Probability of Donatello being from a different clutch of eggs.

[victory_angel]

It's doubtful that Nick will go this rout, or if they do they wont go all that deeply. And the only characters who are who are twisted enough to point out this possibility are an Evil Clone of Donatello, or Bishop.

But Bishop not likely to appear much before season 3 and Evil Clones while still probable are also up in the air.

However the being from different a different clutch thing is a concept that hasn't been widely used in the other incarnations. With the exception of Next Mutation, it has been explicitly stated they are all related, or it has been ignored completely.

Mind you that just because one of them could be from a different clutch this would not necessarily mean they are not all brothers. They would still be brothers because they were raised together as a family and have always thought of themselves as brothers. So there would be no reason that would change.

But at the same time however, it might bring in a different perspective on some behaviors the other Turtles have towards Donatello. Such as forgetting he exists.

[Jeff]

i'd say the chance of them even addressing this is at 0%.

[Zachatello00]

at the VERY least, 0%.

[JTH]

But at the same time however, it might bring in a different perspective on some behaviors the other Turtles have towards Donatello. Such as forgetting he exists.
With that winter New York screenshot that popped up a while back, there has been rumors that they will do a Winter/Christmas based episode.

The closest thing they could do with this that I think could really work doing a play on "It's a Wonderful Life" where Donnie after messing up on so many things (Metalhead, Timothy, April by that point in the season) Donnie would wonder what would happen if he never existed. Donnie would then find out that if he hadn't existed, April would have been captured by the Kraang in the pilot because he wasn't there to save her, the mutagen bomb in "The Gauntlet" would have mutated the city and The Kraang would have ultimately destroyed the Earth.

That would be the closest thing to what that relates to.

Boy do I ramble. :D

[FlogginMcMurryZombiePizza]

I dont get it...
Why is there even a probability Donnie is from a "different clutch of eggs"?

[Shark_Blade]

Why Donnie?

[oldmanwinters]

The old toys always made him the brown/tan skinned/scaled turtle. He certainly stood out from the rest of the "Green Team."

[FlogginMcMurryZombiePizza]

Donnie the minority lol

[Shark_Blade]

The old toys always made him the brown/tan skinned/scaled turtle. He certainly stood out from the rest of the "Green Team."That's just the toy version. They could've made the different skin tones for variety to sell more toys. Or maybe their mother had different boyfriends before they were born.

[FlogginMcMurryZombiePizza]

Ya in nothing more than the toys have we seen the color difference like that.
In all the cartoons they are always shades of green

[victory_angel]

Donnie is the only one with dark colored eyes while his brothers all have light colored eyes. He also has Diastema (the Gap in his teeth).

http://images.wikia.com/tmnt/images/d/d2/%22Where_the_heck_are_we%3F%22.png

His face has more of an oval shape to it while his brothers have a slightly rounded and more squashed look to them.

There are other possible explanations for these these traits such as:


All of the above mentioned could be a recessive trait.

The gap in Donnie's teeth may actually be the result of Raphael or someone knocking one of Donnie's teeth out when they were kids.

Or it may be some genetic traits from whoever pulled him out of the tank at the pet store.


The reason I suggest this probability is because it is something that could happen quite easily. As everyone knows Turtles hatch from eggs, and when they hatch they are put together in an aquarium tank until sold.

For humans it's not easy to tell one turtle from another so there could be one clutch or several different clutches in the same tank. For animals however they can tell who is family who isn't through sense of smell, patterning, or some cases vocal tones.

As I stated before just because one could be from another clutch doesn't make them any less brothers. However in someway it feels (to me at least) the other Turtles unconsciously don't recognize Donnie as one of them.

Yeah there are the teasing and poking fun like siblings do. But there are other times where Leo, Raph, and Mikey go off into their own world and Donnie is left standing on the sidelines as though he doesn't exist.

[Jester]

Should they have casted a hispanic or black Donnie for the film?

