History Main / MenGetOldWomenGetReplaced

Compare and contrast IWasQuiteALooker, which may potentially subvert this. See also DeathByDisfigurement which enforces that trope. A RealLife result of this is PlayingGertrude, where actresses barely older (or even younger) than the actors playing their children are cast over more realistically-aged ones.

* ''Manga/{{Bleach}}'': Several captains in the current storyline were around during a flashback that takes place a thousand years ago. Captain-Commander Yamamoto and Lieutenant Sasakibe were both much younger and have aged into highly respected old men; Yamamoto is even regarded as the living embodiment of the Gotei 13's history. Children such as Kyouraku, Ukitake and Zaraki are now powerful, renowned captains that have entered middle age. Captain Unohana is the only individual aside from Yamamoto and Sasakibe to have been an adult in the flashback. Unlike any of the other characters, she has apparently not aged a day since then and is still called "pretty" by Kirinji.

It seems that male characters age and either become {{Mentor|Archetype}}s, [[OldSoldier old versions]] [[OldSuperhero of what they were]] or {{Old Master}}s, while female characters are either written out of it in various ways or remain [[TheAgeless eternally young and beautiful]]. It goes hand-in-hand with MenAreStrongWomenArePretty, since the women either ''stay'' pretty, or they're out. This can also be due to adding [[AffirmativeActionGirl additional women to subsequent works]], whether it is a sequel (in which the men in the previous work get older) or a prequel (in which the women must [[DoomedByCanon die off or otherwise disappear]] to maintain continuity).

* ''VideoGame/SoulSeries'': How this trope is enforced can be observed between its 3 year, 4 year, and 17 year timeskips that take place before ''VideoGame/SoulCalibur'', ''VideoGame/SoulCaliburII'', and ''VideoGame/SoulCaliburV'', respectively.
** Between the first two timeskips, this trope is mostly averted as no one ages significantly in those 7 years. However the oldest male character Seong Han-Myeong is no longer playable, and one woman (Sophitia) and two men (Li Long and Hwang) are demoted to unlockable and minor characters respectively in future games, in favor of younger counterparts.
** ''VideoGame/SoulcaliburV'' brings the heart of this trope, with more female characters than male characters getting replaced, and no female character aging above 35. We are supposed to believe that Ivy, the series' sex symbol, has stopped aging due to her exposure to Soul Edge, but Siegfried, the face of the series who was also exposed to Soul Edge, gets to keep aging. Additionally, within the story, both Cervantes and Soul Edge itself are seeking to transfer their essences into younger female bodies to cheat aging.
*** Following the 17 year timeskip, only 4 of the 10 previously playable female characters return: Amy [[spoiler:as Viola]], Hilde, Ivy, and Tira. Of them, only Amy and Hilde noticeably age, from [[VagueAge approximately 9]] and 18 respectively. Four more (Cassandra, Setsuka, Sophitia, and Taki) were replaced by younger counterparts, and Seong Mi-Na and Talim were removed entirely. This makes post-timeskip Hilde the biologically oldest female main character in the series, at 35.
*** Just as only two women visibly aged, only two men did: Mitsurugi and Siegfried, to 46 and 40 respectively. The difference is more male characters were allowed to return at all, with 10 (human) male characters returning: Algol, Cervantes, Dampierre, Edgemaster, Kilik, Maxi, Mitsurugi, Raphael, Siegfried, and Voldo; and several of those characters appeared "old" or ageless to begin with. Further, only two male characters (Astaroth and Yoshimitsu) were replaced. This makes Voldo the biologically oldest male main character, at 67.
** ''VideoGame/SoulcaliburVI'', a SoftReboot of the series, has the [[UnexpectedCharacter surprise return]] of [[spoiler:the original timeline's Cassandra, who was [[TrappedInAnotherWorld lost in Astral Chaos]] long enough to forget her own identity]]. As some players had predicted, although [[spoiler:Cassandra]] is now weary and [[TheCorruption horribly corrupted]], she is still just as young and pretty as her 21 year old self. As a bit of GameplayAndStorySegregation, she apparently does look different enough that [[spoiler:her 1586 AD new timeline counterpart didn't recognize her as her 4 year older self at first glance]].

