grayson and Wally West, the other ComicBook/TeenTitans (from both its first and second generations) are no longer teens as well (which is why the title is often changed to simply ''"Titans"''):
** ComicBook/{{Cyborg}}, ComicBook/{{Raven}}, ComicBook/{{Starfire}}, ComicBook/BeastBoy, Bumblebee, Aqualad, Flamebird, Terra, and many others have all grown into young adults. Some have taken on new codenames to reflect the fact that they're no longer children, such as Aqualad changing his moniker to Tempest.
** ComicBook/WonderGirl Donna Troy has grown up, gotten married, had a child, become a widow ''and'' outlived her child. [[CosmicPlaything And that's just skimming the surface. Gal's had it rough]].
** [[ComicBook/GreenArrow Speedy]] likewise has grown up, gained and kicked a heroin addiction, had a child, became a single father, and changed his name from Speedy to Arsenal to Red Arrow and then back to Arsenal. Like Donna, his daughter was also killed off eventually (before she was retconned completely).
* ComicBook/SpiderMan, along with Dick Grayson, is one of the most prominent examples in comics. In his case, he was one of the first solo {{Kid Hero}}es, and thus one of the few to retain a starring role in his own series. At the very least, ten years have passed in the main Marvel Universe despite the floating time scale, and Peter's gone from the age of 15 to [[VagueAge being around 29 at the end of Dan Slott's run to, as of Nick Spencer's run, his "mid 20s"]].

* ''ComicBook/XMen'' has several:
** The original five X-Men (ComicBook/{{Cyclops|MarvelComics}}, ComicBook/JeanGrey, ComicBook/{{Beast|MarvelComics}}, [[ComicBook/WarrenWorthingtonIII Angel]], and ComicBook/{{Iceman|MarvelComics}}) started as teens in their first appearance.
** ComicBook/{{Jubilee|MarvelComics}} and ComicBook/KittyPryde were ComicBook/{{Wolverine}}'s kid sidekicks at different points in the comic's cycle. Notably, when Kitty grew up and became too old to tag along with Wolvie, Jubilee became his new sidekick. Later on, Jubilee was herself replaced by either Armor or ComicBook/{{X 23}}, depending on the series. Then after Logan died X-23 assumed his mantle in ''ComicBook/AllNewWolverine''.
*** In ''All-New Wolverine'', Laura gets her own sidekick upon discovering she has a thirteen-year-old clone named Gabby, [[PromotionToParent who she adopts as a "sister"]]. The series' final arc, "Old Woman Laura", shows a possible future where Laura is retired and an adult Gabby [[FutureBadass has assumed the mantle of Wolverine]].
** The original ComicBook/NewMutants (ComicBook/{{Sunspot}}, Cannonball, Dani Moonstar, Karma, Wolfsbane, and ComicBook/{{Magik}}) were teens when first introduced, but later aged into young adulthood, with several members later joining the main X-Men or the various spin-off teams like ComicBook/XForce and ComicBook/XFactor. Sunspot and Cannonball notably went on to join the Avengers with Sunspot even ''leading'' [[ComicBook/NewAvengers2015 two]] [[ComicBook/USAvengers incarnations]].
** Firestar and Warpath were originally part of the Hellions, a team of teen supervillains assembled by ComicBook/EmmaFrost who effectively acted as the New Mutants' [[PsychoRangers evil counterparts]]. Warpath grew up to join X-Force, while Firestar became a founding member of the ComicBook/NewWarriors and eventually joined Comicbook/TheAvengers alongside her boyfriend Justice. Justice is himself an example of this, as he was originally a teen hero known as Marvel Boy.
** This also goes for some of the members of ComicBook/GenerationX, a team Jubilee was a part of. Aside from Jubilee herself, the most prominent example is [[Characters/MarvelComicsMonetStCroix Monet St. Croix]], who grew up and joined [[ComicBook/XFactor2006 X-Factor Investigations]] and the X-Men proper.
** ''ComicBook/BattleOfTheAtom'' features a grown-up version of KidHero [[ComicBook/{{Runaways}} Molly Hayes]].
* The Richard Rider version of ComicBook/{{Nova}} is similar to Spider-Man, in that he was introduced as a teen hero who eventually grew to adulthood over the years. These days he's a seasoned veteran who acts as something of a mentor to Sam Alexander, the newest Nova.

** The original ComicBook/{{Superboy}} is the prequel version of the trope, which tells the adventures of a younger Superman.
** ComicBook/LanaLang, however, is a straight example, as Lana started as a ComicBook/LoisLane analogue in the ''Superboy'' books before the adult version appeared in the ''Superman'' books.
** Pre-Crisis ComicBook/{{Supergirl}} began her hero career when she was fifteen. Through the duration of the Pre-Crisis era she grew up, graduated college, changed jobs several times... by the end of the 70's she was in her late twenties and a seasoned crimefighter and world-savior.