EDIT: Also....Normal non-mutant turtles don't have teeth. Using Donnie's gap as a sign of him having different parents is a bit weak/

[Refractive Reflections]

Donnie is the only one with dark colored eyes while his brothers all have light colored eyes. He also has Diastema (the Gap in his teeth).

http://images.wikia.com/tmnt/images/d/d2/%22Where_the_heck_are_we%3F%22.png

His face has more of an oval shape to it while his brothers have a slightly rounded and more squashed look to them.

There are other possible explanations for these these traits such as:


All of the above mentioned could be a recessive trait.

The gap in Donnie's teeth may actually be the result of Raphael or someone knocking one of Donnie's teeth out when they were kids.

Or it may be some genetic traits from whoever pulled him out of the tank at the pet store.


The reason I suggest this probability is because it is something that could happen quite easily. As everyone knows Turtles hatch from eggs, and when they hatch they are put together in an aquarium tank until sold.

For humans it's not easy to tell one turtle from another so there could be one clutch or several different clutches in the same tank. For animals however they can tell who is family who isn't through sense of smell, patterning, or some cases vocal tones.

As I stated before just because one could be from another clutch doesn't make them any less brothers. However in someway it feels (to me at least) the other Turtles unconsciously don't recognize Donnie as one of them.

Yeah there are the teasing and poking fun like siblings do. But there are other times where Leo, Raph, and Mikey go off into their own world and Donnie is left standing on the sidelines as though he doesn't exist.

...That's... :blanksta:so much more detail than I think any of the writers, animators, or creators even considered probably.
...And here I thought Don's gap teeth, egg head, and scrawny body were used to fit the visual, physique stereotype of a nerd. As for him "standing on the sidelines", he's the only one interested in science. I don't think his teen brothers could grasp the complexity of the scientific concepts he thinks of. Naturally there's going to be some distance between two levels of highly contrasting intellect.

[victory_angel]

...That's... :blanksta:so much more detail than I think any of the writers, animators, or creators even considered probably.
...And here I thought Don's gap teeth, egg head, and scrawny body were used to fit the visual, physique stereotype of a nerd. As for him "standing on the sidelines", he's the only one interested in science. I don't think his teen brothers could grasp the complexity of the scientific concepts he thinks of. Naturally there's going to be some distance between two levels of highly contrasting intellect.

That maybe true. However there are two moments where Donnie is left standing on the sidelines that stand out to me.

The first moment is Metalhead where Donnie is moping by himself while his brothers are playing a video game. At first I thought the reason he was sitting by himself was because is invention nearly got them all killed. But thinking back on it, I don't think that was the case. Yes it's more or less a form of self imposed exile. But in an earlier episode Raph was particularly abrasive towards Mikey, and in the end it's Raph who also comforts Mikey when he's down in the dumps.

The second moment is during the Pulverizer Returns where everyone is doing a high three and no one notices Donnie doesn't join in. If it had been anyone else they would have noticed, but in that moment it was more like Donnie wasn't even a thought in their minds.

[Refractive Reflections]

That maybe true. However there are two moments where Donnie is left standing on the sidelines that stand out to me.

The first moment is Metalhead where Donnie is moping by himself while his brothers are playing a video game. At first I thought the reason he was sitting by himself was because is invention nearly got them all killed. But thinking back on it, I don't think that was the case. Yes it's more or less a form of self imposed exile. But in an earlier episode Raph was particularly abrasive towards Mikey, and in the end it's Raph who also comforts Mikey when he's down in the dumps.

The second moment is during the Pulverizer Returns where everyone is doing a high three and no one notices Donnie doesn't join in. If it had been anyone else they would have noticed, but in that moment it was more like Donnie wasn't even a thought in their minds.

I would have to rewatch the first moment, but as for the second moment, the episode was meant to highlight the responsibility Don had in watching over Timothy since Splinter had stated that since Don taught Timothy some martial arts moves, it made Don responsible for Timothy somewhat.

Also you have to remember these are younger depicted versions of the Turtles, so they won't be so subtly in-tuned to their brothers' emotions, especially with the brothers interpreting someone like Donnie who prefers to seclude himself with his gadgets.

