| Tyrannical said: Eventualy we may no longer find 16 year old orphans and their 15yr old female healer sidekick saving the world. Hopefuly the cutesy useless animal characters will soon follow into oblivion. |
That has nothing to do with JRPG's. It has everything to do with the genres of Fantasy and Science Fantasy.
Look at Tolkien, the very first modern Fantasy. The hobits are the size of a child, lack knowledge of the outside world, and through their journeys in the books, grow. Both physically (Merry and Pippin after they drink the Ent Draught) and Mentally.
Some more classic Fantasy books
David Edding's most famous series - (Bel)Garion starts as an orphan child, gros up to become a King and a husband
Robert Jordan's The Wheel of Time - Main character is about 22 or so
Raymond E Feist - Magician - The series starts with the main character as a 'just coming of age' boy.
This pattern you noticed is not just JRPG's
