Does it matter whether the turtles are brothers or not?

[TurtleFan2012]

I always see them as 4 guys living together and having fun. Some people were/are upset that they aren't bros in Next Mutation. Does it really matter? In every incarnation they act like best friends.

[Luckyday]

Deep down, I don't think it matters if they are biological brothers any more then Splinter being the "biological" father that gave them human dna. What matters is that them against the world and history that they share together for the last 15 years cements that bond even more so.

[Powder]

I like them to be, but no, I don't think it matters. They're brothers regardless of blood in the same way that Splinter is their father. That whole adoptive family thing is a huge theme of the TMNT after all, given rat daddy & mama April.

[Candy Kappa]

They are brothers, it doesn't matter if they are by blood or family bond. They are still brothers.

[IndigoErth]

I dunno, I suppose for some it just makes the connection feel a little deeper if they're assumed to be biological brothers.

Although even if they weren't blood related, they'd still be brothers just as much in the same sense of any non-blood adopted siblings who grew up together and have no memory of life without each other. Which makes me feel the Next Mutation assertion is kinda stupid and too obviously done 'because girl.' If they were just babies to start with, they'd have zero way of even knowing if they are or aren't. Only a Splinter that started human and bought them himself and spoke to the seller who just happens to know those details might know. But that isn't the case.

Personally [although the same could be said separately as well] I like to think that somewhere out they'd have shared regular turtle parents - who if they had ANY idea or understanding what happened with four of their kids... :D (Of course, they probably have some regular turtle siblings as well. ;))

[snake]

I perfer them to be brothers, but I'm sure they would keep the same unity if they weren't.

[Luckyday]

I dunno, I suppose for some it just makes the connection feel a little deeper if they're assumed to be biological brothers.

Although even if they weren't blood related, they'd still be brothers just as much in the same sense of any non-blood adopted siblings who grew up together and have no memory of life without each other. Which makes me feel the Next Mutation assertion is kinda stupid and too obviously done 'because girl.' If they were just babies to start with, they'd have zero way of even knowing if they are or aren't. Only a Splinter that started human and bought them himself and spoke to the seller who just happens to know those details might know. But that isn't the case.

Personally [although the same could be said separately as well] I like to think that somewhere out they'd have shared regular turtle parents - who if they had ANY idea or understanding what happened with four of their kids... :D (Of course, they probably have some regular turtle siblings as well. ;))

I think it's likely that they might be half siblings giving how turtles are polygamous, unless they were sold by a extensive turtle breeder who breed them from a pair of well breed turtles.

[neatoman]

Biologically they don't have to be brothers, just as long they're still brothers regardless and Splinter is their father.

As far as I know, the FW cartoon didn't establish them to be a family and to me it came across more like the writers were going for a roommate relationship rather than a family, and to me they felt like they had a weaker chemistry. There's not really anything wrong with depicting them as just friends/roommates, but the bonds between friends is not as strong as brothers...

[IndigoErth]

I think it's likely that they might be half siblings giving how turtles are polygamous, unless they were sold by a extensive turtle breeder who breed them from a pair of well breed turtles.
Sounds like a good possible explanation.


Do turtles nest more than once a year? Was just thinking, with Leo always being labeled as being older they could have had decent backstory that they'd have come from breeders and maybe he was one lone unusually late little hatchling from a previous nest. And maybe he was kept behind a while because if it and didn't go to a seller/get sold until hatchlings from the next nesting went. (Gah, got myself right in the heart.)

[Luckyday]

Sounds like a good possible explanation.


Do turtles nest more than once a year? Was just thinking, with Leo always being labeled as being older they could have had decent backstory that they'd have come from breeders and maybe he was one lone unusually late little hatchling from a previous nest. And maybe he was kept behind a while because if it and didn't go to a seller/get sold until hatchlings from the next nesting went. (Gah, got myself right in the heart.)

So Leo is the only one of his clutch? Turtles that are not raise together from birth have a higher tendency to be aggressive towards the other so maybe Raph is the one that was left behind.

[IndigoErth]

So Leo is the only one of his clutch?
Could have been a way of explaining the "older" deal maybe, if he'd ended up left behind.

I shouldn't have come up with this, excuse me while I go bawl my eyes out.

