History Main / OlderAndWiser

[[folder:Film]]

* In the ''{{WesternAnimation/Futurama}}'' film ''Bender's Big Score'', [[spoiler:Lars Fillmore is an older and more mature version of Fry who managed to get sent to the past and had his features accidentally changed to become near-unrecognizable.]]

* In ''VideoGame/GalaxyAngelII'', the Moon Angels from the first ''VideoGame/GalaxyAngel'' trilogy act as mentors to their successors in the Rune Angel Wing.

* ''Fanfic/OneDayAtATimeFanfic'': PeggySue protagonist Jason Todd. Physically sixteen, but mentally fifty years old -- he's raised four kids, juggled running a massive billion dollar-company and being Batman, all while helping lead the Justice League. That, on top of a major BreakTheHaughty TraumaCongaLine that saw him lose his best friend Roy, his adoptive father Bruce, and all three of his brothers within ten years, has left him as a much humbler, wiser, and overall better person than he was before.

* Come ''Manga/{{Boruto}}'', the previous IdiotHero Naruto is now a calm and mature adult. He's the hokage and is the leader of his village. This also applies to most of his generation as well.

* Miwa "Micchi" Uzuki, TheChick in the original ''Anime/KotetsuJeeg'', becomes TheCaptain in the {{revival}}, ''Koutetsushin Jeeg''.

* ''VideoGame/DevilMayCry4'': Dante is twice the age he was in ''VideoGame/DevilMayCry3'' meaning he's in his mid to late 30's, giving him almost 20 years worth of experience between this and his first adventure. He goes from a smart-ass to a smart-ass with a lot of experience and skill he doesn't take the plot of the game seriously at all, contrasting with Nero who not only has personal investment in the plot but also has as much experience as Dante did in ''3''.

* ''VideoGame/DevilMayCry4'': Dante. It's a bit inconsistent thanks to how the games' timelines jump around but he goes from a smart-ass to a smart-ass with a lot of experience.

* ''VideoGame/GodOfWarPS4'': Kratos has had a ''lot'' of time to think about everything he did in the original trilogy, and it shows. His famously UnstoppableRage has been reigned in, and when he ''does'' get angry, it's a TranquilFury. Kratos clearly regrets everything he's done, and he wants nothing more than to keep his son Atreus from repeating his mistakes.

* Don Diego Vega (Creator/AnthonyHopkins), the original Zorro, returns to train Alejandro Murrieta (Antonio Banderas) in ''Film/TheMaskOfZorro''.

* In ''Film/TheHustler1961'', Fast Eddie is an upstart hotshot who is mentored by the older and wiser Bert Gordon. In ''Film/TheColorOfMoney'', Fast Eddie is the older and wiser mentor to the upstart hotshot Vincent.

* ''Franchise/StarTrek'': All of the cast of [[Series/StarTrekTheOriginalSeries the original series]] take on this trope in various shades in the movies, particularly in ''[[Film/StarTrekIITheWrathOfKhan The Wrath of Khan]]'' and ''[[Film/StarTrekVITheUndiscoveredCountry The Undiscovered Country]]'', where they are contrasted with younger characters like Preston, Saavik, and Valeris. Indeed, in ''The Undiscovered Country'', it was Valeris's relative lack of perspective compared to her mentor Spock that led to [[spoiler: her decision to betray the Federation by helping assassinate Chancellor Gorkon to try and start a war with the Klingons.]]
** In the [[Film/StarTrek2009 JJ Abrams]] movies, the trope is inverted by showing younger versions of the characters, including a particularly hotheaded Kirk. While Spock [[TranquilFury seems]] very collected in this continuity, we see that even he is very HotBlooded compared to [[spoiler: Spock!Prime, who accidentally traveled several decades back in time into an alternate timeline.]]

