History Main / YoungAndInCharge

* ''Manga/JoJosBizarreAdventureGoldenWind'' ends with [[spoiler:the fifteen-year-old Giorno Giovanna as don of [[TheMafia Passione]].]]

* ''Film/MasterAndCommander'' depicted very young midshipmen as naval officers (true to history).
* While all of Film/{{The Avengers|2012}} are adults, their leader is the youngest (not counting [[HumanPopsicle time served as Capsicle]]) member, ComicBook/CaptainAmerica. And with good reason; the discussion over who's going to be running the show consists of Iron Man asking Cap to "call it", Cap laying out a flawless strategy to kill everything alien within a ten-mile radius with a maximum of efficiency and a minimum of casualties, and the rest of the previously-squabbling Avengers doing ''exactly'' as they are told without so much as a quibble.
* In ''Film/SpiderManNoWayHome'', when Peter Parker [[spoiler:joins forces with [[Film/SpiderManTrilogy two alternate]] [[Film/TheAmazingSpiderManSeries versions of himself]], he ends up becoming the "leader" of their temporary team as they battle their villains on the Statue of Liberty as the only one of the three Spider-Men who actually has experience in a team, as opposed to just being a constant solo hero]].
* The titular Chuck, from ''Film/AmazingGraceAndChuck'', is only 12-years-old but he starts and leads a global anti-nuclear weapon movement that begins with athletes going on strike in protest and eventually expands to include most of the other children in the world standing in solidarity with his vow of silence. By the end of the film, his movement has grown so influential that he's essentially able to ''veto'' a seven-year disarmament treaty between the USSR and the USA because its not good enough. He forces the two world leaders to go back and agree to total disarmament ''immediately''.

* Happens a couple times in the ''Literature/WarriorCats'' series. Scourge takes over the city cats when he's only a kit, simply because of his [[AsskickingLeadsToLeadership fighting skill]] and being the most bloodthirsty cat. In the first series, main character Fireheart is noted to be an extremely young leader; Bluestar made him deputy at a young age, and the warrior code states that deputy succeeds leader. If his training had taken the usual six-moons length, he would have been a warrior for only two moons at the age he became deputy.
* ''Literature/TheSagaOfDarrenShan'': [[spoiler: Darren, a half-vampire who looks 12 even though he's actually about 20 years old at the time]] becomes a Vampire Prince, one of the five absolute rulers of the clan. This, for a position that a 120-year-old was considered too young for. But there are four other Princes -- their enemy clan has only one absolute Lord, and he's the same age as [[spoiler: Darren]].

** A few years after the war, Jake is recruited by the US Army to train Special Forces teams in the use of morphing technology. {{Justified}} in that Jake legitimately is among the most experienced morphers in ''existence'', but he still remarks on how weird it is that full grown men, decorated military veterans at that, are saluting him and calling him "Sir".
* Most young leaders of groups in ''Literature/ASongOfIceAndFire'' get there by means of also being AChildShallLeadThem (any boy lord or boy king), or YoungConqueror (Daenerys Targaryen, along with a few in the history books). One of the only exceptions is [[spoiler:Jon Snow, Lord Commander of the Night's Watch]], who is voted to his position. His friend tells him that he's not the youngest (who was ten when voted in), but he's up there.

* ''Literature/AscendanceOfABookworm'': At some point in the story, Myne ends up with a retinue of servants. Myne is seven years old by this time, the youngest of the servants is eight, and two out of the five servants are adults (older than fifteen for the setting's purpose). Later on, Myne gets put in charge of an orphanage, again with a few of the kids there being older than her.

* The Pope (His Holiness Alessandro XVIII, 399th Pope) in ''Literature/TrinityBlood''. He's a 13 year old when he appears.
* ''Literature/FullMetalPanic'' has sixteen year old Teletha "Tessa" Testarossa as the commanding officer of a high-tech submersible carrier. The given justification is by her being a TeenGenius and a "Whispered" besides. Most of the "Black Technology" that went into the submarine came from the recesses of her brain and are ill-understood by others, making her an essential human resource to its optimal function.

%%* Series/DoogieHowserMD to his staff.
* One episode of ''Series/StarTrekTheNextGeneration'' was about Wesley, 15 year old Acting Ensign, being given his first command position as leader of an away mission. Everyone else on the team were actual ensigns, much older than he and have already graduated from Starfleet Academy.
* ''Series/{{Merlin|2008}}'' has got into this since Uther's death in season 4. Granted, Arthur is in his early 20s, but he's still younger than all of his knights and advisors and such.

* In Season 2 of ''Series/The100'', the Ark survivors are theoretically led by their Chancellor, but it's teenager Clarke who forges an alliance with the Grounder army that's surrounded them, making her the Ark's ''de facto'' leader when dealing with the Grounders.

