History Main / OlderIsBetter

* ''Literature/HarryPotter'': The Elder Wand[[note]]Elder being the wood it is made from, not a reference to its age.[[/note]] is the best wand, and despite wandcraft having ostensibly advanced since its creation, several centuries ago, no wand made since can match it. Same for [[spoiler:Harry's invisibility cloak]] which is both older and superior to all of its kind, even those made more recently. Their actual creator is unknown, however, legend states that they were made by Death himself, and given to Three Brothers(Dumbledore speculates that they were actually created by the Three Brothers themselves, and their power created the legend).

** Human technology is locked in stasis due to technology [[MachineWorship becoming a religion]] and 'discovery' effectively becoming archaeology - the only way an innovation will ever be approved by the high priests of the tech-cult is if it can be shown to have been an original part, or intended optional extra, of the base design.

* In ''VideoGame/MassEffect3'', the Prothean Particle Rifle will continuously fire until it overheats, at which point one has to wait until it cools down to fire, just like the guns in the ''[[MythologyGag first]]'' game. It seems the Protheans never thought of, (or disliked), using disposable heat-sinks as ammo. It was explicitly stated to be a design chosen due to logistic problems.

* In ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaBreathOfTheWild'', the ancient Sheikah technology that is 10,000 years old is more advanced compared to the MedievalStasis around it. Long ago, it had been deemed as a potential threat to the safety of Hyrule and further development was prohibited, but their technology remains scattered around the land.

* In ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaBreathOfTheWild'', the ancient Sheikah technology that is 10,000 years old is more advanced compared to the MedievalStasis around it. Long ago, it had been deemed as a threat by the King of Hyrule and further development was prohibited, but their technology remains scattered around the land.

* ''Fanfic/TheBoltChronicles'': Malcolm (Dr. Calico's actor) and Penny correspond with each other via letter in "The Wedding Reception." It's suggested this may because of the latter's discomfort with more contemporary means of communication such as email.

* Hand tools for wood work such as axes, hand saws, chisels, hand drills, bar clamps, and bench planes tend to be of higher quality if they were made in the late 19th or early 20th century. These used to be marketed to professionals who were making huge numbers of houses, cabinets, and pieces of furniture, and they were willing to pay good prices for their tools to be sharp, accurate, easily adjustable, and durable. Then came the explosion of electric drills, table saws, jointer and planer machines, routers, etc. which greatly reduced demand for hand tools in the trades because they made work so much faster. A lot of companies went out of business, while a few giants like Stanley and Irwin decided to cut costs in order to stay in business, trading on their brand reputation from the past to sell hobbyists inferior versions of their old products. When it comes to those companies, at least, older usually is better. Since then we’ve seen something of a hand tool renaissance, and modern companies like Lie-Nielsen and Veritas make new premium models that are in many ways even better than the originals thanks to modern steel and machining, but they are quite expensive and don’t have the same historical appeal. On one hand, people getting into the hobby will often be advised to hunt for deals on "fixer upper" antique tools that would work very well is restored, and on the other hand you’ve got the collectors (mainly of planes) who will pay huge sums for rare antique models in good condition.

* Subverted in Retrofuturists and followers of the Raygun Gothic Styles. They prefer older depictions of the future for the campy character over comparatively dull and clinical modern technical visions.

Today, it's definitely not a JustifiedTrope in RealLife. Modern science has surpassed the science of the ancients, meaning newly adopted technology has important advantages over older technologies. It does not have to be an improvement in all areas, but there is generally an overall improvement, which is why the technology could replace older versions. However, in pseudosciences like astrology and some alternative medicines (un-touched by the scientific method), the idea persists: these ancient knowledges and traditions have been around for so long, unchanged, so that must mean that they are better than modern science! It's the same logic as with the OldMaster: if a tool has lasted for centuries and is still usable, then it must be damn good. Compare with AppealToTradition, to which this is related. [[http://web.archive.org/web/20130727103912/http://www.badmartialarts.com/myths/ancient_knowledge.php Bad Martial Arts]] has a page debunking the idea.