* Henry in ''Literature/TheTimeTravelersWife'' managed to be an OlderAndWiser mentor to ''himself''.
* Used in each subsequent ''Literature/TortallUniverse'' series by Creator/TamoraPierce.
** Alanna (''Literature/SongOfTheLioness'') appears as a parent and veteran warrior in ''Literature/TheImmortals'', ''Literature/ProtectorOfTheSmall'' and the ''Literature/TrickstersDuet''. By the time of the last, she's middle-aged, as is her husband George.
** Prince Jon of ''Literature/SongOfTheLioness'' is young, naive, and haughty. ''King'' Jon in ''Literature/ProtectorOfTheSmall'' is a firm and progressive ruler who makes pragmatic compromises and instills a sense of [[RoyalsWhoActuallyDoSomething royal responsibility]] in his descendants.
* Done interestingly in Creator/RobinHobb's works with Fitz, protagonist of the ''[[Literature/RealmOfTheElderlings Farseer]]'' trilogy. He's still the narrator and protagonist when he returns fifteen years later for the ''Tawny Man'' trilogy, but the heart of the story is his attempts to guide and mentor the adolescent offspring of his old friends. So, for once, the OlderAndWiser character remains the ''main'' character!
* The ''Franchise/StarWarsExpandedUniverse'' has Ferus Olin, who was a contemporary of Anakin in the ''Literature/JediQuest'' series as a teenager, was a young adult and the main character of the ''Last of the Jedi'' series, and returned in the ''Rebel Force'' books to serve as on-again-off-again mentor to Luke and Leia. He does indeed have a HeroicSacrifice and a [[YouAreNotAlone genuinely moving death scene]].

* Sarah Jane Smith in ''Series/TheSarahJaneAdventures'', as compared to her in ''Series/DoctorWho'' three decades prior. Explicitly shown in the ''Who'' episode "Turn Left": in an alternate timeline in which the Doctor died without regenerating, Sarah Jane takes the Doctor's canon role by preventing the plot of "Smith and Jones" from coming to fruition. [[spoiler:Though she dies in the process.]]
* Tommy in ''Series/PowerRangersDinoThunder'', who returns to superheroing as the team mentor figure after taking seven years off for college, graduate school, a doctorate program, and wildly successful research on superpowered dinosaur cyborgs. It is unknown, but doubtful, if the character slept between his departure in 1997 and return in 2004.

* Steed in ''Series/TheNewAvengers''

* Although ''Series/WelcomeBackKotter'' didn't have any prior show, the character Gabe Kotter was a former student who comes back to his high school alma mater to teach an often unruly group of remedial wiseguys known as the "Sweathogs", of which he was a founding member.

* When Faith first appears in ''Series/BuffyTheVampireSlayer'' she's a cynic, a BloodKnight and especially because she is a Slayer she can have and do whatever she wants. Now she tries to teach other Slayers that WithGreatPowerComesGreatResponsibility and WithGreatPowerComesGreatInsanity, is on the lookout for those who might go KnightTemplar, and is insightful enough to know that Angel created monsters, and tears himself up over having to live with them.

* The ''TabletopGame/YuGiOh'' card game has ''lots'' of monsters that are older versions of other monsters, and it's kind of hard to list them all. Some notable examples:
** [[http://yugioh.wikia.com/wiki/Dark_Magician Dark Magician]] -> [[http://yugioh.wikia.com/wiki/Dark_Sage Dark Sage]]
** [[http://yugioh.wikia.com/wiki/Injection_Fairy_Lily Injection Fairy Lily]] -> [[http://yugioh.wikia.com/wiki/Counselor_Lily Counselor Lily]]
** [[http://yugioh.wikia.com/wiki/Legendary_Six_Samurai_-_Shi_En Legendary Six Samurai - Shi En]] -> [[http://yugioh.wikia.com/wiki/Great_Shogun_Shien Great Shogun Shien]]
** There are lots of others, of course, but it's impossible to list them all.

* ''TabletopGame/Warhammer40000'': Warboss Ghazkull made his first appearance in a first-edition supplement in the early 90s as a generic Warboss for the Goff clan. A few years later, he's at the head of the biggest Waaaagh! in the galaxy, has ravaged the planet Armageddon repeatedly, formed a one-sided FriendlyRivalry with [[ColonelBadass Commissar Yarrick]], and believes himself to be on a mission from the Ork gods.

