Overview
Most video games like to use teenage characters in their plots. Whatever the reason these plots usually focus on these characters coming of age as adults as they deal with the pressures of teenage life and, in video game fashion, battle against a common foe.
However, teenagers are most common as playable characters other than fleshed out protagonists. Sometimes, their age is of little issue and can even be overlooked.
Controversially, some games shine spotlights on some of the more destructive aspects of teenage life; like smoking, drinking, suicide, violence, and exploring sexuality. Related to the latter, some female teens are sometimes built with overly sexual features that are given highlight throughout the game; this being most common in Japanese releases.
Teenagers are often featured as protagonists in many games with a pre-modern setting, especially in Japanese games. This is due to the fact that teenagers were in fact regarded as adults before the modern era, due to the average life expectancy worldwide being under 40 in pre-modern times. In other words, the role of teenagers in pre-modern times was more or less equivalent to the role of young adults in their 20's today.
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