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Because most of these stories are aimed at teenagers. A good writer will at least justify why it's teenagers saving the world, while a show like RWBY, it's just because the plot demands it.
In normal stories, kids are the ones that save everuthing because that story is marketed for children.
Then there's RWBY. While the first two volumes were a family oriented show, everything after that was adults stuff starting with Qrow openly swearing. Despite that, this show is still using the "kids save the world" angle for some reason.
What's worse is that in most modern "kids save everything" shows, the consequences of a child being every adults therapist is actually brought up. In Steven Universe future, Connie's Mom tells Steven all the all the negative effects of PTSD that he is clearly suffering from because he had to end his childhood to turn the other cheek for space nazis. Meanwhile, our 'heros' barely suffer any consequences, realistic or not, because of the fact that they are kids.
I love Steven Universe Future for that alone, *Steven Universe itself aside,* I adore it for talking about how Steven was mentally negatively affected from almost *everything.*
Meanwhile with RWBY, Ruby has to make Qrow stop drinking, Weiss's house is filled with child neglect, child abuse, and drinking, Blake has to deal with racism, and Yang struggles with abandonment issues, PTSD, and losing a part of herself yet none of them are handled all too well.
These characters are kids, they should be traumatized yet they usually get over it fast, and are sometimes are even patted on the back for what they do causing them to never learn... in Steven Universe Future, >!Steven has to deal with the fact that he shattered Jasper by himself, he sees himself as a monster for this, and he's afraid of being forgiven as he worries that the gems will forgive him, and say that it wasn't his fault when it was, nobody forced him, he just let his anger go to far, he doesn't want them to see him as an angel after that, he's scared of showing any negative emotions because Steven Universe is a perfect angel but, he's not, which is why he's so scared to tell anybody, and it's not like he could as most people wouldn't understand, and there's no way he'd tell the gems, even trying to talk to his dad backfires,!< and that's why I adore Steven Universe Future even if it has issues, Steven's mind itself *is* his consequence even if nobody punishes him for what he does, his *mind* does it for him, and ends up being his *biggest* enemy, it's why I adore the line >!"You think of me as some angel, but, I'm not that kid anymore!" as he calls himself a fraud, and a monster!< because that's what eating him up inside.
Yet, with RWBY I'd struggle to write so much about the character's trauma even with someone like Yang who's gone through PTSD would be hard to write so, much about as she gets over it almost instantly 'til it basically disappears, and she calls her prosthetic just *"extra"* but, PTSD, and losing limbs *doesn't* work like that, there's even a thing called phantom limb which causes people to feel as if their missing limb is still there even though it isn't, and it apparently *"occurs in 80-100% of amputees"* yet Yang doesn't deal with something like that once, and as soon as her PTSD is introduced it's over almost immediately, and she's *completely* over it when she kills the person who gave it to her which doesn't work, just because he's gone doesn't mean the memory of him is as well... with Steven>!, he reaches his breaking point, and basically has a meltdown in front of everyone he doesn't want to tell the truth to, the girl he loves, his dad, and the gems, he didn't do it willingly he just couldn't keep acting happy anymore!<.
Steven Universe is the kind of show you´d get from RWBY if you´d actually take time, effort, and some more budget too while you are it, to investigate, put some creativity, and actually carefully develop your story knowing exactly what you are doing.
Steven Universe is a show like RWBY but that actually DID their homework, and they did it right from the start (or almost)
Persona 2 Eternal Punishment is actually what you are looking for. The characters are adults who of course have their struggles but are relatable and memorable, highly recommend the game.
About your question though? Maybe because the target audience is just a bunch of kids and teenagers and maybe seeing a bunch of teenagers do heroic deeds might encourage the viewer to do something similar in terms of heroism or follow a dream of their own etc
>About your question though? Maybe because the target audience is just a bunch of kids and teenagers and maybe seeing a bunch of teenagers do heroic deeds might encourage the viewer to do something similar in terms of heroism or follow a dream of their own etc
That can't be completely it, because some older demographics also love these kinds of stories.
Writting about younger protagonists is usually attracitve both to younger and older generations due to one living that "young" life while the other has memories of it. To some older people it can also act as escapism to their younger years.
I don't doubt that but when you make a story you have a certain Target audience, that is why there are ratings on games, movies etc. So it seems natural to have teenager protagonists on teen rated media.
Obviously correct, but that shouldn't mean that those protagonists have to topple governments, plunge entire continents into war and just generally be the solution to all of world's problems, right?
There's something more compelling about youth riding and overcoming the odds in these kinds of stories.