** Many people suspect that the reason why time in the series [[WebcomicTime never moves on]] after the fourth game's two-year TimeSkip is because of this trope. Moving up ahead means the women age, and, as shown by this series and the ''VideoGame/{{Soul|Series}}'' series (see above), Creator/{{Bandai Namco|Entertainment}} doesn't seem to want women [[ChristmasCake to age past 25]]. Only one playable woman is biologically older than 25, Lidia Sobieska.
** The only notable timeskip in the series is the 20 year timeskip between ''Tekken 2'' and ''Tekken 3''. Following the 20 year timeskip, every human male character from the first two games returns for at least one canon game (whether or not they were replaced at some point), except for King I, who was killed and replaced with a younger counterpart. Most show some signs of aging at at least one point. Conversely, ''no'' female characters from the first two games return for a canon game, except for Nina and Anna Williams, who were put into cryostasis and thus remained unchanged (thus Nina barely looks any older than her son, Steve).
** Over the course of the series, Kunimitsu and Michelle Chang were replaced by their daughters Kunimitsu II and Julia, and Jun Kazama was replaced by her son, Jin, and two games later by a teenage relative, Asuka. When they all returned in the non-canon ''Tekken Tag Tournament'' {{dream match game}}s, Kunimitsu and Michelle haven't aged a day, with the latter looking [[MumLooksLikeASister nearly identical to her adopted daughter]]. In those same Tag games, several of the older male characters have comedic stories about plotting to restore their youth, or mocking each other for how old they are.
** Setting aside characters with unknown ages, the biologically oldest playable female character is Lidia Sobieska in ''Tekken 7'', the 29 year old Polish Prime Minister whose youth is a major selling point of the character. The biologically oldest playable male character is Wang Jinrei at 105, who continued to fight alongside his replacement in ''Tekken 6''.

** Between the first two timeskips, this trope is mostly averted as no one ages significantly in those 7 years. However the oldest male character Seong Han-Myeong is no longer playable, and one woman and one man (Sophitia and Hwang) are demoted to unlockable in ''II'' and ''III'' respectively, in favor of younger counterparts.
** ''VideoGame/SoulcaliburV'' bring the heart of this trope, with more female characters than male characters getting replaced, and no female character aging above 35. We are supposed to believe that Ivy, the series' sex symbol, has stopped aging due to her exposure to Soul Edge, but Siegfried, the face of the series who was also exposed to Soul Edge, gets to keep aging. Additionally, within the story, both Cervantes and Soul Edge itself are seeking to transfer their essences into younger female bodies to cheat aging.

** ''VideoGame/SoulcaliburVI'', a SoftReboot of the series that takes place over the 6 year stretch from ''VideoGame/SoulCalibur'' to ''VideoGame/SoulCaliburIV'', has the [[UnexpectedCharacter surprise return]] of [[spoiler:the original timeline's Cassandra, who was [[TrappedInAnotherWorld lost in Astral Chaos]] long enough to forget her own identity.]] As some players had predicted, although [[spoiler:Cassandra]] is now weary and [[TheCorruption horribly corrupted]], she is still just as young and pretty as her 21 year old self. As a bit of GameplayAndStorySegregation, she apparently does look different enough that [[spoiler:her 1586 AD new timeline counterpart didn't recognize her as her 4 year older self at first glance.]]

* Played with in ''Franchise/{{Tekken}}'':
** Many people suspect that the reason why time in the series [[WebcomicTime never moves on]] after the fourth game's two-year TimeSkip is because of this trope. Moving up ahead means the women age, and, as shown by this series and the ''VideoGame/{{Soul|Series}}'' series (see above), Creator/{{Bandai Namco|Entertainment}} doesn't seem to want women [[ChristmasCake to age past 25]].

** Over the course of the series, Kunimitsu and Michelle Chang were replaced by their daughters Kunimitsu II and Julia, and Jun Kazama was replaced by her son, Jin, and two games later by a teenage relative, Asuka. When they all returned in the non-canon ''Tekken Tag Tournament'' {{dream match game}}s, Kunimitsu and Michelle haven't aged a day, with the latter looking [[MumLooksLikeASister nearly identical to her adopted daughter]].

* ''VideoGame/SoulSeries'': The series features exact years for its events, so how this trope is enforced can be observed between its 3 year, 4 year, and 17 year timeskips that take place before ''VideoGame/SoulCalibur'', ''VideoGame/SoulCaliburII'', and ''VideoGame/SoulCaliburV'', respectively.

