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A Child Shall Lead Them / Live-Action TV

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  • The 100:
    • Lexa was only sixteen when she became the Grounders' Commander because it's believed the spirit of the previous Commander selected her. She's already been in charge for a while when we're first introduced to her and is somewhere between 20-22, but is considered by Titus to be the greatest of the four Heda's he has served.
    • Clarke becomes a leader to the delinquents, and she remains a leader after the adults come down. By the end of the second season they too see her as a leader.
    • Clarke's adoptive daughter, Madi. After becoming defacto commander before truly becoming the new Grounder commander.
  • Becoming Elizabeth: The series begins with Henry VIII's death, and his nine-year-old son becoming king. The adults around him vie to be the power behind the throne, but he still asserts himself and occasionally appears to be a tyrant in the making.
  • Blackadder the Third has a Running Gag about Britain's historical prime minister Pitt the Youngernote ; Blackadder's version is a precocious thirteen-year old. He has a brother, Pitt the Even Younger, who also stands for parliament but fails. Blackadder snarks that Pitt's younger brother might be "Pitt the Toddler" or "Pitt the Embryo."
  • The Anointed One in Buffy the Vampire Slayer. The Master actually quotes the name of this trope. However, he only takes command after the Master's death, and winds up being little more than a figurehead. He gets killed by Spike with little problem.note 
  • Game of Thrones:
    • Mainly averted, a stark contrast to A Song of Ice and Fire. On the show, Robb Stark and Jon Snow are aged up from age 14 in the books to age 17 in the series. Likewise, Daenerys Targaryen is aged up approximately three to four years from her book age of 13, making her around age 16-17 at the start of the series.
      • However, the youth of Robb and Jon is often mentioned, and sometimes, not very favorably. That Robb had his mother around as he tries to lead is a constant source of tension, and when Jon Snow tries to convince the Wildlings to return to Castle Black with him, Tormund admits that Jon is very young to lead.
    • Played straight by King Joffrey — horribly. He's one of the most disgusting characters on the show, and at just 17, is certainly one of the darkest examples of Teens Are Monsters.
    • Averted by Robin Arryn, who despite being the official Lord of the Eeyrie is still quite young and sheltered, leaving the rule to his regents, first his mother Lysa and then his step-father Petyr Baelish.
    • Bran Stark essentially becomes the Lord of Winterfell when Robb leaves Winterfell to fight a war against the Lannisters.
    • After Robert Baratheon had won his rebellion against the Targaryens, he bestowed the title of Lord of Storm's End to his youngest brother Renly, who was only a child at the time. In the novels, Renly was around 5 years old when he became the liege lord of the Stormlands.
    • Played straight on Bear Island, when Brother–Sister Team Jon and Sansa go around recruiting allies to help them take back Winterfell and rescue their brother Rickon. Ten-year-old Lyanna Mormont has become the reigning lady of Bear Island after all her sisters and mother are dead and/or missing due to Robb Stark's campaign. While she does not personally lead her soldiers, she is still present during the battle between the Stark loyalists and the Boltons. During a meeting of the most powerful Northern lords at Winterfell after the battle, she takes charge and shames the Northern lords who are five-to-six times her age who had failed to come to the Starks' aid when they needed them most. She is the first to proclaim Jon Snow the new King in the North.
  • Kid Nation is a reality show where a whole city is run entirely by children.
  • The King's Woman: Like in history, Ying Zheng became king at thirteen.
  • In the Bad Future of the first Legend of the Seeker season finale, the preteen son of Darken Rahl and Kahlan Amnell (who was forced to marry Rahl after Richard's apparent death), is a self-made orphan after executing his mother (for attempting to kill him) and confessing a guard to kill his father. He then proceeds to confess the entire population of D'Hara and beyond, ensuring ultimate loyalty.
  • The Legend of Xiao Chuo: Long Xu becomes emperor when he's only twelve.
  • Nirvana in Fire 2: Xiao Yuan Shi is still just a child when he becomes emperor.
  • Pair of Kings the twin brothers Boomer and Brady are both crowned as kings of an island called Kinkow.
  • Princess Silver: The emperor of Chen is a young boy.
  • The Princess Wei Young: In the epilogue the title character's son becomes emperor when he's at most ten years old.
  • Ohsama Sentai King-Ohger: Hymeno and Rita both were only children they took the thrones of their respective nations. Hymeno was 4 and Rita was 10.
  • The Rise of Phoenixes: Invoked. Helian Lie puts his youngest nephew, who's only a toddler, on the throne, so he can rule behind the scenes.

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