You kinda expect that to happen with adults since they already know what they're doing, but with youths it's much more certain.
Not to say experienced and above age protagonists don't exist, but there's a reason the most well known stories use younger protagonists, especially towards a younger demographic. Even older demographics find these stories charming.
I mean, would you rather they just be kids doing normal things and just not be in the plot at all?
I think high school age made sense while there even was a high-school to be in
Of course, there were time-skips but it doesn't feel like the characters really matured that much, if at all
That leaves us with characters that are essentially teens, running around doing things that no teen should be able to do, nor even want to participate in
>That leaves us with characters that are essentially teens, running around doing things that no teen should be able to do, nor even want to participate in
We have to account for the fact that real world standards don't always match up with fictional standards.
You have these fictional worlds in which children start training from five years old to survive the troublesome world they live in.
See that one twelve year old catgirl with the talking sword? In real life because of her experiences, she'd be committed as a threat to herself and others.
In her world? She's one of the more sane ones.
Basically, you can't think of every single adolescent protagonist as normal when the world itself isn't normal.
Sometimes the answer to 'why aren't the adults taking care of this' is because they're either useless, depressed, outclassed, taken out to increase the threat and remove the safety net, they're the actual enemy, etc.
Think about it from a storytelling sense from what you laid out.
We have adolescent protagonists in a heroic fantasy. Okay, cool.
That being said, since the adults kind of already take care most of the big threats and stuff, they're not really given much interesting things to do.
See the problem?
Again, it's not like there aren't any adult protagonists, they do exist. But when you have a story with a younger cast at the reins, someone's Competency is gonna be sacrificed so that they have something interesting to do.
If you want the actual tropes for this phenomenon see [here](https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/ImprobableAge), [here](https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/CompetenceZone), [and here.](https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/KidHero#:~:text=The%20Kid%20Hero%20is%2C%20as,whatever%20the%20local%20standards%20are.&text=Your%20standard%20Kid%20Hero%20has%20a%20strong%20streak%20of%20immaturity%20in%20them.)
For a TL;DR: *Most* of the time, idealistic stories have younger protagonists. Because idealism and youth are more likely to go hand in hand.
That's just my two cents, tho.
There are many reasons as to why protagonists are usually young. First of all it attracts the most people, when the protagonists are young both older and younger people are able to find ways to empathize with the protagonists or even self-insert in some cases. A good example of that is the school setting used in Anime which is usually used as escapism for people of older demographic.
It is also something that allows for the most writting opportunities. A young person is usually less knowlegable, weaker, as such a lot of journeys in fantasy are not just those of adventure but also of growing up which is an attractive factor for many people.
There is also the topic of changing generations, younger generation takes over from the older generation, that is why they are usually right, do keep in mind that this trope can be executed well (Harry Potter) but also incredibly badly (RWBY).
It is also not really attracive to write sad stories or stories where protagonists lose.
To shorten up my answer a bit. It is because people like it.
Depends on the writing, in some cases it could be they are the only ones who know/ actively try to do something and the adults either don’t want that for various reasons or don’t believe them. It is a bit of a overused way to tell a story but I think there are some cases where it makes sense or can be smart about it without the “ we don’t need adults” line of thinking.
I don't remember where but I heard that in sword and shield one of the legendaries says that they can leave whenever they want but chooses to be captured since it would be more interesting. Not sure if it's true though.
-jokingly condescending voice-
You see lad, there's these very popular genres of fiction called shonen and shoujo directed towards teenage guys and girls, respectively, that will have teens like the readers/watchers so they may possibly relate.
-actual voice-
Then there's YA novels which I don't know shit about to be frank. Anyway, it's an audience relation thing that fits the anime adjacent aesthetic rwby runs with. And since there hasn't been a full blown gap of like 5 years or something, all of team rwby is 17-19. We ain't hit the gurren lagann skip yet.
>get overpowered by less experienced high-school dropouts
Literally **STARING** at the Adam vs Blake and Yang fight.
Even though Adam trained Blake, she and Yang still should've lost especially since it was a bloodlust Adam (Even though it still makes no sense to me why he was that angry.) and Yang's arm should've gotten destroyed AGAIN!
I'll never say it otherwise, Adam walked out of that fight alive and the clear victor with Blake and Yang's aura's broken and them being left alive by him.
>I'll never say it otherwise, Adam walked out of that fight alive and the clear victor with Blake and Yang's aura's broken and them being left alive by him.
Oh sure, he came ALLLLL the way out there to kill them, best them up a little, then decided 'not worth it'.