** The third game skipped ahead 20 years, and most of the cast was replaced with their children or younger counterparts. However, Anna and Nina Williams were put into cryostasis and thus remained unaged while Heihachi Mishima, Paul Phoenix, and Lei Wulong all significantly aged. Michelle Chang was replaced by her daughter Julia, Jun Kazama was replaced by her son, Jin, and two games later by a teenage relative, Asuka. Lee and Marshall Law returned in ''Tekken 4'' and had significantly aged, but the returning Kazuya had not. Baek Doo-san returned in the fifth game and had significantly aged, Bruce and Ganryu had not, and Marshall Law and Lee appeared to look much younger. Finally, ''VideoGame/Tekken7'' replaced Kunimitsu with her daughter, who shares her code name. In short, the series ''was'' playing this trope straight at some point, but then decided to rewind time back to somewhere near the second game. Absolutely NONE of the female characters show any signs of aging while several male characters either once did or still do.
** A noticeably aged (albeit gracefully) Michelle does cameo in Julia's ending in the third game. However, this has been her only post-TimeSkip appearance thus far. (She'd appear in ''Tekken Tag Tournament'' and its sequel due to [[DreamMatchGame the nature of those games]], with the latter [[ArtisticAge treating Michelle as if she has a few decades on Julia despite looking around the same age as she was in the second game]] and thus [[MumLooksLikeASister nearly identical to her daughter]].)
** Many people suspect that the reason why time in the series [[WebcomicTime never moves on]] after the fourth game's two-year TimeSkip is because of this trope. Moving up ahead means the women age, and, as shown by this series and the ''VideoGame/{{Soul|Series}}'' series (see above), Creator/{{Bandai Namco|Entertainment}} doesn't seem to want women [[ChristmasCake to age past 25]].

* ''VideoGame/SoulSeries'': The series features exact years for its events, so how this trope is enforced can be observed between its 3 year, 5 year, and 17 year timeskips that take place before ''VideoGame/SoulCalibur'', ''VideoGame/SoulCaliburII'', and ''VideoGame/SoulCaliburV'', respectively.
** Between the first two timeskips, this trope is mostly averted as no one ages significantly in those 8 years. However the oldest male character Seong Han-Myeong is no longer playable, and one woman and one man (Sophitia and Hwang) are demoted to unlockable in ''II'' and ''III'' respectively, in favor of younger counterparts.

*** Just as only two women visibly aged, only two men did: Mitsurugi and Siegfried, to 46 and 40 respectively. The difference is more male characters were allowed to return at all, with 9 (human) male characters returning: Algol, Cervantes, Dampierre, Edgemaster, Kilik, Maxi, Mitsurugi, Raphael, and Siegfried; and several of those characters appeared "old" or ageless to begin with. Further, only two male characters (Astaroth and Yoshimitsu) were replaced. This makes Voldo the biologically oldest male main character, at 67.

** ''VideoGame/SoulcaliburVI'', a SoftReboot of the series that takes place over the 6 year stretch from ''VideoGame/SoulCalibur'' to ''VideoGame/SoulCaliburIV'', has the [[UnexpectedCharacter surprise return]] of [[spoiler:the original timeline's Cassandra, who was [[TrappedInAnotherWorld lost in Astral Chaos]] long enough to forget her own identity.]] As some players had predicted, although [[spoiler:Cassandra]] is now weary and [[TheCorruption horribly corrupted]], she is still just as young and pretty as her 21 year old self. As a bit of GameplayAndStorySegregation, she apparently does look different enough that [[spoiler:her new timeline counterpart didn't recognize her as herself at first glance.]]

** ''VideoGame/SoulcaliburVI'', a SoftReboot of the series that takes place over the 6 year stretch from ''VideoGame/SoulCalibur'' to ''VideoGame/SoulCaliburIV'', has the [[UnexpectedCharacter surprise return]] of [[spoiler:the original timeline's Cassandra]], who was [[spoiler:[[TrappedInAnotherWorld lost in Astral Chaos]]]] but still lived through the events of the 17 year timeskip in the original timeline. As some players had predicted, although [[spoiler:Cassandra]] is now [[TheCorruption horribly corrupted]] by evil, she is still just as young and pretty as she ever was, making her yet another female character who avoided legitimately aging past forty. As a bit of GameplayAndStorySegregation, she apparently does look different enough that [[spoiler:her new timeline counterpart didn't recognize her as herself.]]