If these occurrences were more frequent and unrelated to a Don-centric episode, I could see your standpoint. But... ehh... I think it's just more personality/intellect differences, and highlighting Donnie's weight of guilt/failing, not anything as dramatic as being unrelated.

[Gin Rummy]

I believe they are all from the same batch. So what if they look and act different, they're not supposed to be clones.

[Vivi]

...
...And here I thought Don's gap teeth, egg head, and scrawny body were used to fit the visual, physique stereotype of a nerd. .

I love gaps between front teeth. Not nerdy at all. Thanks Jason Bateman. Besides that, it is totally possible for siblings to have brown and blue colored eyes. But then again, that mutagen could have done anything and is an easy coverall explanation.

[FlogginMcMurryZombiePizza]

Green, Blue, and Brown.
I think Leo and Mike both have blue eyes. Raph is kinda the odd one out 'cus green eyes are sorta rare in humans.
I love gaps between front teeth. Not nerdy at all. Thanks Jason Bateman. Besides that, it is totally possible for siblings to have brown and blue colored eyes. But then again, that mutagen could have done anything and is an easy coverall explanation.

My mom has brown eyes while her twin brothers had green eyes.

That maybe true. However there are two moments where Donnie is left standing on the sidelines that stand out to me.

The first moment is Metalhead where Donnie is moping by himself while his brothers are playing a video game. At first I thought the reason he was sitting by himself was because is invention nearly got them all killed. But thinking back on it, I don't think that was the case. Yes it's more or less a form of self imposed exile. But in an earlier episode Raph was particularly abrasive towards Mikey, and in the end it's Raph who also comforts Mikey when he's down in the dumps.

Mike is more like a kid in this show...
I think Raph consoled his younger brother because Raph generally likes his brother, even if he beats him up or has him play that game of Mercy (Turtle Temper).
Because Mikey is very childlike and "innocent", I think Raph took it upon himself to cheer him up.
Donnie has never been shown to need that kind of emotional support and is usually portrayed as a loner in the comics, if I remember right.

I dont think this is a sign of alienation or whatever.
In addition: The original E&L comics tell you that Raph is closer to Mikey then to his other brothers.
Donnie is the only one with dark colored eyes while his brothers all have light colored eyes. He also has Diastema (the Gap in his teeth).
And Mikey is the only one with freckles. He's also considerably short now.

His face has more of an oval shape to it while his brothers have a slightly rounded and more squashed look to them.

There are other possible explanations for these these traits such as:


All of the above mentioned could be a recessive trait.

The gap in Donnie's teeth may actually be the result of Raphael or someone knocking one of Donnie's teeth out when they were kids.

Or it may be some genetic traits from whoever pulled him out of the tank at the pet store.


The reason I suggest this probability is because it is something that could happen quite easily. As everyone knows Turtles hatch from eggs, and when they hatch they are put together in an aquarium tank until sold.

For humans it's not easy to tell one turtle from another so there could be one clutch or several different clutches in the same tank. For animals however they can tell who is family who isn't through sense of smell, patterning, or some cases vocal tones.

As I stated before just because one could be from another clutch doesn't make them any less brothers. However in someway it feels (to me at least) the other Turtles unconsciously don't recognize Donnie as one of them.

Yeah there are the teasing and poking fun like siblings do. But there are other times where Leo, Raph, and Mikey go off into their own world and Donnie is left standing on the sidelines as though he doesn't exist.

I do want to point out that in real life... Turtles don't have teeth.
Also it's infrequent who has darker skin.
In the Nick cartoon they all have green-ish skin and even the toys reflect that.
http://www.animationmagazine.net/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/TMNT-post3.jpg
Here Leo is clearly the darker colored Turtle. He's got a much richer, blue-green color versus the other Turtles. Donnie actually looks a little pale.

http://anerdoccurrence.files.wordpress.com/2012/09/nicktmnt_groupshot.jpg
But here Raph seems to have a darker green while Mikey is a bit more yellow-green and Donnie has a pale green.

http://img2.timeinc.net/ew/i/2012/10/02/tmnt-on-nick.jpg
And here.... I really dont see anything drastic going on.

