Cipher
01-04-2010, 02:09 PM
A while back, Tristan put forth a theory that Raphael's secondary mutation slowed his aging, allowing him to far outlive the other Turtles. At first I was skeptical, but the more I look at it, the more the evidence supports it.
Miscellaneous Evidence:
The first evidence of Raph's slower aging appears in the frontispieces to the 2007 Tales collected book. An elderly Don reconnects with holographic versions of his brothers. Every Turtle appears ancient and wrinkled, with the exception of Raphael. Many fans (myself included) believe this implied that Raph had been killed at a younger age than the other Turtles.
But when you look at the end of Tales #55, you see Raph, looking far younger than other Lawson renderings of the old Turtles, living in a post-apocalyptic New York. Was it possible Raph really did survive longer, and age slower than his brothers? I don't know why I didn't do it earlier, but I took the math to the timeline.
Three facts are essential in the following theories. The age of the Turtles in Volume 1, Tales #40 takes place in 2060, and Leonardo receives a sword from Donatello on his one-hundredth birthday. These theories require some large working knowledge of the Turtles timeline/different timeline possibilities, so bare with.
Theory 1: The Turtles are 15 in 1984
This uses the age of the Turtles established in the first issue, and proceeds in real time. "City at War" takes place either in 1993 (using real world references and print dates) or in 1985/1986 (using Laird's letter responses about the Turtles being 16, as well as placing Volume 4 fifteen years after Volume 2).
Either way, the Turtles are then 43 in 2002, when the Utrom Alliance is created. 58 years later, in 2060, the Turtles are 101.
Evidence for Raph's slower aging:
Leo as we see him in his post-100 years (indicated in every appearance by his possession of a techno-sword), is ancient, thin, and wrinkled. Raph, as he appears in this issue, is still fleshed out and lively. The technology of 2060 Tokyo also seems approximately the same as that seen in the end of Tales #40, which showcases an ancient Leonardo climbing into a tree-hut.
Evidence against:
Karai is still alive. She was old enough to have a teenage daughter in "City at War" (which took place anywhere between 1986 and 1993, depending on which theory you subscribe to). But no matter how you slice it, she was in her mid-thirties in the late '80s/early '90s, and should not still be kicking around in 2060. To do anything other than write this off as a plot-hole assumes that technology and healthcare - through alien interaction - has advanced to the point that humans can live far, far longer than they used to. This then could apply to the Turtles as well. We don't know how much older than 100 Leonardo is at the end of "Swan Song" and "Loops." Perhaps Leo also looked this spry during 2060. There's no frame of reference for when the vengeance portion of "Swan Song" occurs, but at that point Leo looks nearly as able-bodied as Raph.
Basically, Karai raises a lot of questions about the increase of average life-spans, the Turtles' included.
Theory 2: The Turtles are 16 in 1993
This theory again uses the idea that the Turtles are sixteen during "City at War" (as established by Laird), but maintains City at War's setting in the early '90s. This means that the story did not start in 1984, but rather 1991 or 1992. This theory ignores the "fifteen-year-gap" between Volumes 2 and 4, instead shortening it to less than a decade.
This makes the Turtles considerably younger. Raph is now 81 years old in 2060. Karai still messes things up by being 99 at the youngest in 2060 (if her daughter was 15 in 1993 and she gave birth at age 17), but it's a hell of a lot more plausible.
Conclusion:
Not a lot of evidence here either way. Leo and Raph could both be able-bodied at age 81. We have no idea. Karai not being implausibly old removes the need to account for increased life-spans for all creatures, etc. It's more of a "what you see is what you get" deal.
However, Theory 2 is far less likely than either timeline presented by Theory 1. If the Turtles are 16 in 1993, then they are only 25 by the beginning of Volume 4. The Turtles are generally acknowledged to be middle-aged (or at least mid-thirties, which can be arranged by tinkering with some dates) by that time.
Overall Conclusion:
Given the likely hood that Theory 1 (or some minor variation thereof) presents the correct dates and ages, and given the oddities of the Tales book and #55, I'm inclined to believe that Raph does age slower than the other Turtles, and is the last one to die.