*** Following the 17 year timeskip, only 4 of the 10 previously playable female characters return: Amy [[spoiler:as Viola]], Hilde, Ivy, and Tira. Of them, only Amy and Hilde noticeably age, from [[VagueAge approximately 9]] and 18 respectively. Four more (Cassandra, Setsuka, Sophitia, and Taki) were replaced by younger counterparts, and Seong Mi-Na and Talim were removed entirely. This makes post-timeskip Hilde the oldest playable female main character in the series, at 35.
*** Just as only two women visibly aged, only two men did: Mitsurugi and Siegfried, to 46 and 40 respectively. The difference is more male characters were allowed to return at all, with 9 (human) male characters returning: Algol, Cervantes, Dampierre, Edgemaster, Kilik, Maxi, Mitsurugi, Raphael, and Siegfried; and several of those characters appeared "old" or ageless to begin with. Further, only two male characters (Astaroth and Yoshimitsu) were replaced. This makes Voldo the oldest playable (non-immortal) male main character, at 67.

** ''VideoGame/SoulcaliburV'' bring the heart of this trope, with more female characters than male characters getting replaced, and no female character aging above 35. We are supposed to believe that Ivy, the series' sex symbol, has stopped aging due to her exposure to Soul Edge, but Siegfried gets to keep aging. Additionally, within the story, both Cervantes and Soul Edge itself are seeking to transfer their essences into younger female bodies to cheat aging.

** In ''VideoGame/SoulcaliburV'', following the 17 year timeskip, only 4 of the 10 previously playable female characters return: Amy [[spoiler:as Viola]], Hilde, Ivy, and Tira. Of them, only Amy and Hilde noticeably age, from [[VagueAge approximately 9]] and 18 respectively. Four more (Cassandra, Setsuka, Sophitia, and Taki) were replaced by younger counterparts, and Seong Mi-Na and Talim were removed entirely. This makes post-timeskip Hilde the oldest playable female main character in the series, at 35.

** Between the first two timeskips, this trope is mostly averted as no one ages significantly in those 8 years. However the oldest male character Seong Han-Myeong is no longer playable, and Sophitia and Hwang are demoted to unlockable in ''II'' and ''III'' respectively, in favor of counterparts.

** In ''VideoGame/SoulcaliburV'', following the 17 year timeskip, only 4 of the 10 previously playable female characters return: Amy [[spoiler:as Viola]], Hilde, Ivy, and Tira. Of them, only Amy and Hilde noticeably age, fittingly, since they were among the youngest humans in the cast ([[VagueAge approximately 9]] and 18 respectively). Four more (Cassandra, Setsuka, Sophitia, and Taki) were replaced by younger counterparts, and Seong Mi-Na and Talim were removed entirely.
** In ''VideoGame/SoulcaliburV'', while most of the male characters were kept for the seventeen-year TimeSkip, many of the females from previous titles (including EnsembleDarkhorse characters) ended up with younger {{Suspiciously Similar Substitute}}s, be they relatives or students. And, with the exception of Hilde (and Viola, if one follows the clues hinting that she's [[spoiler:an amnesiac Amy]]), the few female characters that were kept were {{Handwave}}d as [[TheAgeless not aging]], usually due to Soul Edge's influence. That said, nearly all of the men who were retained for ''V'' are ''also'' ageless or have had their aging process greatly slowed down because of similar factors (or were already immortal to begin with; meanwhile, [[GhostPirate Cervantes]] managed to outright cheat death by pulling a GrandTheftMe between games), while the versions of Astaroth and Yoshimitsu present are actually [[LegacyCharacter successors]] to the originals from the preceding four installments, as is Nightmare due to Soul Edge having a new host body to inhabit.

* ''VideoGame/SoulSeries'':

** ''VideoGame/SoulcaliburVI'', a SoftReboot of the series that reverses the previous game's TimeSkip, has the [[UnexpectedCharacter surprise return]] of [[spoiler:the original timeline's Cassandra]], who was [[spoiler:[[TrappedInAnotherWorld lost in Astral Chaos]]]] but still lived through the events seventeen years in the future. As some players had predicted, although [[spoiler:Cassandra]] is now [[TheCorruption horribly corrupted]] by evil, she is still just as young and pretty as she ever was, making her yet another female character who avoided legitimately aging past forty.

