Being Old Is Badass?

So old, broken heroes with beards are the new ideal father figures to have these days? We've seen it multiple times in films such as Logan (2017), Star Wars: The Last Jedi (2017), video games such as The Last of Us (2013), God of War (2018) and more. What is it about broken heroes who have badass-looking beards make great father figures? Is it the look or attitude they have towards the world? Could it also be their sweet heart they have hidden inside that has people love them?

The answer to the very difficult question is simple, "their acts of sympathy towards others." Take for example Kratos from the new God of War game; although we know him as the blood-thirsty, angry god killer, we hardly ever get to see him be a protective father figure towards little children. To think that this man would find a woman for himself is mindblowing as all hell, but with his son Atreus, we get to see how kind-hearted Kratos can be with him. Sure, he loses his cool when Atreus does something arrogant, but Kratos can still be a fun, warm-hearted person.

Logan has to be a perfect example of broken father figure with a hidden kind heart. He resisted Laura so many times throughout the film, even to the point where he rejects her as his daughter. He doesn't care at all because he closes his hearts towards others, he doesn't want to go through any internal pain anymore so he closes himself towards others. Everyone he knew and loved is either dead or being killed in the film, such as Professor X. With this knowledge in our mind, we can't really hate Logan for feeling this way, but as soon as he starts to see the reality that this is a little girl who needs help crossing the border with her mutant friends, he has no other choice but to defend her. This is when he opens his heart again, but it comes with a price though as in the end, Logan dies after sacrificing himself for Laura and the others, in his dying breath he tells Laura to keep going, to never let anyone bring her down and in a humorous matter jokes about how it feels to die. Not all heroes wear capes; they sometimes look like absolute crap and look really old.

With a rough past that could mentally destroy anyone, some of these heroes can still be kind-hearted people with kids, but once you mess with the kids or put them in danger, consider yourself dead.

In a sense, it could be a "passing of the torch." Think about it, some of these characters are the old generation and passing on the spotlight to the next generation characters. We started with Kratos in God of war, and now we're gonna have to play as Atreus (spoilers, he's Loki) in the next God of War games. Logan is now dead so now we're going to watch Laura (X23) grow up as we watch her grow through future films of the character. What do you consider this series of old dying characters protecting the future generations to be? The genre would probably be drama, but at this point it should be old drama beards protecting kids. Why does this formula get used a lot but make different styles? Might as well cue the Johnny Cash music playing in the bloody back. In conclusion, old people in fictional worlds kick a lot of ass and make awesome dads. Do you think it could apply to mothers as well? Probably not.