TMNT ages?

[TheUltimateShredhead]

How old are the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles!? I always pictured they where 16, but im not quite sure anymore:ohwell:.

[tone-master21]

I always thought that they were 15 or 16.

[Scandia]

The Turtles age with their stories. They are 15 at the beginning in all universes.

In the current cartoon, they are around 18 during Fast Forward.

In the current Mirage Volume 4, they are in their mid-30s.

I read somewhere that they were 19 in the 2007 movie.

[DonatelloDomeHead31]

According to the ninja turtles arcade game, leonardo is 16 and the rest of the turtles are 15.

[Scandia]

Leonardo is the eldest. But the statistics of Leo being 16 while Mikey is 15 1/2 and the other two are just plain 15 are out of date. Leo comes first, then Donnie, then Raph, and finally Mikey.

[Ra]

The last I heard, Leo was the eldest, then Don, then Mike, and then Raph. Not too sure where I heard it from...it had something to do with Playmates' official profiles or something... :ohwell:

[TheUltimateShredhead]

Im thinking about the turtles from the OT series, because there was a episode with a girl who was stated to be 15. And the turtles seems to be very mature and grown up compared to her.

[KROW]

Im thinking about the turtles from the OT series, because there was a episode with a girl who was stated to be 15. And the turtles seems to be very mature and grown up compared to her.
Old Toon-wise, I imagine them to be about 17. Either that, or borderline 18 the entire series.

[syd]

the only one thing that can be sure is that none of them is a teen any longer.

[Fledermaus]

How old are the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles!? I always pictured they where 16, but im not quite sure anymore:ohwell:.

This question depends entirely on the continuity. In the first TMNT, it is guessed that they are around 15 -- according to Laird, that's how he currently sees it but it's not concrete -- he doesn't think their age should be official (which makes sense to me). Dr. Spengler of the 'drome approximates them to be 13-15 years of age in the first issue. How old are they now in Mirage comics? My knowledge of volume 4 Mirage is scant, so I can't answer that.

In the 2k3 cartoon, the turtles are all officially 15 years of age in episode one. Two years have passed since the show started (within the continuity of the series), making the turtles all 17 years (this is info I have gathered from the many, many... many threads on this topic).

In the new movie, it is hypothesized (or was it stated by Munroe himself?) that the turtles are around 19 years old, barely teenagers.

I would assume that they remain 15 in the OT.

As for official age order, there is none. Leo's unofficially proclaimed the "eldest" (because he has the most somber disposition) while Mike is the youngest (due to his being the most light-hearted of the group in every incarnation). Don and Raph seem to trade off on "second eldest" -- Don, for his clear-headedness and maturity; Raph for his considerably more dominating nature. But there is no official age order. I have contacted Mirage on that myself.

[JaffleMan]

I always assumed there was no age order.

All 4 TMNT mutated at the same time and prior to that they were just mere pet turtles. How could pet turtles possibly be able to distinguish the ages between each other? :-?

To me it makes a lot more sense that their ages are unknown. :ohwell:

[Scandia]

I thought it was officially stated that Donatello was second and Raphael was third. Makes sense that way. I like the Leo-Don and Raph-Mikey pairings in battle and action.

[Fledermaus]

I thought it was officially stated that Donatello was second and Raphael was third. Makes sense that way. I like the Leo-Don and Raph-Mikey pairings in battle and action.

No, this was never officially stated by anyone with official say on the TMNT. In fact -- here's the email reply I got from Dan Berger, spokesman on behalf of Mirage.

> Someone said that Peter Laird himself proclaimed (at a comic-con)
> the undisputed gospel order of age being Leo, Don, Raph, Mike. For
> now and for all time. Is that true?

He's never proclaimed that to me, and I have asked the same question
on more than one occasion. He's told me several times he likes the
Turtles' ages and birthdates to be ambiguous - so unless someone
presents a convincing audio tape or video of Peter saying otherwise,
I can't vouch for its veracity.

Thanks for writing!

Cheers!
Dan Berger
Mirage Studios' Official Web Dude
http://www.ninjaturtles.com

There. As you can read, age order is just one of those things left up to individual fan interpretation. As it should be.

[TerranigmaFreak]

In the new movie, it is hypothesized (or was it stated by Munroe himself?) that the turtles are around 19 years old, barely teenagers.

