In a dominant display, the English teenager made history by becoming the youngest-ever PDC World Champion after a year that saw him also become the Premier League and Grand Slam champion.
He showed a maturity that belied his age throughout the final, averaging more than 100 along the way to victory, seeing him checkout 32 to lift the Sid Waddell trophy and defeat Van Gerwen.
It was billed as a showdown of two generational talents, but there was only ever going to be one winner from the moment Littler stretched to a 4-0 lead against his out-of-sorts opponent.
Though MVG did pull three sets back, he could not stop the tidal wave of impressive scoring from Littler, who appears set to dominate the world of darts for decades to come.
"I can't believe it. Honestly, I can't believe it," Littler told Sky Sports after his win.
"We both played so well. I said in my interviews, I needed to get off to a quick start and that's what I did.
"Michael was behind me the whole game. Those cover shots, when he would hit two trebles and I had to come back with two or three, he was right behind me the whole way through.
"Everyone dreams of lifting this trophy but you have to get through a tough field."
Littler pockets £500,000 for his trouble, though it is nothing in comparison with what he has done for the sport of darts over the past 12 months.
His defeat to Humphries 12 months ago was the most-watched sports event, outside football, in broadcaster Sky Sports' 34-year history with 4.8 million viewers.
And now, his victory on Friday had all the hallmarks of a changing of the guard, as he beat the man previously billed as darts' future.
"I come 4-0 behind and after that, I didn't do myself justice but that's the way it is," Van Gerwen told Sky Sports.
"You need to try and fight and battle back but after coming back from 4-0 down I definitely not the worst player out of us but fair play to him.
"Every moment he got to hurt me, he did.
"I sometimes say every 17 years a star gets born and he's one of them.
"Don't get me wrong I had a lovely tournament. I've been battling my own game but that's how it was. You have to take it on the chin and take it as a champion.
"It hurts but that's how it should be. It is what it is."
'The first one is the one that really mattered'
Littler had secured his second consecutive World Championship final appearance with a dominant 6-1 win over Stephen Bunting on Thursday night, averaging over 105 in the process.
Boasting a tournament average of 102 across his five matches going into the final, he had been favourite to go one better than last year's defeat to Luke Humphries by winning it this time around - and he duly delivered 18 days before his 18th birthday.
On his way to his second World Championship final, Littler defeated Ryan Meikle, Ian White, Ryan Joyce, Nathan Aspinall, and Stephen Bunting, against whom he showed nerves of steel by deciding the match in the penultimate leg with a 170 big fish finish.
Still, Littler had felt his biggest win had come in the opening match, in which he was visibly emotional after a difficult 3-1 victory.
"I keep saying it but that first game against Ryan Meikle was the one that really mattered, and throughout I've just settled," said Littler.
Van Gerwen, meanwhile, was looking for his fourth world title and first in six years, the last one coming in a 7-3 win over Michael Smith in 2019.
En route to the final, the Dutchman had beaten James Hurrell, Brendan Dolan, Jeffrey de Graaf, and Callan Rydz, as well as demolishing Chris Dobey 6-1 in the semi-finals.
The Dutchman was throwing an average of 99.2 going into the tournament's final and averaged 100+ in matches against Rydz (103.10) and De Graaf (101.98), but could not continue that form in the showpiece finale.
Check out all the match stats from the final with Flashscore.