[Luckyday]

Could have been a way of explaining the "older" deal maybe, if he'd ended up left behind.

I shouldn't have come up with this, excuse me while I go bawl my eyes out.

You are such a big softie. :trolleye:

[pennydreadful]

As long as they refer to one another as brothers, it doesn't bother me if it's biological or adopted/foster. But as others have said, the family dynamic is a very important part of the overall theme and appeal.

[shuriken]

No but they work better as brothers IMO.

[IndigoErth]

Proof of siblinghood: Spend a lifetime fighting, forced to share and drive each other insane? Congrats, you're siblings.

Or really terrible longtime friends, in which case find new ones. :P


You are such a big softie. :trolleye:
Yes
http://i1.kym-cdn.com/photos/images/masonry/000/319/135/f42.gif

[Brooke507]

*shrugs* I don't mind either way. I can relate to fictional characters who are siblings because I have siblings of my own (I'm the youngest) and know my friends and cousins who have siblings.

[Luckyday]

Base on how nick turtles look and I theorizes that maybe two of the turtles are full siblings and rest are half siblings but they all have natural rare born mutation of three toes when they were still normal turtles so and from what I have read hybrid mix breed turtles are often not born with the special three toe trait in their back legs so either they are all full siblings that were breed from a hybrid of a hybrid of a hybrid turtle with a rare born mutation that have three toes on all legs or they're severely inbreeded because their different mothers or fathers are closely related to each other so that the rare mutation would have show in each hatchling.

Or maybe the turtle breeder was trying to get this other rare mutation and while three toe mutation was prevalent but the four turtles weren't born with a certain colorful shell pattern like their other brothers and sisters that had it which is why they were separate from them and put together as cheap turtles while their siblings were put in different tank as expensive showy turtles.

[Metalwolf]

^^^ Often they do that specialized breeding when they get turtles with unusual colorings, often there are breeds of 'blond' turtles (near-albinos and albinos) or turtles that are reddish (cinnamon?)

I don't know if I've ever seen any melanistic mutants (black turtles), although it just might be the light colored ones are more common.

[Luckyday]

^^^ Often they do that specialized breeding when they get turtles with unusual colorings, often there are breeds of 'blond' turtles (near-albinos and albinos) or turtles that are reddish (cinnamon?)

I don't know if I've ever seen any melanistic mutants (black turtles), although it just might be the light colored ones are more common.

So while three toe box turtles are common but they only have three toes in the back legs but these have a special new born mutation with all three toes but it's not like it would made national news or anything. No one would care unless you're a turtle breeder.

[jenna]

The love of surrogate family is a theme in TMNT. Splinter is not biologically their father but that doesn't cause any limit on his capacity to love them. Whether the turtles are biologically related or not makes no difference. They love each other as deeply as biological brothers and that's what matters.

[Hannurdock]

I don't think it matters. In fact, if anything, it makes their bond even more special. They are bros where it counts. They spend their lives together and back each other up.

Although, I am an only child so maybe I'm missing some very special sibling bond by blood thing going on. Even with the people around me, though, sometimes water is thicker than blood. Some families have cut ties with kin, whereas friendships run a lot deeper in that case.

[Jester]

I've always seen the TMNT as a family by adoption. Sure they could be biologically related, but at the end of the day that matters less than their shared rearing and other familial ties.

[Davetello]

No. Implying that it matters is unfair to adopted kids who are very close to their siblings.

It's like when everyone laughed at Thor's joke about Loki in The Avengers. When he was told that Loki was a mass murderer he said "he's adopted" as if that somehow distanced Loki from the family. I can see why parents taking their adopted kids to that film would be upset with the comment. It's a terrible message to send out.

[evan2000]

It's like when everyone laughed at Thor's joke about Loki in The Avengers. When he was told that Loki was a mass murderer he said "he's adopted" as if that somehow distanced Loki from the family. I can see why parents taking their adopted kids to that film would be upset with the comment. It's a terrible message to send out.

It was a throwaway joke, I don't believe Thor would truly disown Loki as his bro. But yeah I could imagine certain people who would get upset by that line.

[Davetello]

It was a throwaway joke, I don't believe Thor would truly disown Loki as his bro. But yeah I could imagine certain people who would get upset by that line.

I'm waiting for someone to throw out "people get offended at everything" card. Thankfully you didn't.