* ''VideoGame/GodOfWarPS4'': Kratos has had a ''lot'' of time to think about everything he did in the original trilogy, and it shows. His famously UnstoppableRage has been reigned in, and when he ''does'' get angry, it's a TranquilFury. Kratos clearly regrets everything he's done, and he wants nothing more than to keep his son Atreus from repeating his mistakes.
-->'''Atreus:''' So I'm a man now? Like you?\\
'''Kratos:''' ''No''. We are not men. We are more than that, and the responsibility is ''far'' greater. And you must be '''better''' than me. Understand?
%%* ''VideoGame/StreetFighterIII'': Ryu and Ken.
%%* ''VideoGame/FatalFury'': Terry Bogard in ''Garou: Mark of the Wolves''
%%* ''VideoGame/MetalGearSolid2SonsOfLiberty'': Solid Snake, since he's become so [[MemeticBadass Badass]] that it can no longer be constrained by the limits of gameplay.%%ZCE -- explain.
%%* ''VideoGame/GalaxyAngel'': The Moon Angels.
%%* ''VideoGame/LufiaIIRiseOfTheSinistrals'': Dekar joins the party in ''VideoGame/LufiaTheRuinsOfLore'', but calling him ''wiser'' may be a bit of a stretch...

* ''Franchise/FireEmblem'':
** ''VideoGame/FireEmblemGenealogyOfTheHolyWar'': Finn and Oifey; you had them in the first generation as young apprentices, in the second generation they are back as mentors to Leif and Nanna, and Seliph and the other children at Tirnanogue respectively. Shannan also serves as a mentor to Seliph as well his much younger cousins, Larcei and Ulster. Lewyn, who comes back as Seliph's strategist, also counts, though this may be because of his [[spoiler: [[BackFromTheDead resurrection]] and LaserGuidedAmnesia]].
** While ''VideoGame/FireEmblemTheBlazingBlade'' came out a few years after ''VideoGame/FireEmblemTheBindingBlade'', it's a prequel to Binding Blade, taking place nearly 20 years before. In Blazing Blade, we see Bartre as a HotBlooded BoisterousBruiser who is extremely BookDumb and [[JerkWithAHeartOfGold insensitive, though unknowingly]]. Come ''The Binding Blade'', he is [[ActionDad the father of Fir]] and is much more subdued, while still having some hotblood. He also grew a mustache. In addition, Karel goes from a bloodthirsty "Sword Demon" who only lives for battle to the much calmer and wiser "Sword Saint" who mostly keeps to himself unless his family is threatened.
** ''VideoGame/FireEmblemRadiantDawn'': Averted; the cast of ''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemPathOfRadiance Path of Radiance]]'' all make appearances as major characters and despite some maturity still have their own problems and issues to deal with.
** ''VideoGame/FireEmblemAwakening'': Played straight; [[spoiler: Tiki, who was just a dragon child in ''VideoGame/FireEmblemShadowDragonAndTheBladeOfLight'', reappears [[SheIsAllGrownUp as a dragon teen]] who takes up a mentor role towards Lucina and, in the DLC, her JuniorCounterpart Nowi. And [[MayflyDecemberRomance she can even be romanced by a male Avatar]].]]
** In ''VideoGame/FireEmblemFates'', this applies to [[spoiler: Laslow, Selena, and Odin, who are older versions of the second-gen characters Inigo, Severa, and Owain from ''VideoGame/FireEmblemAwakening'', having matured out of a lot of their more negative character traits, while still retaining their core personalities.]]
** ''VideoGame/FireEmblemThreeHouses'' [[spoiler:shows this in many of the students, as well as Cyril, post-TimeSkip. Given that the country the game takes place in descends into civil war during the interim, it's {{Justified}}. One ZigZagged example is Dimitri, who falls into the DespairEventHorizon and becomes a bitter BloodKnight consumed by a desire for revenge: only in the Blue Lions storyline does he begin to get better, and even then, by his own admission, he still has some issues with his mental scars.]]

%%* ''VisualNovel/ApolloJusticeAceAttorney'': Phoenix Wright. Some argue that this transition [[NotAsYouKnowThem wasn't entirely natural]], however...

* ''VideoGame/DarkForcesSaga'': Kyle Katarn becomes the mentor to new player character Jaden Korr in ''VideoGame/JediAcademy''. [[spoiler:He's also the FinalBoss if you turn to TheDarkSide, and actually puts up one hell of a fight]].

