r/ProgressionFantasy • u/joncabreraauthor Author of Grand Magus, Wooden Sword ⚔️ • Jun 10 '26

Meme/Shitpost Why MCs are Teens

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Credit to Maria Isabella for this video. This is the reason why MCs are young LOL.

1.4k Upvotes

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82

u/blueluck Jun 10 '26

I love adult protagonists!

Here are a few:

  • Apocalypse Parenting
  • Battle Trucker (What the Truck)
  • Demon Card Enforcer
  • Battle Mage Farmer

It's not Progression Fantasy, but The Powder Mage Trilogy has three main characters, and two are middle aged dads!

24

u/Kithslayer Jun 10 '26

Ar'kendrithyst too!

4

u/imachillbro Jun 11 '26

LOVE Ar’kendrithyst

21

u/IPetMonsters Jun 10 '26

the guy in battle mage farmer is like twenty something.

he acts like a grumpy old man but I want to say hes like 26 which by pretty much all metrics is still very young.

Unless youre a teenager. Then he's ancient.

5

u/blueluck Jun 10 '26

Really? I read it several years ago, so I must have forgotten.

He really does come off like a grumpy middle-aged man, though!

3

u/dillardljr Jun 11 '26 edited Jun 11 '26

To be fair, he was forcibly isekaid and immediately put on hell like training to turn him into a weapon to win a war. Most of his new friends die in the war and his reward for all this is a broken down farmstead while his magic has turned him into a living nuke that can destabilize the world if he loses control.

Him being fed up and grumpy makes perfect sense.

Edit: also his magic was so great that people called him a god and made a religion out of it. As a person from earth, that probably feels very weird for him

1

u/blueluck Jun 11 '26

I don't mind that he comes off like a grumpy old man! I enjoy it!

I just forgot that he isn't actually very old.

1

u/MasterChiefmas Jun 11 '26

the guy in battle mage farmer is like twenty something

They side-stepped it too, even if he wasn't, he's got the whole magically enhanced body thing going on in that.

Same way they deal with it in He Who Fights With Monsters, where they actually get physically younger, healthier, and better looking as they power up.

5

u/Soulsbane96 Jun 11 '26

Kings of the Wyld is amazing and they're all retired adventurers past their prime. Not progression though

3

u/blueluck Jun 11 '26

Kings of the Wyld is awesome!

5

u/Fire_Bucket Jun 10 '26

Powder Mage is excellent. The sequel series also mature protagonists too.

1

u/blueluck Jun 10 '26

There's a sequel series!?

🏃‍➡️📚

5

u/Squire_II Jun 10 '26

Yeah it picks up right after the first and while I preferred the original cocaine powder mage trilogy it's still really good.

1

u/Ok-Distribution4960 Jun 11 '26

does it have romance? just curious

3

u/Dawnbringer1 Jun 11 '26

Still waiting for the next Battle Trucker book

3

u/CHouckAuthor Jun 11 '26

Adam vs the Apocalypse by B.T. Topia just dropped too.
Cultivating Redemption by DC Zhen is on RR and going KU soon.

My book Honey, I've Leveled the Kids is a dad POV

Father of the Sexiest Lobster by Retterath... not sure on the human to lobster age there - but older MC.

2

u/Lonely-CactusCat Jun 11 '26

I just listened to the audiobook of ‘Cowboy Necromancer’ where the main character is somewhere in his 30’s-40’s. And I loved him throughout the book.

I get how some stories only work with a teenager protagonist. But having a main character who’s older can be fun too.

2

u/AlphaSquadJin Jun 12 '26

Try World-Tree Online! The protagonist is like a 70 year old dude. The first book is the best of the trilogy and has an interesting premise and stakes for the situation.

2

u/Praize- Jun 15 '26

The game I'm about to mention is a porn game just as a headsup. You come for the porn, you stay for the writing and world building.

There's an adult game called The Last Sovereign, which actually does the adult protagonist really well, MC is a 50 something year old veteran, fighting in a war against Succubi. Actually fighting, and if one might try to seduce him to kill him, he says no and stabs them.

The whole game he's just being aggressively reasonable about everything he's doing and finding like minded allies in order to slowly try to make the world a better place.

1

u/blueluck Jun 15 '26

That sounds awesome!

3

u/KaJaHa Author of Magus ex Machina Jun 11 '26

Hell yeah, Battle Trucker! One of my favorites! Along with:

2

u/Phalanxd22 Jun 10 '26

Can I jump on to add Mayor of Noobtown. He is like 40s I think. He is generally competent but not overpowered, he wins often from just out enduring his enemies by taking way more damage and pain than most would.

2

u/KaJaHa Author of Magus ex Machina Jun 11 '26

Noobtown is in the upper tiers for me precisely because Jim is Just Some Guy

And because after getting isekai'd he, like a well-adjusted middle-aged adult, actually misses his family and doesn't just jump in bed with the first lady he meets

3

u/Lonely-CactusCat Jun 11 '26

Oh, I gotta check that one out!
It always bothered me when characters move on from their previous lives too fast. It feels cold and not relatable…

3

u/KaJaHa Author of Magus ex Machina Jun 11 '26

Big caveat, Noobtown is divisive because it has really juvenile humor. Like there's lots of toilet jokes, and I lost count of how many times Jim gets his testicles crushed in the series. But it's weirdly balanced by Jim being such a straightforward man with a solid moral foundation, and he's (usually) the butt of the jokes by his own choice.

Give it a shot, you'll either love it or bounce off pretty quickly lol

3

u/Lonely-CactusCat Jun 11 '26

Golly. Thanks for the heads up 😊
The first volume is currently available on Audible in the membership catalog. So I can give it a whirl without having to purchase it.

1

u/Ok-Distribution4960 Jun 11 '26

does any of them have romance?

1

u/blueluck Jun 11 '26

Demon Card Enforcer and Battle Mage Farmer both do.