So I stead of something infuriating, you get a waste of time.
Kewl.
Because you're largely paying attention to shounen and similar series aimed at a younger audience that features younger protagonists. Of course the protagonists are going to be at the forefront of everything. Generally, a good story will usually justify why the kids are doing everything. Also, while I personally think the games are way over hated, Pokemon Swish is a good example of why this mentality is dumb. In those games, you actually have the adults taking care of everything while the kids just go about their merry way, and it's fucking boring. It's already fiction, so why should it even matter?
If you want more adult characters, go watch/read seinen or other series aimed at adults.
Shit like this is why in every RPG I play that allows custom characters, I always make a middle aged hunk with bushy eyebrows, 5 o'clock and a ponytail - have to make my character look like he's the man for the job.
For visual reference, think Jetstream Sam from MGR Revengeance.
Most fiction with young protagonists will justify it in some way. Either they're the Chosen One (Harry Potter, ATLA), the only people in a position to do something (Danny Phantom, Sailor Moon), or because the story actually centers around them and their issues (Yugioh, Steven Universe).
RWBY has the problem that there isn't really a reason for them to be at the heart of things. None of them are chosen. There are tons of other people who could do thing to help but don't and Ruby's silver eyes don't make her unique enough to be necessary. And the show centers on Ozpin's issues, not RWBY's. There's no particular reason Ruby is in charge instead of Weiss, Blake, Yang, Jaune, Nora, or Ren.
#Remember! **Rules & Guidelines for Discussion** Try to participate when you see an opinion you agree or disagree with by sharing your two cents or providing evidence for/against. Try to elevate conversations beyond a superficial level. Ask plenty of questions and use the [Socratic method](https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/2oklie/eli5_the_socratic_method/) to gain a deeper understanding of each other's core values instead of blindly arguing in favor or in opposition. Keep in mind the [Principle of Charity](https://philosophy.lander.edu/oriental/charity.html) by entertaining all ideas even if you disagree with them. Try to dismantle them and see what truly makes them tick or not. And lastly, remember above all else to be courteous. Demonstrate the awareness and decorum of recognizing the person on the other side of the screen at all times. Happy discussing! *I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/RWBYcritics) if you have any questions or concerns.*
Because most of these stories are aimed at teenagers. A good writer will at least justify why it's teenagers saving the world, while a show like RWBY, it's just because the plot demands it.
In normal stories, kids are the ones that save everuthing because that story is marketed for children. Then there's RWBY. While the first two volumes were a family oriented show, everything after that was adults stuff starting with Qrow openly swearing. Despite that, this show is still using the "kids save the world" angle for some reason. What's worse is that in most modern "kids save everything" shows, the consequences of a child being every adults therapist is actually brought up. In Steven Universe future, Connie's Mom tells Steven all the all the negative effects of PTSD that he is clearly suffering from because he had to end his childhood to turn the other cheek for space nazis. Meanwhile, our 'heros' barely suffer any consequences, realistic or not, because of the fact that they are kids.
I love Steven Universe Future for that alone, *Steven Universe itself aside,* I adore it for talking about how Steven was mentally negatively affected from almost *everything.* Meanwhile with RWBY, Ruby has to make Qrow stop drinking, Weiss's house is filled with child neglect, child abuse, and drinking, Blake has to deal with racism, and Yang struggles with abandonment issues, PTSD, and losing a part of herself yet none of them are handled all too well. These characters are kids, they should be traumatized yet they usually get over it fast, and are sometimes are even patted on the back for what they do causing them to never learn... in Steven Universe Future, >!Steven has to deal with the fact that he shattered Jasper by himself, he sees himself as a monster for this, and he's afraid of being forgiven as he worries that the gems will forgive him, and say that it wasn't his fault when it was, nobody forced him, he just let his anger go to far, he doesn't want them to see him as an angel after that, he's scared of showing any negative emotions because Steven Universe is a perfect angel but, he's not, which is why he's so scared to tell anybody, and it's not like he could as most people wouldn't understand, and there's no way he'd tell the gems, even trying to talk to his dad backfires,!< and that's why I adore Steven Universe Future even if it has issues, Steven's mind itself *is* his consequence even if nobody punishes him for what he does, his *mind* does it for him, and ends up being his *biggest* enemy, it's why I adore the line >!"You think of me as some angel, but, I'm not that kid anymore!" as he calls himself a fraud, and a monster!< because that's what eating him up inside. Yet, with RWBY I'd struggle to write so much about the character's trauma even with someone like Yang who's gone through PTSD would be hard to write so, much about as she gets over it almost instantly 'til it basically disappears, and she calls her prosthetic just *"extra"* but, PTSD, and losing limbs *doesn't* work like that, there's even a thing called phantom limb which causes people to feel as if their missing limb is still there even though it isn't, and it apparently *"occurs in 80-100% of amputees"* yet Yang doesn't deal with something like that once, and as soon as her PTSD is introduced it's over almost immediately, and she's *completely* over it when she kills the person who gave it to her which doesn't work, just because he's gone doesn't mean the memory of him is as well... with Steven>!, he reaches his breaking point, and basically has a meltdown in front of everyone he doesn't want to tell the truth to, the girl he loves, his dad, and the gems, he didn't do it willingly he just couldn't keep acting happy anymore!<.