-> ''"I am absolutely convinced that the plan was to have Cassandra return in ''VideoGame/SoulcaliburVI'' without having aged a ''day'' so she could continue to be playable since she'd be under the 40-year threshold that forces women to retire in Namco fighting games."''

* Justified in ''Anime/{{Mnemosyne}}'' by almost all recurring female characters being (or becoming) immortal. The lead characters Rin and Mimi are immortals and remain at the same physical age throughout the series' 65-year span, while their nameless female informants are replaced with their own younger apprentices after every TimeSkip. Meanwhile, guys like Tamotsu, Maeno, and Teruki are allowed to reach venerable ages on-screen. The only obvious exception is the BigBad Apos but he [[spoiler:is eventually revealed to be a hermaphrodite]].

* ''Manga/{{Naruto}}'' zigzags this:

** However, there are also aversions. The most notable example is Elder Chiyo, who still kicks ass despite being over 70 years old. There is also Koharu Utatane, the Third Hokage's female teammate who serves as one of Konoha's infamous war hawks and, as seen in a flashback, was on the front lines protecting Konoha during Kurama's attack. At the time, she was 56 years old and very visibly aged. Koharu returns in ''Manga/{{Boruto}}'', still serving as adviser to the Kage, despite being over ''90''.

* ''Franchise/DragonBall'': Mostly averted for all human characters; the majority of [[TheAgeless ageless]] characters are gods, androids or aliens. The sole exception is Panchy, the mother of Bulma and eldest woman of the Briefs family; she is pushing ''seventy'' by the time of ''Anime/DragonBallSuper'' and doesn't look a day over 30. This is given no explanation whatsoever and contrast the sagely-looking appearance of her husband, Dr. Briefs.

* In Creator/FrankMiller's ''Comicbook/TheDarkKnightReturns'', Comicbook/{{Catwoman}} has gotten old and fat by the time Franchise/{{Batman}} comes out of retirement. Almost all of the male heroes, including Batman, Franchise/{{Superman}}, Franchise/GreenLantern, Franchise/TheFlash, Comicbook/GreenArrow, and Comicbook/TheAtom, and even villains like Comicbook/TheJoker and Comicbook/LexLuthor, have gotten older but are still capable of fighting. The only active superheroines in the story are younger replacements, with the exception of Franchise/WonderWoman, who is immortal.
* ''Comicbook/JusticeSocietyOfAmerica'':
** The original members of the Justice Society included Comicbook/WonderWoman and Comicbook/BlackCanary, but when the group reformed decades later, it included the daughters of both as replacements. (Wonder Woman was retroactively stated to be Diana's mother, Hippolyta.) Many of the men returned despite having aged (such as Jay Garrick, the original Franchise/TheFlash). Some, like Alan Scott (Comicbook/GreenLantern) and Carter Hall (Comicbook/{{Hawkman}}) had either de-aged or were immortal.

* ''Comicbook/KingdomCome'': While many of the male heroes come out of retirement after Superman does, most of the female superheroes stay retired and have been replaced in this distant future. Examples include Comicbook/{{Supergirl}}, Comicbook/BlackCanary, Comicbook/{{Starfire}}, and Comicbook/{{Zatanna}}. A handful of exceptions include Franchise/WonderWoman, [[Comicbook/PowerGirl Power Woman]], and Jade, and only the latter has aged all that much since it's established that Wonder Woman is immortal and Kryptonians like Power Girl not only age at a reduced rate, but get StrongerWithAge. [[Comicbook/{{Catwoman}} Selina Kyle]] is still around, and a member of [[Comicbook/LexLuthor Lex Luthor's]] "Mankind Liberation Front", but she's retired her costumed persona.
* In ''Comicbook/{{Watchmen}}'', there were originally two female members of the Minutemen team which existed in the 1940s: Silhouette and Silk Spectre. When the Crimebusters formed as their replacements, there were two veterans of the Minutemen: Captain Metropolis and The Comedian. Silhouette was [[BuryYourGays killed after being outed as a lesbian]] and Silk Spectre was replaced by her younger daughter.

