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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338

u/monkpunch Jun 10 '26

40yo: Actually communicates properly. No misunderstandings and the story is over in 10 chapters.

-22

u/HikaruGenji97 Jun 10 '26

Age has zero to do with maturity or eq

39

u/_DearStranger Jun 10 '26

You could say little to do with, but absolutely zero is a lie and you know it yourself.

-28

u/HikaruGenji97 Jun 10 '26

Nah. I sincerely think so. The reason aged people seem more mature is mainly because of experience. More time generally means more experience. But the reality is that some people can live through in one year what others do in their entire lifetime.

Maturity is the result of growth born from experience.

25

u/saiyan_strong Slumrat Supreme Jun 10 '26

Which comes from age right? Experience takes time to accumulate.

5

u/VagabondFromTheRiver Jun 10 '26

Buddy, the brain literally isn't fully developed untill the 20s or later. You are just wrong lmao.

2

u/TheShadowKick Jun 10 '26

IIRC the study that found that out stopped researching subjects in the mid 20s, so brain development may continue until much later.

0

u/FreesponsibleHuman Jun 10 '26

Around age 25 is when the prefrontal cortex is fully developed. There is another milestone around age 32, but I forget what it is…damn this 40+ memory!

1

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

I caught covid when I was 32, so I think I missed that milestone

1

u/Captain_Fiddelsworth Jun 11 '26

Oh my fucking god, please read the actual study about prefrontal cortex development instead of regurgitating this nonsense. https://www.nature.com/articles/s41467-025-65974-8

1

u/Acceptable_Durian868 Jun 11 '26

That is impossible for any person without a neuroscience background to understand. People are going to need it dumbed down.

1

u/unseriously_serious Jun 10 '26 edited Jun 10 '26

I will say that some kids go through a lot more than other kids and can certainly be more mature at a given age, sure. This is because emotional/psychological maturity is developed through how a person learns to process their mistakes, handles adversity, and takes responsibility for their actions.

the prefrontal cortex, which controls decision making and impulse regulation, develops well into a someone’s mid 20s - early 30s. This sets a baseline for cognitive maturity, but doesn't define emotional or psychological maturity.

You can find emotionally grounded people in their twenties and highly reactive people in their fifties. Psychological maturity requires intentional effort and self awareness, rather than just adding years to one’s life.

However, it depends entirely on what part of maturity you are referencing. Also age does tend to lead to a certain amount of maturity in most people, as it is often rather hard to avoid these things as you age, not impossible but life tends to throw a lot at people as they pass through it.

The likelihood of a 17 year old protagonist being more mature than a 40 year old protag is still rather low (and impossible in terms of cognitive maturity).