What? Really? I could have sworn Munroe said something about keeping them younger or something. They certainly don't look anywhere near 19. I have an easier time believing them to be 15 than 19. I can picture TMNT 2k3 as 19, not the movie.

In the current Mirage Volume 4, they are in their mid-30s.

:o:o:o:o:o

It's still titled Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles!?

[TheUltimateShredhead]

I always assumed there was no age order.

All 4 TMNT mutated at the same time and prior to that they were just mere pet turtles. How could pet turtles possibly be able to distinguish the ages between each other? :-?

To me it makes a lot more sense that their ages are unknown. :ohwell:

They made an episode in season 3 about Michelangelo's birthday, wich makes the statement about them being equal aged incorrect. So there age statements are most likely discoverd throw scientific research of donatello.

[odupianist]

Who hatched out of their eggs first? :p

[ToTheNines]

They made an episode in season 3 about Michelangelo's birthday, wich makes the statement about them being equal aged incorrect. So there age statements are most likely discoverd throw scientific research of donatello.

I wouldn't take the OT too seriously. I mean, season 3 had like 47 episodes... so they pretty much had to throw in a birthday episode.

[Magdolin]

Go ahead...hate me for saying this, but this is what I have to say. I think that in the old toon, they were all 15, and when Mikey had his birthday in the old toon, he became 16. And I think the others had birthdays later on too. We just didn't see them. So that would make them 16. And when they had the first movie, they were still 16. And when they the second movie, they were 17. And when they had the third movie they were still 17. And when they had the 2k3 series, they became 18. And when the Fast Forward series came they were 19. And in the 4th movie, they became 20. And if we start from the comics, add it to what I said above, and that would make them 21.


That's what I think.

[Spitfire]

Dan said what I figured, they never stated their ages so there's no way to really tell. Anything is speculation, the only thing we can guess for sure is that their all different ages, or at least have different birthdays because of the Mikey Birthday episode.

[DonatelloDomeHead31]

Wasn't there two episodes in the OT series or maybe in later seasons when the turtles got zapped to younger years under 10 years old? and then another when they were zapped into old age turtles?

[TheUltimateShredhead]

I wouldn't take the OT too seriously. I mean, season 3 had like 47 episodes... so they pretty much had to throw in a birthday episode.

Well you got a point there, i think most cartoons or tv series in general for that matter, have many statements wich contradicts eachother several times.

[TheUltimateShredhead]

Wasn't there two episodes in the OT series or maybe in later seasons when the turtles got zapped to younger years under 10 years old? and then another when they were zapped into old age turtles?

Well you got the "Back to the egg" episode in season 4, where michelangelo and leonardo eats pizza with krangs age reversing serum. And the "Adventure of turtlesitting" episode from season 6, where all the turtles exept michelangelo gets zapped from one of donatellos inventions and revese to the age of 4.
When you talking about old turtles i think you thinking about the "Once up on a time machine" episode from season 5, where the turtles meat them self as old in the future.

[Buslady]

Oh they're about 36-37 now, they're not teens any more. They're adults.

[Spitfire]

I was just reading issue #59 and in the letters section someone asked how old the turtles were and the reply was 16 as of issue 48, which they also said that the story goes Issues 1-21 and then skip everything up until issue #48. So yeah, they were really young in the first issue because in "City At War" they talk about how they've been at war with the Foot for years, so even if that's just two years they were 14, but I'd bet even younger.

[DonatelloDomeHead31]

Well you got the "Back to the egg" episode in season 4, where michelangelo and leonardo eats pizza with krangs age reversing serum. And the "Adventure of turtlesitting" episode from season 6, where all the turtles exept michelangelo gets zapped from one of donatellos inventions and revese to the age of 4.
When you talking about old turtles i think you thinking about the "Once up on a time machine" episode from season 5, where the turtles meat them self as old in the future.

Right, it was Mikey and Leo who got younger in that episode. Thanks for the info.

[jestergoblin]

I thought Laird said that TMNT in the comic age in real time, so they are almost 40 (will be next year, I think..).