** The ''Comicbook/DCRebirth'' Jon Kent Superboy goes off to spend some time in space with his grandfather at the age of twelve and, due to time travel shenanigans, returns as a sixteen year old.
* ''ComicBook/LifeWithArchieTheMarriedLife'' was created in order to invoke this with the ''ComicBook/ArchieComics'' characters, who [[NotAllowedToGrowUp never age]]. There were three separate universes--the one where Betty married Archie, the one where Veronica married Archie, and a short spinoff where Valerie from ''ComicBook/JosieAndThePussycats'' [[ThirdOptionLoveInterest married Archie]]. The comic [[DarkerAndEdgier dealt with more mature issues]] than the classic comics. It ended with [[spoiler:Archie [[TheHeroDies dying]] after TakingTheBullet for his friend Kevin after a man tried to kill him]].
* Jason in ''ComicBook/LongAgoAndFarAway'' was the Child Knight who saved the land of Elvenwood in his youth. Now he's a 30-year-old [[FatBastard jackass]] running a comic book store.
* In the new ''ComicBook/LaRibambelle'' books, Phil, Grenadine and Dizzy all grew up into teenagers. Archibald, Atchi and Atcha are still small, though they did gain a few inches in height.
* In ''ComicBook/YoungJustice'', Old Justice were a protest group of Golden Age kid sidekicks (except Doiby Dickles, who was the GA Green Lantern's adult sidekick) who felt being kid heroes had ruined their lives and wanted to stop Young Justice for their own good. Apart from Doiby, they comprised the Cyclone Kids (Red Tornado), Second Sweep (Hourman), Merry the Gimmick Girl (Star-Spangled Kid), and Dan the Dyna-Mite (TNT). They were partly responsible for the ''Sins of Youth'' CrisisCrossover, but eventually realised their concerns were misplaced.

** In one of the [[Comicbook/BatmanBeyond sequel comics]], Tim was later called to (very reluctantly) help coordinate movements of Batman and companions during a mass suicide bombing of Gotham. In the same comic, Dick Grayson was shown to be helping find and stop bombers under his own identity (ie not wearing a mask).

[[folder: Theatre]]

** Alongside Jotaro, ''Diamond is Unbreakable'' would have two more examples with fellow Crusaders Fluttershy and Kakyoin, with all three in their late twenties.
** Played with for Jolyne Kujo, Jotaro and Fluttershy's daughter. While not an active hero as a child, Jolyne at 7-years-old already had her Stand during the event of ''Diamond is Unbreakable'' when she joins her parents coming to Morioh. She even has her own DayInTheLimelight facing off Ken Oyanagi. By the start of ''Stone Ocean'', she's far more faniliar with the supernatural compared to her Canon self.

* ''Film/AFairlyOddMovieGrowUpTimmyTurner'' has this as a central plot point: Timmy Turner, the kid protagonist of ''WesternAnimstion/TheFairlyOddParents'' is 23 at the beginning at the movie - at least physically. In order to keep his fairly godparents Cosmo and Wanda he has to ensure to technically still be a child, so he acts as he ''didn't'' grow up, still living with his parents and attending school. The movie has him learn to accept that he finally has to grow up, what he does at the end of the movie. Thankfully he's still able to keep his godparents in the end.

* The Precure franchise also released a SpinOff miniseries, Anime/KibouNoChikaraOtonaPrettyCure23, focusing on the casts of Anime/FutariWaPrettyCureSplashStar and Anime/YesPrettyCure5 as adults.

* ''WesternAnimation/TheVentureBrothers'' features many, almost all of whom tend to be the "washed-up loser" variety:

** Doubly so in ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaTwilightPrincess'' where the new protagonist encounters a mysterious specter of a warrior, who turns out to be the same "Link" from Ocarina of Time.

** Done again in VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaTearsOfTheKingdom with the several year Timeskip pushing the 17 year old (technically [[ReallySevenHundredYearsOld 117]]) Link and Zelda into their early twenties. Coincidentally this makes the ''second'' game to portray an adult Link

* '''':

** In one episode, Rusty goes to a support group for former child heroes and adventurers, including another former Wonder Boy (who was forced to retire when he turned 18 and developed a binge-eating disorder), the Hale Brothers (a parody of Literature/TheHardyBoys who murdered their father like the [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lyle_and_Erik_Men%C3%A9ndez Menendez brothers]]), And Ro-Boy (an Anime/AstroBoy expy who was abandoned by his father/creator).