Thoughts? Corrections?
Miscellaneous Evidence:
The first evidence of Raph's slower aging appears in the frontispieces to the 2007 Tales collected book. An elderly Don reconnects with holographic versions of his brothers. Every Turtle appears ancient and wrinkled, with the exception of Raphael. Many fans (myself included) believe this implied that Raph had been killed at a younger age than the other Turtles.
But when you look at the end of Tales #55, you see Raph, looking far younger than other Lawson renderings of the old Turtles, living in a post-apocalyptic New York. Was it possible Raph really did survive longer, and age slower than his brothers? I don't know why I didn't do it earlier, but I took the math to the timeline.
Three facts are essential in the following theories. The age of the Turtles in Volume 1, Tales #40 takes place in 2060, and Leonardo receives a sword from Donatello on his one-hundredth birthday. These theories require some large working knowledge of the Turtles timeline/different timeline possibilities, so bare with.
Theory 1: The Turtles are 15 in 1984
This uses the age of the Turtles established in the first issue, and proceeds in real time. "City at War" takes place either in 1993 (using real world references and print dates) or in 1985/1986 (using Laird's letter responses about the Turtles being 16, as well as placing Volume 4 fifteen years after Volume 2).
Either way, the Turtles are then 43 in 2002, when the Utrom Alliance is created. 58 years later, in 2060, the Turtles are 101.
Evidence for Raph's slower aging:
Leo as we see him in his post-100 years (indicated in every appearance by his possession of a techno-sword), is ancient, thin, and wrinkled. Raph, as he appears in this issue, is still fleshed out and lively. The technology of 2060 Tokyo also seems approximately the same as that seen in the end of Tales #40, which showcases an ancient Leonardo climbing into a tree-hut.
Evidence against:
Karai is still alive. She was old enough to have a teenage daughter in "City at War" (which took place anywhere between 1986 and 1993, depending on which theory you subscribe to). But no matter how you slice it, she was in her mid-thirties in the late '80s/early '90s, and should not still be kicking around in 2060. To do anything other than write this off as a plot-hole assumes that technology and healthcare - through alien interaction - has advanced to the point that humans can live far, far longer than they used to. This then could apply to the Turtles as well. We don't know how much older than 100 Leonardo is at the end of "Swan Song" and "Loops." Perhaps Leo also looked this spry during 2060. There's no frame of reference for when the vengeance portion of "Swan Song" occurs, but at that point Leo looks nearly as able-bodied as Raph.
Basically, Karai raises a lot of questions about the increase of average life-spans, the Turtles' included.
Theory 2: The Turtles are 16 in 1993
This theory again uses the idea that the Turtles are sixteen during "City at War" (as established by Laird), but maintains City at War's setting in the early '90s. This means that the story did not start in 1984, but rather 1991 or 1992. This theory ignores the "fifteen-year-gap" between Volumes 2 and 4, instead shortening it to less than a decade.
This makes the Turtles considerably younger. Raph is now 81 years old in 2060. Karai still messes things up by being 99 at the youngest in 2060 (if her daughter was 15 in 1993 and she gave birth at age 17), but it's a hell of a lot more plausible.
Conclusion:
Not a lot of evidence here either way. Leo and Raph could both be able-bodied at age 81. We have no idea. Karai not being implausibly old removes the need to account for increased life-spans for all creatures, etc. It's more of a "what you see is what you get" deal.
However, Theory 2 is far less likely than either timeline presented by Theory 1. If the Turtles are 16 in 1993, then they are only 25 by the beginning of Volume 4. The Turtles are generally acknowledged to be middle-aged (or at least mid-thirties, which can be arranged by tinkering with some dates) by that time.
Overall Conclusion:
Given the likely hood that Theory 1 (or some minor variation thereof) presents the correct dates and ages, and given the oddities of the Tales book and #55, I'm inclined to believe that Raph does age slower than the other Turtles, and is the last one to die.
Thoughts? Corrections?