[Buslady]

If they were 13 in 1984; as in the first issue, they would have hatched 1971 making them old, like me, at 36. It also makes tons of sense cos Chet, the kid who originally bought them, had purchased "common pet store baby turtles" aka the overbred Red Ear Slider, the ban on under 4" turtles came in 1976 (or 77,78ish, something around there) so in 1971 Chet would have been able to buy four cute widdle hatchlings and subsequently lose them in a fateful accident; giving rebirth to those babies mutating them into our heroes.

and just for trivia, red ear sliders are banned in Florida now. You can't have one there unless it is a color morph (pastels, lemons, albinos,etc)

[Rooish]

We should ... stop asking the Mirage guys that question. I think it bothers them. Not too long ago I emailed Dan Berger with the question of birth order. I posted the exchange in another thread. Anyway, I'll quote it here:

So, here is my email to Dan Berger, quoted almost exactly:

Hi Mr. Berger,

I have a question about the TMNT that's been bothering me. If Leonardo is the eldest (at least by the standards of the new movie), and Mikey is the youngest as he was made out to be, then who is second-oldest, Donatello or Raphael? Someone on the Technodrome website insists it's Donatello, and that seems right in the comics, but I think the new cartoon and the new movie make Raphael seem to be second oldest. Is there a determined age order? If so, is it Leo-Don-Raph-Mike or Leo-Raph-Don-Mike?

Thanks very much for your time,
Rooish

And Dan wrote back:

Howdy Rooish, I'm afraid there is no official answer. While the movie did indicate
that Leo is the big brother and Mikey is the little bro - they did
not mention Raph or Don's chronology.

As far as Mirage Studios is concerned, none of the Turtles' ages has
been identified.

I'm sorry that I can't be more definite.

Thanks for writing!

Cheers!
Dan Berger
Mirage Studios' Official Web Dude

So I wrote:

Thanks for writing back, Dan, and I'm sorry, I didn't notice that question was part of the FAQs already! (Although I have read the FAQS before!) Anyway, although there's no official age order, I'm still curious about your personal opinion, if you'd like to share it (I won't go around saying it's official!)

And he wrote:

I apologize for sounding flippant (I don't mean to be - but it's
still may sound that way) - but I actually don't have an opinion on
it. While I understand why it's important to some people, I really
don't think it's imperative to know the Turtles' exact ages. About
the only reason I can see behind defining their age would be to
stereotype their behavior, which I think is a mistake. For example,
If Peter decides to make Leo the youngest - would people be outraged
that the "leader" is the chronological "baby"? Can Mikey not be the
irresponsible, fun-loving party dude if he is the eldest? Does age
have any real impact on character or behavior? What if Leo is the
oldest - but only by five minutes - does that matter? Does the
conflict between Raph and Leo change if Raph is older by six hours?
By six days? Why or why not? I personally think age is irrelevant,
whether discussing fictional characters or actual people. But that's
just me.

And I kinda agree with him now. It seems like such a silly fangirl thing to need to establish the Turtles' birth order (I am guilty of this, of course).

As far as their actual ages ... I'm pretty sure they usually start at 15 in the comic world, the old movies, the new toon, and maybe the old toon? In the first Mirage issue they were 15, which would make their birth year ... 1969. Which would put them at 38 right now, if Peter Laird actually means them to age in "real time." Of course the 2k3 series is now also canon, I guess. So they started that series at 15, too. Which would put their birth year in ... 1988? Cute!

Sometimes I forget that the Turtles are actually supposed to be teenagers. And most of us (not all, of course) that write on these forums are older than how we usually see the Turtles portrayed. But they really don't act especially young in my eyes, definitely not like teenage boys.

Jestergoblin, if the Turtles are aging in real time in Mirage Volume 4, I gotta say that scares me a bit. Because Mike's been missing from April 2004 to June 2006, and the other Turtles seem only a bit worried.

[syd]

i wonder if they have ever cared about what their mumy looks like.or mumies?8=

[odupianist]

They all hatched at the same time, end of discussion.

[Sage Ninja]

I wonder if the turtles (in the mirage and 2k3 mediums) even celebrate their birthdays. In mirage and 2k3 I get the impression that the turtles aren't exactly sure of how old they are and don't really care eighther. Like maybe the turtles really don't keep tract of that sort of thing.

[Magdolin]

Haven't you guys even thought about what I said on the first page?

I said I think that in the old toon, they were all 15, and when Mikey had his birthday in the old toon, he became 16. And I think the others had birthdays later on too. We just didn't see them. So that would make them 16. And when they had the first movie, they were still 16. And when they the second movie, they were 17. And when they had the third movie they were still 17. And when they had the 2k3 series, they became 18. And when the Fast Forward series came they were 19. And in the 4th movie, they became 20. And if we start from the comics, add it to what I said above, and that would make them 21.

