Aging

Deducing the Life-Span of Gnomes

If one wants to create the story of any character, their age is always of outmost importance. Their age is instrumental in deciding what events in history they might have experienced, what they would remember and of course how they would act. There are many races in World of Warcraft and only a bare few of them have clearly defined lifespans. In this segment we will try to make as close estimates as possible of gnome aging based on the information available. However, keep in mind that some of these might change in the future if more canon material becomes available.

Even though gnomes can probably live for quite a long while, it is possible that they, much like the goblins, rarely make it to such ages. Maybe because of overly reckless experiments, combat or disease gnomes might consistently fail to live to venerable ages. This is supported by the fact that we have never really met a gnome in-game that has extensive memories of long past events.

Stages	Years	Background
Childhood	~ 0-16	Because of the delayed adulthood of gnomes, it is assumed here that childhood would last slightly longer as well.
Teens	~ 16-40	We know that gnomes are considered teenagers at the age of 22 because Kinndy Sparkshine was considered a teenager at that age. The higher limit is based on the non-canon source of the Warcraft RPG.
Adulthood	~ 40-150	Little information is known about gnome adulthood, so we will turn to the non-canon Warcraft RPG in the absence of better sources. There it is stated that adulthood starts at 40 and ends around 150, which fits in nicely with in-game sources.
Old	~ 150-200	This span is also completely based on the non-canon Warcraft RPG since no source exists in-game.
Venerable	~ 200-500	While the lower limit of this span is based on the non-canon Warcraft RPG in the absence of better sources, the higher limit has substantial canon merit. Just the sheer number of events that a 200-500 year old gnome would have experienced would certainly make them eligible for venerable status. Especially since most gnomes seem to have little or no memory of these decisive moments. A gnome above 200 years of age would have been alive before and during the construction of Gnomeregan and probably grown up in the fortified gnomish underground settlements of Dun Morogh. A gnome living to be above 400 years of age would have been alive before and during King Mechagon left with his followers for his mysterious island. These gnomes would have experienced living in a gnome monarchy.
Maximum Life-Span	~ 500	We know that Sapphronetta Flivvers, a young gnome, thought that she would probably not be alive for a specific event that would happen 425 years in the future. Supposedly being an adult together with the fact that she still thinks she could be alive then, means that it is definitely possible, if maybe not probable, that a gnome could live to be between 400-500 years of age. In the quest The Legend of Mechagon, Tinkmaster Overspark thought that he might be the one to save King Mechagon. This means he held a strong belief in the possibility that the last gnome king could have survived four centuries. Furthermore, King Mechagon would probably already have been at least an adult when he left for his mysterious island, bringing Overspark's estimation of his age well over 400 years. In addition to this, a maximum life-span of 500 is also that stated in the non-canon Warcraft RPG, showing that the idea of this as a maximum age for gnomes has been in the headspace of many.