* ''VideoGame/AtelierAnnieAlchemistsOfSeraIsland'': Liese. [[NoExportForYou Not that you'd be expected to know]]. She's also [[spoiler: a kind of TricksterMentor, since she's testing and spying on Annie for her grandfather]].
* ''VideoGame/ZoneOfTheEnders'': Leo Stenbuck, returning in ''The Second Runner'' less mopey and with [[TookALevelInBadass added levels in Badass]].
* ''VideoGame/SuikodenII'': Flik and Viktor.
* ''Franchise/DonkeyKong'' has Cranky Kong, who was the Donkey Kong from the [[VideoGame/DonkeyKong original arcade games]]. Unfortunately, while he's older and wiser, he's ''so much so'' that he's more GrumpyOldMan than anything else.
* ''VideoGame/StarFox'': Peppy Hare was part of the original Star Fox Team and now fights alongside his fallen teammate's son. He even gives up piloting his arwing after ''Star Fox Adventures'', becoming more of a MissionControl figure.

* ''VideoGame/GoldenSun'': Isaac and Garet show up for the tutorial levels of ''VideoGame/GoldenSunDarkDawn''. Garet plays the trope straight, having matured from a HotBlooded source of PluckyComicRelief to a more sedate parent struggling to keep a leash on his even-''more''-temperamental teenage son, but Isaac subverts it almost to the point of a total inversion-- he's gone from a [[HeroicMime quiet]] momma's boy with a bad case of ChronicHeroSyndrome to a rather reckless fellow more interested in putting Matthew through obstacle courses than getting Tyrell out of life-threatening danger.

* ''VisualNovel/FateStayNight'': Gilgamesh is a conceited {{Jerkass}} due to having his personality in this incarnation modeled on how he was early in the tales written down in ''The Epic of Gilgamesh''. When the protagonists of ''VideoGame/FateGrandOrder'' time travel to Mesopotamia to find the BigBad's final Holy Grail, they meet a Gilgamesh who has lost Enkidu, failed at his quest for immortality herbs, and is settling down as the wise God-King of Uruk. And it shows, Uruk citizens are really capable, content, and happy with his rule. He only acts rude towards the protagonist because of the sheer stress of running his kingdom and fighting the war against the Three Goddess Alliance. In the game proper, this version is summonable as his Caster-version.
* ''VideoGame/TrailsSeries'': Due to the entire series being one big continuity, anyone who first appears in ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfHeroesTrailsInTheSky'', ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfHeroesTrailsFromZero'', and ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfHeroesTrailsOfColdSteel I and II'' end up becoming this trope by ''Cold Steel III and IV''.
* ''VideoGame/SakuraWars2019'' sees [[TheBusCameBack the return of Sumire Kanzaki]] after her retirement from active duty, now serving as the commander of the new Imperial Combat Revue. She is no longer as haughty and boastful as she was in her youth, and has mellowed out considerably, although she still caries herself with the pride of being a top actress back in her day.
* ''VideoGame/MortalKombat11'': Happens a few times, given that time-travel is involved.
** Johnny Cage has mellowed out considerably since his days as a smug Hollywood star. When his past self shows up again, Present-Johnny is the one [[IHatePastMe most annoyed by him]].
** Hanzo Hasashi (aka Scorpion), has likewise calmed down considerably since being resurrected, finally avenging his family, making peace with Sub-Zero and the Lin Kuei, and working to rebuild the new Shirai Ryu clan. He tries to get his past undead self to see that there can be more to his existence than vengeance, and that even if the bloodline of the old Shirai Ryu was wiped out, it doesn't mean the end of their clan as long as there are worthy successors to carry on their traditions.

* ''WebComic/GirlGenius'': Apparently a biological feature of Jagermonsters; while the "young" ones (who can still be a century old) are very excitable {{Blood Knight}}s with an intense love of fine clothing, the older ones seem a lot saner, with the generals still dressing well but cracking jokes about things like one of them missing a hat (when younger ones find lacking a hat themselves to be rather awful), and have no real thirst for fighting, enjoying a good scrap but having no unnatural drive; if they fight, it's because they chose to. [[spoiler:We get a closer look at this when Captain Vole, so bloodthirsty he got kicked out of the Jagercorps, is accidentally aged hundreds of years in one sitting. While a part of it can be trauma, he finds himself utterly confused by how much his insanity waned; he used to care a lot for clothes, but not quite as much now, he doesn't really think he wants to fight anymore, and his dreams of watching Europa burn are gone; he doesn't want that anymore, and he doesn't really have another dream to replace it. And he even ''laments'' the carnage he caused, at least a little]].