* In the ''Film/XMenFilmSeries'', the only female character from the ''Film/XMenFirstClass'' era that returns is the immortal ShapeShifter, Mystique. Other female characters, like Angel Salvadore and Emma Frost, are never seen again. Both are said to have died in ''Film/XMenDaysOfFuturePast''.

** Heroes like Captain America and the Winter Soldier are still around from the UsefulNotes/WorldWarII era but have been preserved by cryostasis. No female character from the same era is still active, with the aged Comicbook/PeggyCarter being replaced by her niece, Comicbook/{{Agent 13}}. Peggy is dead by the time of ''Civil War'' and [[spoiler:as of ''Endgame'' Steve has retired too.]]
** Hank Pym is retired, but actively training his successor. Janet Pym, however, has died and her young daughter, Hope, wants to replace her. [[spoiler:Turns out Janet is alive, but takes a similar stance to her husband.]]
* ''Film/{{Watchmen}}'': Just as in the comic book, neither Silhouette nor the original Silk Spectre help form "The Watchmen" (the movie's version of the Crimebusters), but Captain Metropolis isn't part of that team, which means The Comedian is the only returning Minuteman.

* ''Film/TronLegacy'' and its related timeline. [[Creator/JeffBridges Bridges]]? Check. Boxleitner? Wouldn't be a ''Franchise/{{Tron}}'' entry without him. Morgan? Uh... oops. Creator/{{Disney}} shoves her human character (Lora Baines-Bradley) [[PutOnABus on a bus to Washington, D.C.]], and [[SequelNonEntity her Program (Yori) doesn't even warrant a mention]] in the ExpandedUniverse. The [[CanonDiscontinuity other]] [[VideoGame/TronTwoPointOh sequel]] played it sideways by having the actress voicing BenevolentAI [=Ma3a=] while killing off Lora. [[spoiler:However, that turned out to be a subversion as [=Ma3a=] turned out to ''be'' what was left of Lora due to BrainUploading.]]

* ''Franchise/StarWars'': In the first Star Wars movie, there is only one active female character, and she is 19 years old at the time. We are given pieces of backstory that transpired before the film, but all of the returning veterans from that time are male. When we ''are'' introduced to women in the prequel movies, most of them either fail to survive or do not return (aside from ExpandedUniverse works). The notable exceptions are Mon Mothma and Aunt Beru (retroactively) and Leia herself, who returns in the sequel trilogy.

* The plot of ''VideoGame/PhantasyStar III'' spans a few generations of a royal family. Each time a son becomes the protagonist in place of his father (after a 20 or so year gap), he can meet his parents at some point. While the father has become visibly older and grown mustache, the mother looks completely the same. With the game's animesque drawing style, everyone looks pretty ageless anyway though.