Like Odupianist said. They all hatched at the same time.

[Rooish]

I thought about it, I just ... don't think Mike is the oldest. And the old toon isn't canon.

[Mr._Mutant_Man]

It's still titled Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles!?


It's okay, they are still young at heart.:lol:

[syd]

i think they just change their orders from time to time.0xo

[Magdolin]

I thought about it, I just ... don't think Mike is the oldest. And the old toon isn't canon.
It's alright. Maybe they are still 15 in thier time.
Just I always feel like people ignore me. I know very emo sounding huh?
Now you dry up those tears. (If you have tears) *hugs* Mikey! Can you cheer Rooish up?

Okay. *Looks at Rooish* What's wrong dudette?

[triplexxx]

I thought about it, I just ... don't think Mike is the oldest. And the old toon isn't canon.They never implied his birthday came before the others. And canon is just a crap word people use.

[Krang]

The references to birthdays in the OT doesn't necessarily mean that they aren't all the same age or that they know which day they were born. They could've just each chosen a day to celebrate.

[odupianist]

I'm starting to agree with Dan lol. We're looking way too much in to this.

[Sage Ninja]

I thought about it, I just ... don't think Mike is the oldest. And the old toon isn't canon.

the old toon is its own seprete continuity so there for in it's on right it is canon since it's a diffrent medium of the franchise.

And I agree with krang I think the turtles in the old toon never knew when their birthday was they just chose their own day to celecrate it to feel like they where special.

[triplexxx]

Of all the theories I've heard thus far, that one certainly sounds most accurate.

[Rooish]

Thanks Kyo. Oh, and Mikey. :)

I wasn't trying to criticize the old toon or say that it's less good because it is not canon. But by any sort of official standards, the decisions of its writers do not matter. It's like a fanfic or something; it is not considered official by the creators. Or Pete, anyway. Kyo, I definitely don't want to criticize your theory -- it's just as valid as anyone else's, and my personal opinion is that Mikey is not the oldest, but I only stated my opinion there because you wanted a response.

It if fun to form theories. But the official TMNT website's designer and a spokesperson for Mirage says the order doesn't matter. What we theorize about age/birth order will never be confirmed by anyone "official." And anything that happened in the old toon is not "official." Which does not make these things any less fun/interesting.

[Slap-Happy]

In the 1st movie splinter says they,ve been in the sewers for 15 years
I figure they'll be 16,and17 in 2,and3.
In the new movie after it shows the thing where winters releases all the monsters and becomes immortal turning the generals in to stone in the process, it says when it shows central america it says at the bottom if the screen "Central America,Present Day" so they would probably be 27 to connect the movies to the nineties.
OT I always thought they were in their early twenties.
Mirage Vol.1 they probably went from 15 to like 26.
Vol.2 they are like 27
Vol.3 seem to be in their early thirties
Vol.4 in their late forties.
all the rest of the ages span from 14-23 i think

[Andrew NDB]

I always assumed there was no age order.

Why would there be?

* They all would've come from the same batch of [red-earred slider] turtle eggs.

* If they broke out of their eggs in the pet shop in a particular order, it's not like this would have been imparted onto Chet.

* Even if Chet knew the order, it's not like he would have or even been able to pass this on to the Turtles or Splinter or anything.

[ToTheNines]

I wouldn't take the OT too seriously. I mean, season 3 had like 47 episodes... so they pretty much had to throw in a birthday episode.

Sure, whatever that means :lol:

Why would there be?

* They all would've come from the same batch of [red-earred slider] turtle eggs.

* If they broke out of their eggs in the pet shop in a particular order, it's not like this would have been imparted onto Chet.

* Even if Chet knew the order, it's not like he would have or even been able to pass this on to the Turtles or Splinter or anything.

Yes, I’ve always hated this ****.

Sure, Leo functions as the eldest brother since he’s Splinter Jr. but that doesn’t change the fact that they all hatched on the same day.

It’s like when twins will make that silly joke about one being oldest because they were born 5 minutes earlier. That’s not real.

[Heyowakka]

So what I’m understanding here is that you two don’t subscribe to the idea of Donatello being from Joe’s Pet Place, Slowkahoma and Raphael being from Shelly's Pet City, New Hampshell?

[ToTheNines]

The Council of Lunatics has decided that information is non-canon.