* Ahsoka Tano in ''WesternAnimation/StarWarsTheCloneWars'' was Anakin's snippy, reckless KidHero Padawan. In ''WesternAnimation/StarWarsRebels'' she's become a leader in the early rebellion and has matured into a warrior and mentor.
* Egon in ''WesternAnimation/ExtremeGhostbusters'' (while his three colleagues made a cameo NotAsYouKnowThem).

* WordOfGod says one reason ''WesternAnimation/YoungJustice'' had a TimeSkip: season one shows the Team being trained by their own mentors, while season two shows them older and training even younger heroes.

* Cornelius in ''WesternAnimation/{{Babar}}'' and the SequelSeries ''WesternAnimation/BabarAndTheAdventuresOfBadou'' is the oldest and wiser elephant in the cast and probably in the entire kingdom. Madam may also count as a female version.

* When The Murder City Machine Guns first stopped by Wrestling/RingOfHonor, it was technically an example of this for Chris Sabin, who hadn't done much of anything in the promotion till but they still amounted to pests to the Briscoes and The [[Wrestling/ChrisHero Kings]] Of [[Wrestling/ClaudioCastagnoli Wrestling]]. But four years in the promotion and nine years in the business total saw them quickly become leaders of the locker room when they returned ROH in 2016 and the younger talents of promotion really needed help rallying against Wrestling/BulletClub.[[/folder]]

* Any characters that are around for longer than one arc in ''Manga/JoJosBizarreAdventure''. Notable ones include [[SuperpowerfulGenetics Joseph Joestar]],[[note]]up until he becomes a ScatterbrainedSenior, that is[[/note]] [[BadassLongcoat Jotaro Kujo]], [[NiceHat Speedwagon]], Dio Brando, and even [[spoiler:[[ButtMonkey Polnareff]]]].

* ''WebComic/GirlGenius'': Apparently a biological feature of Jagermonsters; while the "young" ones (who can still be a century old) are very excitable {{Blood Knight}}s with an intense love of fine clothing, the older ones seem a lot saner, with the generals still dressing well but cracking jokes about things like one of them missing a NiceHat (when younger ones find lacking a hat themselves to be rather awful), and have no real thirst for fighting, enjoying a good scrap but having no unnatural drive; if they fight, it's because they chose to. [[spoiler:We get a closer look at this when Captain Vole, so bloodthirsty he got kicked out of the Jagercorps, is accidentally aged hundreds of years in one sitting. While a part of it can be trauma, he finds himself utterly confused by how much his insanity waned; he used to care a lot for clothes, but not quite as much now, he doesn't really think he wants to fight anymore, and his dreams of watching Europa burn are gone; he doesn't want that anymore, and he doesn't really have another dream to replace it. And he even ''laments'' the carnage he caused, at least a little]].

* ''VideoGame/DevilMayCry'': Dante, in the fourth game. It's a bit inconsistent thanks to how the games' timelines jump around but he goes from a smart-ass to a smart-ass with a lot of experience.

* In ''Film/TheHustler'', Fast Eddie is an upstart hotshot who is mentored by the older and wiser Bert Gordon. In ''Film/TheColorOfMoney'', Fast Eddie is the older and wiser mentor to the upstart hotshot Vincent.

Usually ends up being a CoolOldGuy (well, depending on how old he actually is by now). Related to TheMentor, though they're less likely to die. (Of course, there's always the possibility of a [[StuffedIntoTheFridge nasty refrigerator accident]]...)

** While ''VideoGame/FireEmblemTheBlazingBlade'' came out a few years after ''VideoGame/FireEmblemTheBindingBlade'', it's a prequel to Binding Blade, taking place nearly 20 years before. In Blazing Blade, we see Bartre as a HotBlooded BoisterousBruiser who is extremely BookDumb and [[JerkWithAHeartOfGold insensitive, though unknowingly]]. Come ''The Binding Blade'', he is [[ActionDad the father of Fir]] and is much more subdued, while still having some hotblood. He also grew a BadassMustache. In addition, Karel goes from a bloodthirsty "Sword Demon" who only lives for battle to the much calmer and wiser "Sword Saint" who mostly keeps to himself unless his family is threatened.