However the original Donnie figure and the 2003 figure are a dark brown color while this is not reflected in the animations.
And in the video games he's usually the same color as his brothers, unless there is a palette swap option (Turtles in Time - Comic option)

[Candy Kappa]

. With the exception of Next Mutation

And the 1988 bio cards on the toys

[Jeff]

Donnie is the only one with dark colored eyes while his brothers all have light colored eyes. He also has Diastema (the Gap in his teeth).

i read this and couldn't continue reading your post because of how stupid it is. Raph has green eyes in Nick Turtles...he obviously has a different mom, right? i could go on and on about the different shades of turtles in different incarnations, but i see A LOT of posts below yours, so its probably been covered.

[kelligrafie]

The brothers look different for a few reasons.

Firstly because in the comics where they all had red masks, without speech bubbles where they addressed one another by name, and weapons, I believe it was pretty impossible to tell them apart. Remove the coloured masks (& weapons) in '87 and you have the same problem.

Secondly, and I don't know if it was intentional, but I get the feeling that by making the turtles look different, you're kinda sending out the message to kids that heroes come in all shapes and sizes.

I don't actually find the concept of them not being biologically related that unfathomable. As you correctly state, it doesn't change how they feel about each other. In the same way that they regard Splinter as 'father', even though they originate from opposite sides of the plants.

The reason I don't think the writers would explore it however, is because a similar theme is already getting looked at via Karai/Miwa.

PS My brother and I don't really look alike. He has brown eyes, I blue. He has brown hair that originated from being blonde, I've always been brunette. He tans, I stay like a milk bottle. I've worn glasses since I was five, he's only just started using specs and that's only for reading. Same mother and father. :)

[MsMarvelDuckie]

Also, there are other factors, too. Skin color and/or size and shape differences can also reflect differences in health and diet- if one eats more, or one(like Donnie) spends a lot of time reading or tinkering instead of exercising, or is extremely picky about his food, there would be definite differences physically as a result. Or the parents could have had some recessive genes that only showed up in one of them. Incidentally, real turtles don't have blue or green eyes, either! (Although I recently saw a news story about a blue-eyed sea turtle- but it was made VERY clear that it was a random and VERY rare trait.) Most turtles have eyes that are yellow to orange, or red or orange-brown in a few species. In most freshwater species (like the TMNT) the eyes are a yellow-gold shade. Those are not human colors at all.....

[FlogginMcMurryZombiePizza]

Or the creators wanted a set of Turtles who, if seen in silhouette, you can tell who is who.

Most turtles have eyes that are yellow to orange, or red or orange-brown in a few species. In most freshwater species (like the TMNT) the eyes are a yellow-gold shade. Those are not human colors at all.....

And would look very scary and sickly if actually used on the TMNT lol

[Bossa Nova]

Or the creators wanted a set of Turtles who, if seen in silhouette, you can tell who is who.



And would look very scary and sickly if actually used on the TMNT lol

Not if done correctly :) Don's eyes in Nick still look red to me, not brown, and Raph's eyes in the 2k7 movie are gold and often depicted that way in fanart. It looks pretty ^_^

[DonatelloNinja82]

Or, if you want to get into genetics, brown eyes are dominant, BUT if both parents have recessive genes for lighter colored eyes, then there is a possibility that some children will have lighter colored eyes. It all depends on how the genes manifest themselves during development. So, if both parents have recessive lighter eye color genes, there could be some children with brown, and some with blue or green.

[MsMarvelDuckie]

Not if done correctly :) Don's eyes in Nick still look red to me, not brown, and Raph's eyes in the 2k7 movie are gold and often depicted that way in fanart. It looks pretty ^_^

I thoughts exactly!

[FlogginMcMurryZombiePizza]

Additionally:
I don't think anyone ever got into the probability that the Turtles are not from the same family at all.
I mean, they were bought from a pet store. Who's to say it was all a batch from the same parent? I mean, they're turtles... it's not like separating dogs or cats from their parents or siblings at a young age.