* Parodied in the ''Series/BlackadderTheThird'' episode "[[Recap/BlackadderS3E1DishAndDishonesty Dish and Dishonesty]]" where UsefulNotes/WilliamPittTheYounger is depicted as a [[ImprobableAge teenager]] who's appointed the [[UsefulNotes/TheMenOfDowningStreet Prime Minister]] "right in the middle of exams."[[note]]Real-life Pitt the Younger actually became youngest British PM ever at the ripe old age of 24.[[/note]]

* ''Franchise/MassEffect'':
** The player's original party members rise to increasingly higher positions of authority over the series due to their [[AsskickingLeadsToLeadership accomplishments]], making most of them an example because the squadmates skew unusually young, with most being in their early-mid 20s (or [[Really700YearsOld their species' equivalent)]]. The first game takes place in 2183, while Garrus was born in 2157 (making him 25-26), Ashley in 2158 (24-25), Tali in 2161 (21-22), and Liara in 2077 (105-106, but she herself says that's "barely more than a child" by her species' standards, and her social position, physical appearance, and mental development all appear consistent with a human in their early 20s). By the third game, three years later in-universe, they're respectively a general (or at least someone generals listen to and salute), a special forces colonel-equivalent, an admiral, and a crime boss of an NGOSuperpower. Joker was also born in 2155 (27-28), and though he doesn't get as high a formal position, he's still the AcePilot of his navy's most advanced warship (at the time).
** [[PlayerCharacter Commander Shepard]]'s formal rank of Commander (a colonel equivalent) is already an improbable rank for someone born in 2154 (making them 28-29 in the first game), but their [[AlmightyJanitor informal influence]] is more on the level of a general officer combined with a kingmaker politician. Also, since they [[BackFromTheDead don't experience]] the nearly two-year time skip between the first and second games, it's entirely possible that they end the series not having yet turned 30. Already absurdly young by real-world standards, made even more so by the fact that this takes place in a futuristic setting where a healthy human can live to 150.

* ''Manga/KaguyaSamaLoveIsWar'' has a minor example in Kozue "Makki-senhai" Makihara. She leads Shuchi'in Academy's Tabletop Games Club as its "Dictator For Life" despite being a freshman, presumably by beating the others in a board game. She was also previously called "senpai" before losing the "pai" in a penalty game.
** Hayasaka is the head servant for Kaguya’s estate, as she’s been working there the longest despite only being a teenager. Heavily deconstructed by a later chapter showing that her daily schedule is ''incredibly'' busy and stressful, to the point that her job explicitly violates child labor laws, but the Shinomiya family can get away with it thanks to their [[ScrewTheRulesIHaveMoney enormous wealth]].

* ''Manga/JojosBizarreAdventureGoldenWind'' ends with [[spoiler:the fifteen-year-old Giorno Giovanna as don of [[TheMafia Passione]].]]

* In ''WesternAnimation/TheSimpsons'' episode "Bart the Murderer", Fat Tony attempts to invoke this trope during Bart's trial for the murder [[spoiler: (actually, just the disappearance)]] of Principal Skinner. (Of course, it was Bart who was working for Tony.) The attempt backfires when [[spoiler: Skinner himself comes into the courtroom and explains that he had simply gotten trapped under a pile of his old newspapers while cleaning out his garage.]]

* ''Anime/CodeGeass'' has a 16 years old sub-Viceroy in season 1... A Viceroy as old as this in season 2... Someone who tells Zero he doesn't mind him being a student... Should we speak about empress of China? [[spoiler: Or Emperor Lelouch? Empress Nunnally?]]
* ''Anime/DoraemonNobitaAndTheTinLabyrinth'': The Hotel Burinkin is run entirely by ten-year-old Sapio and his alien bunny pet, Tap, due to Sapio's parents being abducted by the robot army led by Professor Napogistra. The Hotel itself is actually a front used by the human resistance to recruit allies for fighting against a RobotWar.

* In the Battle City arc of ''Anime/YuGiOh'' who does Seto Kaiba appoint comissioner of the tournament? His elementary school aged brother Mokuba. Slightly deconstructed in that we see Mokuba can have his emotions on a subject manipulated by other kids (during Joey's duel with Espa Roba, where he ''could'' have stopped the whole duel due to Espa's cheating but was talked into not doing so, merely stopping the cheating from continuing) and one time he tried to call out a competitor for wanting a second rare card after a win, his authority was not taken seriously until Seto showed up.

