Ok, I had a look at the HD timeline yesterday and something stroke me as quite odd.

From how I understand it, wizards can get very old because of this 'better copies thing'. They age slower. Let's set the max age at the 400 years Ancient Mai is at.

Luccio is about 200 and stated in White Night (I think) that she 'outgrew' her sexual desires and fertility 140 years ago.

Isn't it odd that wizards can get so old, but are only sexually active (or capable) for barely a sixth of their livespan. Does that mean that they age normally untill they are 50 or 60 and then stay that way for their remaining centuries?

That's kind of depressing. What do you think?

 

I too, found this depressing. Then, I came up with an answer.

Wizards may only be sexually active for a sixth of their lifespan, but most importantly:

Up to this point, 'wizards' didn't include Harry Dresden. Now they do... change we can depend on.

 

I seem to remember the maximum life-span being more around 600. And Luccio was one of the older Wizards, maybe a hundred years younger then Ancient Mai.

 

It actually makes sense. A female has a set amount of underdeveloped eggs at birth, and once they're gone they're gone. Menopause hits. It has nothing to do with the body's aging process. There's only ~40 years worth in there.

 

Luccio might not have as much wizzi-ness.

Otherwise, assuming menopause comes at about 50, with a human lifespan of about 80, its non-proportional. is/of = %/100 : 50/80 = 62.5/100, while 140/600 = 23 1/3 /100

 

Of course, Luccio got the awesome end of the stick, seeing as how she's now what, in her twenties?

 

...even more so: (200-140)/600 = 1 / 10

Hmm, does anybody know where the 600 years as (average) lifespan come from?
I didn't think it would be that high. Why else would Ancient Mai have her title if not from her especially old age. And she is just over 400. So maybe the ratio above would be better set about 0.15. But non-proportional non the less.

 

Putting way too much thought into this.

 

Me thinks you doth protest too much.

 

Your all assuming that when she said out grew she meant couldn't...

Maybe she just hasn't been able to find anyone into her kinky ways.

If nothing else I think she could've done the deed in her old body up till its death. She might have just needed a quart of lube or something to jump start.

As for the other side... I don't think its practical for a bunch of 400 year olds to be able to keep making babies throughout their entire lives... otherwise we'd have a whole lot of wizards running around.

Though that would be a bitch to have to endure menopause for a couple centuries...

 

This brings back memories of arguments about whether or not Vulcans are capable of 'it' more than once every seven years...sure as hell they are, but they 'outgrew' the need to. There is a difference between 'needing' and being able. "Out growing" the desire doesn't, necessarily, mean one is now incapable of the act...if so, then Viagra wouldn't be such a hot commodity.

 

The favorite past-time for wizards (and witches) is brooding...
Maybe that is a reason for their favorite sport, because they don't do enough sporting?

 

I think that I agree with the OP - wizards age a certain amount, capping at 50 or so, and then just fail to deteriorate further, due to their constantly regenerating cells. I think this falls well in line with what we see from canon:

Harry, 30ish for most of the series, aged normally.
Ramirez, younger, aged normally.
Molly, 17, aged normally.

Luccio, 200, from what I understand looks 60ish. "She was a solid old matriarch of a woman, as tall as most men and built like someone who did plenty of physical labor. Her hair was a solid shade of iron grey, cropped into a neat, military cut. She too wore a Warden's grey cloak, though she wore clothes suitable for hiking or camping beneath that: jeans, cotton, flannel, boots, all in muted tones of grey and brown. She too carried a staff and bore a sword at her side, though hers was a slender scimitar, light and elegant. Though not as worn as Morgan's, her gear also showed evidence of recent action." Dead Beat, Chapter 30.

Ebenezar McCoy, who is likely 300+ if he's been Blackstaff for over 200 years. To me, his description sounds 65ish, maybe 70.

Ancient Mai is 400, and her description sounds 80 - 90 to me.

So I'm going to have to go with a sliding scale for aging.