There's a good chance that none of the Turtles have ever been "blood" related. They are brothers due to circumstance and raised by the same "parent" and trained by the same master.

It's something I had thought about in the past.
It's not that Donnie is or isn't from another batch... there's a chance that none of the Turtles are from the same batch.

Either way, I dont think it's anything important to get into because it doesn't affect the Turtles due to how they were raised.

[MsMarvelDuckie]

Actually, there's a VERY good chance that they ARE related by blood, considering how most reptiles (and fish, hamsters, and other small pets) are bred and raised. Most come from "farms" where the eggs (or babies) of one batch/litter/etc are all kept together in the same enclosure until they are old enough to be sold. Animals from different batches usually are NOT put together, especially if of different ages, as older or larger ones will crowd out or out-compete with their smaller fellows for food, water, and even for space. Depending on species, some might even try to EAT smaller ones!

Turtles from different batches would be different sizes unless all laid and/or hatched at the same time, and since that can vary both with the individual mother and with species, it is more likely that only the eggs and/or young of one particular batch would be placed together. Pet breeders who sell to stores also tend to sell in bulk because it's cheaper and they can get rid of unneeded offspring (ones they don't intend to use for further breeding) so they usually sell them in batches. So the likelihood is that yes, they WERE all from one hatching!

(BTW, I know about all this because my mother used to breed hamsters for our local pet shop, and we both got into fish breeding later, as well. I researched turtle farms for much the same reason, though I never actually got into it....)

[FlogginMcMurryZombiePizza]

So on that note... why is there speculation that Don is from a different batch then? Based on your argument response from my theory which I THOUGHT was pretty good (still do, really).

[n-zero]

The last time anybody official stated that the turtles weren't biological brothers, it was so they could have them compete to get with Venus. I don't think anyone wants to be reminded of those dark days.

[FlogginMcMurryZombiePizza]

And you just did :(

NM "mythology" or, be it, fan writing, never crosses my mind

[Lou 500]

I firmly believe they are and were intended to be brothers by blood. The TMNT movie solidified this with Donnie's line "We have the same mom, genius" (I guess he did DNA tests on them while they slept or something)

Also, them being genetically related discourages the T-cest fandom... Or, at least I wish it did.

[kolaida]

I don't really get how the gap or eye color matters. Me and my two sisters have blue eyes; our brother has brown eyes. (Dad has blue eyes, mom has brown eyes)

Also, gap doesn't equal nerd, I have NEVER thought of nerd and thought of gap. Actually, the only two things that even come to mind are Michael Strahan and Donatello when I think of gaps. And, of course, Sara from CSI (so, three).

As for same batch or not, I don't think that really matters. I mean, whether someone is in the family or not by blood really doesn't matter as much their actual presence; that's how people pick up on vibes and stuff like that. And most siblings aren't that connected due to not being forced to live in sewers and having minimal contact with the outside world for so long (and still rather minimal). They probably just didn't include him on the high three because he didn't want to be included. He's also on another level, intelligence wise, so I don't think it matters one way or the other. It's just hard to the others to relate to him on that level.

[MsMarvelDuckie]

So on that note... why is there speculation that Don is from a different batch then? Based on your argument response from my theory which I THOUGHT was pretty good (still do, really).


I really have no idea where that speculation comes from, beyond the toy package backgrounds and the ridiculous NM tripe. Even the toy bg's were not in line with what we KNOW to be their origin- they were bought from a SINGLE pet shop (unless the kid really took the time and money to go to four different shops in different towns like the toys suggest) to buy four baby turtles when he could have easily (and obviously DID) get them all from the same place. I'm guessing it's based on fan-fic theories from pro- T-cesters?

(Incidentally, I'm not AGAINST it per se, as I've read some very good ones, but I just don't really swallow the idea of that as their "only option". Especially once April, Casey, and other humans are tossed into the mix. Sooner or later, one of their human friends might be bold enough to "go there" out of curiosity or affection.)