Paragon City: All But Child-Free

There seem to be two children in all of Paragon City, and their names are Penny and Jimmy Preston. If you don't already know Penny, she's a mutant 'store' contact in Founder's Falls.

Okay, there aren't any schools for kids to go to, even if one of the Westin Phipps villain missions does have you destroying a shipment of schoolbooks. But what strange side-effect of the Rikti Invasion has apparently concealed all of Paragon's other children from view?

Super-powered kids are a comic book staple. The Marvel Power Pack is the best known, but super children have been showing up in comics ever since the infant Kal-El revealed his Kryptonian nature. So why aren't there any in Paragon, except for the Prestons?

(Baby New Year doesn't count. That bizarre little anthropomorphic personification is a law unto himself.)

Yes, we know the reason we never seem to see child characters in the game is that we don't want even imaginary children getting hurt or being endangered. That's quite right, and understandable. However, there's no reason why we couldn't see more static contacts, such as Penny, or even sidelong references in the back story text.

We do seem to be getting more teen heroes, however. Jim Temblor, Penelope Yin and the scatty Fusionette all have much more of the troubled teen about them than the mature battle-hardened Freedom Phalanx or the Vindicators. It remains to be seen whether the villains will produce any equivalent of the movie version of Pyro, or shun the subject completely. Fusionette's biography carries a strong implication that not all of the Nuclear 90 are good guys:

Fusionette is one of the Nuclear 90; 90 children from around the world all born in one year with an unusual mutation that gives them natural magnetic nuclear fusion reactors for hearts, and the ability to channel energy from their internal reactor for a variety of super powers. Like many of the Nuclear 90, Fusionette has decided to use her powers for the betterment of mankind as a hero.

Of course, there could always be another explanation for the absence of super-powered kids. {NSFW language.}