* ''Manga/FoodWars'': After the rebels win the Regiment de Cuisine against Central, Erina Nakiri becomes the new Dean of Tootsuki, at age 16 and while still midway through her first high school year. Somehow she manages to perform her duties smoothly while still continuing her own studies until she graduates, and then she becomes Dean full time.
* ''Manga/KaguyaSamaLoveIsWar'' has a minor example in Kozue "Makki-senhai" Makihara. She leads Shuchi'in Academy's Tabletop Games Club as its "Dictator For Life" despite being a freshman, presumably by beating the others in a board game. She was also previously called "senpai" before losing the "pai" in a penalty game.
** Hayasaka is the head servant for Kaguya’s estate, as she’s been working there the longest despite only being a teenager. Heavily deconstructed by a later chapter showing that her daily schedule is ''incredibly'' busy and stressful, to the point that her job explicitly violates child labor laws, but the Shinomiya family can get away with it thanks to their [[ScrewTheRulesIHaveMoney enormous wealth]].

* By the time of ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyXIII2'', Hope (whose age ranges from 24-27) has become this. Each time you see him [[spoiler: even 400 years into the future]] he is the unquestioned Director of the Academy (and basically all of humanity by default).
** The prequel novel ''Final Fantasy XIII-2 Fragments Before'' gives more information; saying that Hope joined the Academy at 17 and became Director of it two years later at only 19 years old.

* Happens a couple times in the ''Literature/WarriorCats'' series. Scourge takes over the city cats when he's only a kit, simply because of his [[AsskickingEqualsAuthority fighting skill]] and being the most bloodthirsty cat. In the first series, main character Fireheart is noted to be an extremely young leader; Bluestar made him deputy at a young age, and the warrior code states that deputy succeeds leader. If his training had taken the usual six-moons length, he would have been a warrior for only two moons at the age he became deputy.

* ''VideoGame/Fallout4'' has one hard-coded example and an option for a second. The Brotherhood of Steel are led by "Elder" Arthur Maxson, who is a mere 20 years old. He seems to have ascended the hierarchy as a sort of return to form for the Brotherhood after the Eastern chapter's altruism and Western chapter's stubbornness saw the Brotherhood nearly annihilated. Maxson likely got the job because he is a direct descendant of the Brotherhood's founder, Roger Maxson.

* ''Franchise/MassEffect'' has the player's original party members rise to increasingly higher positions of authority over the series due to their [[AsskickingEqualsAuthority accomplishments]], making most of them an example because the squadmates skew unusually young, with most being in their early-mid 20s (or [[Really700YearsOld their species' equivalent). The first game takes place in 2183, while Garrus was born in 2157 (making him 25-26), Ashley in 2158 (24-25), Tali in 2161 (21-22), and Liara in 2077 (105-106, but she herself says that's "barely more than a child" by her species' standards, and her social position, physical appearance, and mental development all appear consistent with a human in their early 20s). By the third game, three years later in-universe, they're respectively a general (or at least someone generals listen to and salute), a special forces colonel-equivalent, an admiral, and a crime boss of an NGOSuperpower. Joker was also born in 2155 (27-28), and though he doesn't get as high a formal position, he's still the AcePilot of his navy's most advanced warship (at the time).
** [[PlayerCharacter Commander Shepard]] is probably the biggest example; their formal rank of Commander (a colonel equivalent) is already an improbable rank for someone born in 2154 (making them 28-29 in the first game), but their [[AlmightyJanitor informal influence]] is more on the level of a general officer combined with a kingmaker politician. Also, since they [[BackFromTheDead don't experience]] the nearly two-year time skip between the first and second games, it's entirely possible that they end the series not having yet turned 30. Already absurdly young by real-world standards, made even more so by the fact that this takes place in a futuristic setting where a healthy human can live to 150.
* Tormod from ''VideoGame/FireEmblemPathOfRadiance'' is the leader of the Laguz emancipation army despite being somewhere between 12-14 when it forms, and only 15-17 by the time ''VideoGame/FireEmblemRadiantDawn'' rolls around.
** Sanaki is an even bigger example, she's only ten years old (thirteen in ''Radiant Dawn'') and the Empress of Begnion, the largest country on the Tellius continent.

* In ''Fanfic/WhatTomorrowBrings'', [[spoiler:the original timeline's Edriss is placed into Taylor's brain, and she still has the rank of Visser One, so the Yeerk invasion is being [[SymbioticPossession co-led]] by a teenage girl.]]

[[quoteright:334:[[LightNovel/TrinityBlood https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/274683_1249991503109_500_281_1563.jpg]]]]

* The Pope (His Holiness Alessandro XVIII, 399th Pope) in ''LightNovel/TrinityBlood'', pictured above. He's a 13 year old when he appears.