** Also, a {{Crossover}} episode of ''WesternAnimation/StaticShock'' shows Static in that time period, not only Older and Wiser, but far stronger.

* ''Franchise/StarTrek'': All of the cast of [[Series/StarTrekTheOriginalSeries the original series]] take on this trope in various shades in the movies, particularly in ''[[Film/StarTrekIITheWrathOfKhan The Wrath of Khan]]'' and ''[[Film/StarTrekVITheUndiscoveredCountry The Undiscovered Country]]'', where they are contrasted with younger characters like Preston, Saavik, and Valeris. Indeed, in ''The Undiscovered Country'', it was Valeris's relative lack of perspective compared to her mentor Spock that led to [[spoiler: her decision betray the Federation by helping assassinate Chancellor Gorkon to try and start a war with the Klingons.]]

'''Kratos:''' ''No''. We are not men. We are more than that, and the responsibility is ''far'' greater. You must be ''better'' than me.

** Taiki and Shoutmon from ''Anime/DigimonXrosWars'' return to ''Anime/DigimonXrosWarsTheYoungHuntersWhoLeaptThroughTime'' as the smart mentors. Yuu himself returns from the previous series now matured as one of the main cast.

* ''VideoGame/{{Fallout}}'': Mayor Robert Joseph [=MacCready=] of ''VideoGame/Fallout3'' is a child with a ClusterFBomb vocabulary and universally unlikable attitude. Mercenary Robert Joseph [=MacCready=] of ''VideoGame/Fallout4'' is a polite man with a strong PapaWolf mentality and a likable personality. The last decade really humbled him.

* ''VisualNovel/FateStayNight'': Gilgamesh is a conceited {{Jerkass}} due to having his personality in this incarnation modeled on how hd was early in the tales written down in ''The Epic of Gilgamesh''. When the protagonists of ''VideoGame/FateGrandOrder'' time travel to Mesopotamia to find the BigBad's final Holy Grail, they meet a Gilgamesh who has lost Enkidu, failed at his quest for immortality herbs, and is settling down as the wise God-King of Uruk. And it shows, Uruk citizens are really capable, content, and happy with his rule. He only acts rude towards the protagonist because of the sheer stress of running his kingdom and fighting the war against the Three Goddess Alliance. In the game proper, this version is summonable as his Caster-version.

* ''VideoGame/TrailsSeries'': Due to the entire series being one big continuity, anyone who first appears in ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfHeroesTrailsInTheSky'', ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfHeroesZeroNoKiseki'', and ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfHeroesTrailsOfColdSteel I and II'' end up becoming this trope by ''Cold Steel III and IV''.

* Any characters that are around for longer than one arc in ''Manga/JoJosBizarreAdventure''. Notable ones include [[SuperpowerfulGenetics Joseph Joestar]],[[note]]up until he becomes a ScatterbrainedSenior[[/note]] [[BadassLongcoat Jotaro Kujo]], [[NiceHat Speedwagon]], Dio Brando, and even [[spoiler:[[ButtMonkey Polnareff]]]].

* Any characters that are around for longer than one arc in ''Manga/JoJosBizarreAdventure''. Notable ones include [[SuperpowerfulGenetics Joseph Joestar]],[[note]]up until he becomes TheScatterbrainedSenior[[/note]] [[BadassLongcoat Jotaro Kujo]], [[NiceHat Speedwagon]], Dio Brando, and even [[spoiler:[[ButtMonkey Polnareff]]]].

* Any characters that are around for longer than one arc in ''Manga/JoJosBizarreAdventure''. Notable ones include [[SuperpowerfulGenetics Joseph Joestar]],[[note]]at least before he becomes old to the point of being senile[[/note]] [[BadassLongcoat Jotaro Kujo]], [[NiceHat Speedwagon]], Dio Brando, and even [[spoiler:[[ButtMonkey Polnareff]]]].