** A noticeably aged (albeit gracefully) Michelle does cameo in Julia's ending in the third game. However, this has been her only post-TimeSkip appearance thus far. She'd appear in ''Tekken Tag Tournament'' and its sequel due to [[DreamMatchGame the nature of those games]], with the latter [[ArtisticAge treating Michelle as if she has a few decades on Julia despite looking around the same age as she was in the second game]].)
** Many people suspect that the reason why time in the series [[WebcomicTime never moves on]] after the fourth game's two-year TimeSkip is because of this trope. Moving up ahead means the women age, and, as shown by this series and the ''VideoGame/{{Soul|Series}}'' series (see below), Creator/{{Bandai Namco|Enterntainment}} doesn't seem to want women [[ChristmasCake to age past 25]].
* Played with in ''VideoGame/MetalGear''. The franchise switches between two eras: the UsefulNotes/ColdWar era, and the Patriot era. All of the characters who have lived through both aged appropriately, including [[VideoGame/MetalGearSolid3SnakeEater Eva]]/[[VideoGame/MetalGearSolid4GunsOfThePatriots Big Mama]]. However, other female characters of the Cold War era all either died or disappeared by the time the Patriot era starts. [[VideoGame/MetalGearSolid3SnakeEater The Boss]] is another exception, as she came from an even ''older'' era and aged appropriately. But, [[spoiler:she dies in the same game introduced her, and even Big Mama dies not long after she resurfaces]].
* ''Franchise/MassEffect'':
** The asari are a long-lived race of [[GreenSkinnedSpaceBabe Blue-Skinned Space Babes]] and can live for thousands of years with almost no signs of aging (three "Matriarch"-aged asari we meet are all gorgeous and resemble a middle-aged human). The only species that lives the same amount of time as they do, the Krogan, do not age as gracefully (mostly because they are warriors) and have visible scars and wrinkles, in addition to not exactly being attractive by most human's standards to begin with, being somewhere between a turtle, a frog, and a t-rex appearance-wise.
** In the tie-in novels, the co-protagonists David Anderson and Kahlee Sanders are compared and contrasted for how they've aged. In the decades since the first novel until the [[VideoGame/MassEffect3 third game]], Kahlee is stated to have barely shown any signs of age. For reference, despite being only two years his junior, Sanders looks [[http://www.writeups.org/wp-content/uploads/Kahlee-Sanders-Mass-Effect.jpg like this,]] while Anderson looks [[http://masseffect.wikia.com/wiki/File:Anderson_Character_Box.png like this.]]
* ''Videogame/SoulSeries'':
** In ''VideoGame/SoulcaliburV'', while most of the male characters were kept for the seventeen-year TimeSkip, many of the females from previous titles (including EnsembleDarkhorse characters) ended up with younger {{Suspiciously Similar Substitute}}s, be they relatives or students. And, with the exception of Hilde (and Viola, if one follows the clues hinting that she's [[spoiler:an amnesiac Amy]]), the few female characters that were kept were {{Handwave}}d as [[TheAgeless not aging]], usually due to Soul Edge's influence. That said, nearly all of the men who were retained for ''V'' are ''also'' ageless or have had their aging process greatly slowed down because of similar factors (or were already immortal to begin with; meanwhile, [[GhostPirate Cervantes]] managed to outright cheat death by pulling a GrandTheftMe between games), while the versions of Astaroth and Yoshimitsu present are actually [[LegacyCharacter successors]] to the originals from the preceding four installments, as is Nightmare due to Soul Edge having a new host body to inhabit.
** ''VideoGame/SoulcaliburVI'', a SoftReboot of the series that reverses the previous game's TimeSkip, has the [[UnexpectedCharacter surprise return]] of [[spoiler:the original timeline's Cassandra]], who was [[spoiler:[[TrappedInAnotherWorld lost in Astral Chaos]]]] but still lived through the events seventeen years in the future. As some players had predicted, although [[spoiler:Cassandra]] is now [[TheCorruption horribly corrupted]] by evil, she is still just as young and pretty as she ever was, making her yet another female character who avoided legitimately aging past forty.

* {{Gender inverted|Trope}} in ''WesternAnimation/LegendOfKorra''. Both main females from [[WesternAnimation/AvatarTheLastAirbender the original series]] ([[MakingASplash Katara]] and [[DishingOutDirt Toph]]) are alive, while only one male ([[PlayingWithFire Zuko]]) is. All of them are semi-retired, though, while their descendants are main characters.

-->-- '''[=The4thSnake=]''', on ''VideoGame/SoulcaliburV''

* Played with in ''VideoGame/{{Tekken}}'':

** A noticeably aged (albeit gracefully) Michelle does cameo in Julia's ending in the third game. However, this has been her only post-TimeSkip appearance thus far.
** Many people suspect that the reason why time in the series [[WebcomicTime never moves on]] after the fourth game's two-year timeskip is because of this trope. Moving up ahead means the women age, and, as shown by this series and ''Soul'', Bandai Namco don't seem to want women [[ChristmasCake age past 25]].
* Played with in ''VideoGame/MetalGear''. The franchise switches between two eras: the UsefulNotes/ColdWar era, and the Patriot era. All of the characters who have lived through both aged appropriately, including [[VideoGame/MetalGearSolid3SnakeEater Eva]]/[[VideoGame/MetalGearSolid4GunsOfThePatriots Big Mama]]. However, other female characters of the Cold War era all either died or disappeared by the time the Patriot era starts. [[VideoGame/MetalGearSolid3SnakeEater The Boss]] is another exception, as she came from an even ''older'' era and aged appropriately. But, [[spoiler:she dies in the same game introduced her, and even Big Mama dies not long after she resurfaces.]]

