< Old Master

Old Master/Playing With

Basic Trope: An old character is far more Badass than younger characters.

  • Straight: Master Wong is in his 70s but can easily beat up a robber.
  • Exaggerated: Master Wong is an arthritic 90 year-old who can cut down whole gangs.
  • Justified: Master Wong works out every day and has been proficient in the use of his weapon since childhood, while the mugger is very out of shape and has never been in a fight before.
    • Master Wong has Super Strength and a Healing Factor.
    • Master Wong is a mage in a tradition where power directly grows with age, so being old literally gives him more power than a youngster.
  • Inverted: Ronnie Yen the Kid Hero regularly defeats adults and Evil Old Folks.
    • Wong is the least badass of the lot.
  • Subverted: Wong turns out to be Mistaken for Badass.
  • Double Subverted: Or so he'd have his enemies believe, as he can be a more effective fighter if his opponent underestimates him.
  • Parodied: Master Wong is hooked up to an oxygen tank and can only move with the aid of a walker, both of which he uses to beat a mugger over the head. Then he shuffles away very slowly.
  • Deconstructed: Master Wong's age makes him a frail Glass Cannon; though he can defeat younger punks in a straight fight, any good blow is a Game-Breaking Injury. The youngsters resort to dirty tricks and sneak attacks to even the odds.
  • Reconstructed: Master Wong makes up for the frailties of age with experience; he's seen all the tricks already, so he's good at seeing them coming, and years of experience make him better at fighting dirty than most of his younger opponents.
  • Zig Zagged: ???
  • Averted: The old characters are not much better than younger ones, if at all.
  • Enforced: "The old guy hasn't done anything onscreen. I want to show why the Kid Hero is so eager to learn from him, but doing it in a flashback would be hokey."
  • Lampshaded: "Something tells me that cane's not there to help him walk..."
  • Invoked: ???
  • Defied: ???
  • Discussed: ???
  • Conversed: ???
  • Played For Laughs: ???
  • Played For Drama: ???

Back to Old Master. Don't be fooled into thinking its age makes it a pushover!

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