* ''LightNovel/FullMetalPanic'' has sixteen year old Teletha "Tessa" Testarossa as the commanding officer of a high-tech submersible carrier. The given justification is by her being a TeenGenius and a "Whispered" besides. Most of the "Black Technology" that went into the submarine came from the recesses of her brain and are ill-understood by others, making her an essential human resource to its optimal function.

** [[PlayerCharacter Commander Shepard]] is probably the biggest example; their formal rank of Commander (a colonel equivalent) is already an improbable rank for someone born in 2154 (making them 28-29 in the first game), but their [[AlmightyJunior informal influence]] is more on the level of a general officer combined with a kingmaker politician. Also, since they [[BackFromTheDead don't experience]] the nearly two-year time skip between the first and second games, it's entirely possible that they end the series not having yet turned 30. Already absurdly young by real-world standards, made even more so by the fact that this takes place in a futuristic setting where a healthy human can live to 150.

* ''LightNovel/AscendanceOfABookworm'': At some point in the story, Myne ends up with a retinue of servants. Myne is nine years old by this time, the youngest of the servants is eight, and three out of the five servants are are adults. Later on, Myne gets put in charge of an Orphanage, again with a few of the kids there being older than her.

** Similarly, UsefulNotes/JohnFKennedy and UsefulNotes/LyndonJohnson were 29 and 28 years old respectively when they were first elected to the House of Representatives and the former was mistaken for an elevator officer multiple times early on in his career.

** In ''Film/SpiderManNoWayHome'', when Peter Parker [[spoiler:joins forces with [[Film/SpiderManTrilogy two alternate]] [[Film/TheAmazingSpiderManSeries versions of himself]], he ends up becoming the "leader" of their temporary team as they battle their villains on the Statue of Liberty as the only one of the three Spider-Men who actually has experience in a team, as opposed to just being a constant solo hero]].

* ''Literature/{{Animorphs}}'' got into this at the end of the series, when the group finally went to the Army for help. The adult soldiers still ended up deferring to Jake, who was the Animorphs' leader and had way more experience with the Yeerks than they did. He was only sixteen at the time.

* In "[[https://archiveofourown.org/works/34941196/ The other side]]", Peter Parker becomes the majority stockholder in Stark Enterprises after Tony Stark, Pepper Potts, James Rhodes and Happy Hogan was killed in the Snap (''Film/AvengersInfinityWar''). That said, Peter makes it his first priority to appoint suitable acting heads of the company's various departments as he recognises that he isn't experienced enough to actually lead the company himself, even if he makes it clear to all that Stark Enterprises will focus all viable efforts on finding a way to restore those lost to the Snap. Outside of Stark Enterprises, Peter's status as the HopeBringer also leads to him basically taking charge of the remaining heroes' campaign to restore the Stones and undo the Snap, with even Doctor Strange affirming that Peter Parker is the best of them.

* ''LightNovel/AscendanceOfABookworm'': At some point in the story, Myne ends up with a retinue of servants. Myne is seven years old, the youngest of the servants is eight, and three out of the five servants are are adults. Later on, Myne gets put in charge of an Orphanage, again with a few of the kids there being older than her.

* In "[[https://archiveofourown.org/works/34941196/ The other side]]", Peter Parker becomes the majority stockholder in Stark Enterprises after Tony Stark, Pepper Potts, James Rhodes and Happy Hogan was killed in the Snap (''Film/AvengersInfinityWar''). That said, Peter makes it his first priority to appoint suitable acting heads of the company's various departments as he recognises that he isn't experienced enough to actually lead the company himself, even if he makes it clear to all that Stark Enterprises will focus all viable efforts on finding a way to restore those lost to the Snap.

* ''VideoGame/TheSecretWorld'': The head of the Dragon Faction is the Golden Child, a ten year old with prophetic powers. He has led the organization for centuries, and each time he dies the organization finds his reincarnation and re-instate him.
* By the time of ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyXIII2'', Hope (whose age ranges from 24-27) has become this. Each time you see him [[spoiler: even 400 years into the future]] he is the unquestioned Director of the Academy (and basically all of humanity by default).
* Major Ocelot in ''VideoGame/MetalGearSolid3SnakeEater'', aside from already being the rank of major, is in charge of an entire unit ''named after him'', and is a complete MagnificentBastard with ImprobableAimingSkills... at age 20.

Royalty fall under AChildShallLeadThem, while corporate versions are the GradeSchoolCEO. If a young leader (royal or otherwise) has established or expanded an empire, that’s a YoungConqueror.

* ''Manga/JojosBizarreAdventureVentoAureo'' ends with [[spoiler:the fifteen-year-old Giorno Giovanna as don of [[TheMafia Passione]].]]