** In ''VideoGame/SoulcaliburV'', while most of the male characters were kept for the seventeen-year TimeSkip, many of the females from [[VideoGame/SoulSeries previous titles]] (including EnsembleDarkhorse characters) ended up with younger {{Suspiciously Similar Substitute}}s, be they relatives or students. And, with the exception of Hilde (and Viola, if one follows the clues hinting that she's [[spoiler:an amnesiac Amy]]), the few female characters that were kept were {{Handwave}}d as [[TheAgeless not aging]], usually due to Soul Edge's influence. That said, nearly all of the men who were retained for ''V'' are ''also'' ageless or have had their aging process greatly slowed down because of similar factors (or were already immortal to begin with; meanwhile, [[GhostPirate Cervantes]] managed to outright cheat death by pulling a GrandTheftMe between games), while the versions of Astaroth and Yoshimitsu present are actually [[LegacyCharacter successors]] to the originals from the preceding four installments, as is Nightmare due to Soul Edge having a new host body to inhabit.

* The topic was briefly discussed by ''The 4th Snake'' in his "Wasted Plotential" series for the ''Videogame/SoulSeries''. He then [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oMNf1iupm0E revisited the topic]] in greater detail later in the series for "Namco's Female Fighters".

* When it comes to reproductive life, women have their [[MyBiologicalClockIsTicking biological clocks working against them and the prospect of menopause to worry about.]] Men generally retain the ability to conceive into old age (although with higher chances of erectile dysfunction, lowered fertility and a higher likelihood of the offspring having a heritable disease). On a related note, men are far more likely than women to prioritize youth when choosing companions of the opposite sex, and by extension, to find such people who don't fit the bill disposable.

** The asari are a long-lived race of [[GreenSkinnedSpaceBabe Blue-Skinned Space Babes]] and can live for thousands of years with almost no signs of aging (three "Matriarch"-aged asari we meet are all gorgeous and resemble a middle-aged human). The only species that lives the same amount of time as they do, the Krogan, do not age as gracefully (mostly because they are warriors) and have visible scars and wrinkles, in addition to not exactly being attractive by human standards to begin with.

Also related to MenActWomenAre, since men are assumed to have value for what they can do, thus even an old man wants to stay useful and can remain so in various ways. A woman's value, however, is tied to her sexual attractiveness, so if that's been lost with age, there is absolutely no way she can ever gain back relevance or usefuleness. Which is why the VainSorceress sets her priorities there, but the WizardClassic ''doesn't''.

Compare and contrast IWasQuiteALooker, which may potentially subvert this. See also DeathByDisfigurement which enforces that trope.

See also the WhiteDwarfStarlet, a formerly gorgeous and famous star who's been replaced with younger ones and can't accept it.

It seems that male characters age and either become {{Mentor|Archetype}}s, [[OldSoldier old versions]] [[OldSuperhero of what they were]] or {{Old Master}}s, while female characters are either written out of it in various ways or remain [[TheAgeless eternally young and beautiful]]. It goes hand-in-hand with MenAreStrongWomenArePretty, since the women either ''stay'' pretty, or they're out.

* When it comes to reproductive life, women have their biological clocks working against them and the prospect of menopause to worry about. Men generally retain the ability to conceive into old age (although with higher chances of erectile dysfunction, lowered fertility and a higher likelihood of the offspring having a heritable disease). On a related note, men are far more likely than women to prioritize youth when choosing companions of the opposite sex, and by extension, to find such people who don't fit the bill disposable.

** Somewhat subverted in that Jun and Kuni I getting replaced wasn't a case of ChristmasCake, Jun was replaced due [[https://twitter.com/Harada_TEKKEN/status/102094335134277634 to being unpopular]] while Kuni I was replaced to [[https://twitter.com/Harada_TEKKEN/status/1383964620205936641 move the story forward.]]

** Somewhat subverted in that Jun and Kuni I getting replaced wasn't a case of [[ChristmasCake]], Jun was replaced due [[https://twitter.com/Harada_TEKKEN/status/102094335134277634 to being unpopular]] while Kuni I was replaced to [[https://twitter.com/Harada_TEKKEN/status/1383964620205936641 move the story forward.]]

** Somewhat subverted in that Jun and Kuni I getting replaced wasn't a case of [[ChristmasCake]], [[https://twitter.com/Harada_TEKKEN/status/102094335134277634 Jun was replaced due to being unpopular]] while Kuni I was replaced to [[https://twitter.com/Harada_TEKKEN/status/1383964620205936641 move the story forward.]]

Contrast with LikesOlderWomen and MrsRobinson, which both defy this trope.