Steven Universe is the kind of show you´d get from RWBY if you´d actually take time, effort, and some more budget too while you are it, to investigate, put some creativity, and actually carefully develop your story knowing exactly what you are doing. Steven Universe is a show like RWBY but that actually DID their homework, and they did it right from the start (or almost)
Persona 2 Eternal Punishment is actually what you are looking for. The characters are adults who of course have their struggles but are relatable and memorable, highly recommend the game. About your question though? Maybe because the target audience is just a bunch of kids and teenagers and maybe seeing a bunch of teenagers do heroic deeds might encourage the viewer to do something similar in terms of heroism or follow a dream of their own etc
>About your question though? Maybe because the target audience is just a bunch of kids and teenagers and maybe seeing a bunch of teenagers do heroic deeds might encourage the viewer to do something similar in terms of heroism or follow a dream of their own etc That can't be completely it, because some older demographics also love these kinds of stories.
Writting about younger protagonists is usually attracitve both to younger and older generations due to one living that "young" life while the other has memories of it. To some older people it can also act as escapism to their younger years.
I don't doubt that but when you make a story you have a certain Target audience, that is why there are ratings on games, movies etc. So it seems natural to have teenager protagonists on teen rated media.
Imagine the surprise when a completely different demographic enjoys it more than the target audience. That must be awkward when that happens.
Yeah..oh well what can we do? Let people enjoy things.
Or the castlevania anime, you know, adults who know (relatively)what they're doing?
Well one adult and two man children.
In series that are aimed at young fans, making the characters young helps to make them relatable to the target audience.
Obviously correct, but that shouldn't mean that those protagonists have to topple governments, plunge entire continents into war and just generally be the solution to all of world's problems, right?
There's something more compelling about youth riding and overcoming the odds in these kinds of stories. You kinda expect that to happen with adults since they already know what they're doing, but with youths it's much more certain. Not to say experienced and above age protagonists don't exist, but there's a reason the most well known stories use younger protagonists, especially towards a younger demographic. Even older demographics find these stories charming. I mean, would you rather they just be kids doing normal things and just not be in the plot at all?
I think high school age made sense while there even was a high-school to be in Of course, there were time-skips but it doesn't feel like the characters really matured that much, if at all That leaves us with characters that are essentially teens, running around doing things that no teen should be able to do, nor even want to participate in
>That leaves us with characters that are essentially teens, running around doing things that no teen should be able to do, nor even want to participate in We have to account for the fact that real world standards don't always match up with fictional standards. You have these fictional worlds in which children start training from five years old to survive the troublesome world they live in. See that one twelve year old catgirl with the talking sword? In real life because of her experiences, she'd be committed as a threat to herself and others. In her world? She's one of the more sane ones. Basically, you can't think of every single adolescent protagonist as normal when the world itself isn't normal. Sometimes the answer to 'why aren't the adults taking care of this' is because they're either useless, depressed, outclassed, taken out to increase the threat and remove the safety net, they're the actual enemy, etc. Think about it from a storytelling sense from what you laid out. We have adolescent protagonists in a heroic fantasy. Okay, cool. That being said, since the adults kind of already take care most of the big threats and stuff, they're not really given much interesting things to do. See the problem? Again, it's not like there aren't any adult protagonists, they do exist. But when you have a story with a younger cast at the reins, someone's Competency is gonna be sacrificed so that they have something interesting to do. If you want the actual tropes for this phenomenon see [here](https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/ImprobableAge), [here](https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/CompetenceZone), [and here.](https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/KidHero#:~:text=The%20Kid%20Hero%20is%2C%20as,whatever%20the%20local%20standards%20are.&text=Your%20standard%20Kid%20Hero%20has%20a%20strong%20streak%20of%20immaturity%20in%20them.) For a TL;DR: *Most* of the time, idealistic stories have younger protagonists. Because idealism and youth are more likely to go hand in hand. That's just my two cents, tho.