* Hand tools for wood work such as hand saws, braces and bits, bar clamps, and metal-bodied planes tend to be of higher quality if they were made in the late 19th or early 20th century. These used to be marketed to professionals who were making huge numbers of houses, cabinets, and pieces of furniture, and they were willing to pay good prices for their tools to be accurate, easily adjustable, and durable. Then came the explosion of electric drills, table saws, jointer and planer machines, routers, etc. which killed demand for hand tools in the trades because they made work so much faster. Many companies like Stanley which made hand tools decided to cut costs in order to stay in business, trading on their brand reputation from the past to sell hobbyists inferior versions of their old products. Some modern companies like Veritas make new premium models that are as good as antiques or better, but those are quite expensive. On one hand people getting into the hobby will often be advised to hunt for deals on "fixer upper" antique tools, and on the other hand you’ve got the collectors who will pay large sums for rare antique models in good condition.

** When UsefulNotes/TheVietnamWar occured, the United States made the assumption that guided missiles like the AIM-9 Sidewinder, AIM-9 Sparrow and AIM-4 Falcon would make OldSchoolDogfighting obsolete, resulting in the F-4 Phantom lacking guns entirely and the F-8 Crusader being nicknamed "The Last Gunfighter" simply due to retaining them. The Soviet [=MiG-15=] and [=MiG-17=] still relied on guns, and due to the unreliability of early air-to-air missiles at the time, actually won a fair number of dogfights against the F-4 Phantom.
*** It is for ''[[CrazyPrepared this exact reason]]'' that later variants of the Phantom added an internal gun (and had external gunpods before then as a stopgap measure), and every air superiority fighter designed in the US since then features a gun, even as air-to-air missile reliability improved to the point that a modern AIM-120 AMRAAM can very easily kill from beyond visual range.

* ''VideoGame/{{Runescape}}'' has a lot of equipment originating from thousands of years prior to the current year of the game and these are some of the best equipment available...usually.

Do not confuse with the RealLife nostalgia due to TheyDontMakeThemLikeTheyUsedTo and, its extreme form, TrueArtIsAncient. Compare StrongerWithAge when this applies to creatures. Also compare with RockBeatsLaser and ArchaicWeaponForAnAdvancedAge. See also WhatAPieceOfJunk in which an old, rusted technology turns out to be a superior item.

*** One of the ultimate examples of this trope in the game is the fact that the Heavy Stubber, a capable and reliable heavy weapon often found gracing Imperial vehicles and emplacements and churned out of Forge Worlds by the millions out of their simplicity, ease of use and ability to pump out reasonably powerful MoreDakka, is the [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/M2_Browning Browning M2]]. A gun first designed in ''1918'' still finds use ''fourty thousand years later''. Older Is Better indeed.

* In ''Anime/YuGiOh'', the older the magic, the better. This is especially seen in the Waking the Dragons arc. Got 3000 year old magic? Too bad, my magic is ''10,000'' years old.

This idea has been popularly applied to at least one RealLife scenario: the story goes that Europe and Arabia emerged from TheDarkAges and into UsefulNotes/TheRenaissance by rediscovering the works of AncientGreece and AncientRome, re-learning technology that had been widely forgotten and disused for centuries. The romance of regaining superior wisdom of a bygone age has been a powerful driver behind this idea, even though there is much less truth in it than commonly thought. Especially in the late medieval age many areas of technology were ahead of anything the Romans ever did.

** ''Usually''. ''VideoGame/{{Fallout Tactics}}'' and ''VideoGame/{{Fallout 4}}'' shows that the Brotherhood of Steel have the means to construct airships despite the state of post-War America but still rely on pre-War vehicles. The Institute of ''VideoGame/{{Fallout 4}}'' zigzag this: they can and have made [[DeceptivelyHumanRobots robots]] and [[ArtificialHuman synthetic humans]] that can pass off as normal people and even ''synthetic gorillas'' but the problem is that the robots are often more dim than pre-War robots an the laser pistols and rifles they are given are actually bigger and fire weaker shots than pre-War laser weapons, like those used by the Brotherhood of Steel.

* ''Literature/{{Beowulf}}'' has many of the weapons, helmets, armours, standards and cups mentioned as prized heirlooms and passed around and down generations for a long time. It is suggested they were forged by [[PrecursorRace Giants]].

* ''Advertising/HealthHotline'': Grandma is much older than Ellie, but she's much faster.

* The win quotes for ''VideoGame/GuiltyGearXrd Revelator 2nd'' have Bedman [[{{Deconstruction}} chastise Jam for believing in this trope]].
-->"Does it really matter that your kempo has existed for thousands of years? It seems quite anachronistic to associate the age of something with its effectiveness. I can trace back the history of modern humanity to about 200,000 years. If the length of history means anything, then your stone axe wielding brethren should be at the top of the food chain. I don't see anyone bragging about that..."