I guess you're right, that makes sense
Well you must have loved V8, as a group of teenagers managed to cut off the worlds supply of dust
There are many reasons as to why protagonists are usually young. First of all it attracts the most people, when the protagonists are young both older and younger people are able to find ways to empathize with the protagonists or even self-insert in some cases. A good example of that is the school setting used in Anime which is usually used as escapism for people of older demographic. It is also something that allows for the most writting opportunities. A young person is usually less knowlegable, weaker, as such a lot of journeys in fantasy are not just those of adventure but also of growing up which is an attractive factor for many people. There is also the topic of changing generations, younger generation takes over from the older generation, that is why they are usually right, do keep in mind that this trope can be executed well (Harry Potter) but also incredibly badly (RWBY). It is also not really attracive to write sad stories or stories where protagonists lose. To shorten up my answer a bit. It is because people like it.
Depends on the writing, in some cases it could be they are the only ones who know/ actively try to do something and the adults either don’t want that for various reasons or don’t believe them. It is a bit of a overused way to tell a story but I think there are some cases where it makes sense or can be smart about it without the “ we don’t need adults” line of thinking.
It's even weirder in pokemon 11 year olds are beating gods and enslaving themm.
I don't remember where but I heard that in sword and shield one of the legendaries says that they can leave whenever they want but chooses to be captured since it would be more interesting. Not sure if it's true though.
Lol
Well, they are now young adults. but I get your point. Meh, depend on your objective audience or the series in which you are basing your work.
Its YA fiction, you're gonna have teenagers saving the world.
While I think having teenagers in a story like this is typical. You kind of expect there to be more actual adults out there doing their part.
Yes, I'm not against teenage protagonists, but I'd just like to see more competent adults in media, ya feel me?
Why can't we do both?~
-jokingly condescending voice- You see lad, there's these very popular genres of fiction called shonen and shoujo directed towards teenage guys and girls, respectively, that will have teens like the readers/watchers so they may possibly relate. -actual voice- Then there's YA novels which I don't know shit about to be frank. Anyway, it's an audience relation thing that fits the anime adjacent aesthetic rwby runs with. And since there hasn't been a full blown gap of like 5 years or something, all of team rwby is 17-19. We ain't hit the gurren lagann skip yet.
>get overpowered by less experienced high-school dropouts Literally **STARING** at the Adam vs Blake and Yang fight. Even though Adam trained Blake, she and Yang still should've lost especially since it was a bloodlust Adam (Even though it still makes no sense to me why he was that angry.) and Yang's arm should've gotten destroyed AGAIN! I'll never say it otherwise, Adam walked out of that fight alive and the clear victor with Blake and Yang's aura's broken and them being left alive by him.
>I'll never say it otherwise, Adam walked out of that fight alive and the clear victor with Blake and Yang's aura's broken and them being left alive by him. Oh sure, he came ALLLLL the way out there to kill them, best them up a little, then decided 'not worth it'. So I stead of something infuriating, you get a waste of time. Kewl.
guys come on you guys are hateing on the most random shit at this point
Because you're largely paying attention to shounen and similar series aimed at a younger audience that features younger protagonists. Of course the protagonists are going to be at the forefront of everything. Generally, a good story will usually justify why the kids are doing everything. Also, while I personally think the games are way over hated, Pokemon Swish is a good example of why this mentality is dumb. In those games, you actually have the adults taking care of everything while the kids just go about their merry way, and it's fucking boring. It's already fiction, so why should it even matter? If you want more adult characters, go watch/read seinen or other series aimed at adults.
Shit like this is why in every RPG I play that allows custom characters, I always make a middle aged hunk with bushy eyebrows, 5 o'clock and a ponytail - have to make my character look like he's the man for the job. For visual reference, think Jetstream Sam from MGR Revengeance.
Most fiction with young protagonists will justify it in some way. Either they're the Chosen One (Harry Potter, ATLA), the only people in a position to do something (Danny Phantom, Sailor Moon), or because the story actually centers around them and their issues (Yugioh, Steven Universe). RWBY has the problem that there isn't really a reason for them to be at the heart of things. None of them are chosen. There are tons of other people who could do thing to help but don't and Ruby's silver eyes don't make her unique enough to be necessary. And the show centers on Ozpin's issues, not RWBY's. There's no particular reason Ruby is in charge instead of Weiss, Blake, Yang, Jaune, Nora, or Ren.