It was offensive. I have no links to adoption. But I can see why an adopted kid or their parents would feel bad about the 'joke' (which wasn't even funny, just like 99% of the jokes in The Avengers). It's essentially trying to distance Loki from the family. As if it absolves the family of any blame because he's not really one of them anyway.

[Luckyday]

The situation with Shredder in the nick cartoon is similar considering that he was also adopted by Yoshi's family.

[evan2000]

The situation with Shredder in the nick cartoon is similar considering that he was also adopted by Yoshi's family.
So is Karai.

Shredder's situation is different though. He was adopted by Splinter's parents out of sympathy, not vengeance. Karai on the other hand was adopted by Shredder out of vengeance.

And the turtles were adopted by Splinter out of... coincidence? KIDDING! Splinter bought the turtles from the pet store and IS going to take care of them anyway, regardless of the mutation accident that just happened to create their destiny.

Oh yeah, while on topic, Spike was adopted by Raph too, as a pet though. Wonder what's the backstory of his adoption by Raph.

[Shark_Blade]

If they're not it's not called tcest anymore.

[Luckyday]

So is Karai.

Shredder's situation is different though. He was adopted by Splinter's parents out of sympathy, not vengeance. Karai on the other hand was adopted by Shredder out of vengeance.

And the turtles were adopted by Splinter out of... coincidence? KIDDING! Splinter bought the turtles from the pet store and IS going to take care of them anyway, regardless of the mutation accident that just happened to create their destiny.

Oh yeah, while on topic, Spike was adopted by Raph too, as a pet though. Wonder what's the backstory of his adoption by Raph.

Yeah, I wonder what the relationship between them now. Spike was always his little guy but now that he's Slash does Raph still see him that way or does he see Slash as his own person? Probably the latter. I hope.

[FlogginMcMurryZombiePizza]

Has it ever been confirmed that the Turtles were actually blood brothers? I never took them as all from the same litter (?) of eggs.

And there have been so many different way of interpreting the relationships over the years. I think IDW is the first story I read where they are confirmed blood brothers, more or less. In a past life they were all the family of Yoshi, seeing as Yoshi became a rat and his sons turtles, there's no telling if the turtles themselves were brothers or if they were unrelating turtles but knew they were spirits of slain blood brothers in their previous life (it's amazing they are even aware of it)

[IndigoErth]

Yeah, I wonder what the relationship between them now. Spike was always his little guy but now that he's Slash does Raph still see him that way or does he see Slash as his own person? Probably the latter. I hope.
Agree/hope for the latter. I think it's probably more likely. With such a big change, I imagine it could partly feel as if Spike just simply vanished... :tsad:

Have wondered how Raph came about having Spike as a pet, wouldn't mind getting some backstory on that. (Really show, if you're doing fillers, maybe make some of them flashbacks to this kind of stuff? :)) Also curious if Spike/Slash is older than the Turtles, in his mutated form he certainly seems like he could be.

If ends up more allied with the Turtles, would be interesting if they kind of start seeing him like a brother.



As for their being related by blood or not, I guess that varies as much as anything else between versions and fan preferences. What doesn't matter imo is needing it verified either way (or argued), esp seeing as how we can already deal with more extreme variations, like Splinter's origin as a rat or a man.

[Prowler]

I guess it doesn't really matter if they're biologically brothers or not. After all, Splinter sure as hell isn't their biological father and yet they consider him to be their father.

They don't necessarily need to be biologically related to each other, but I'd rather they were. Doesn't need to be explicitly said, anyway. If they call each other "brother" then I'll just assume they are. One thing I disliked in the FW series was them referring to each other as "friend" instead of "brother".

[discordiatookie]

Doesn't matter to me if they're brothers by blood or not. They're raised as brothers and see each other as such and that's all that matters. Besides, I've always liked the different shades on the OT figures...

[Bossa Nova]

It absolutely matters to me that they are brothers, that's what makes their whole dynamic so interesting. Whether or not they are biologically related however makes no difference though. In some aspects I actually prefer it when they aren't biologically related since it opens the doors the explore different turtle species and that unique effect it may have had for them.

[FlogginMcMurryZombiePizza]

Yea but at the very least, they are brothers through circumstance.

[Slade]

They are brothers, it doesn't matter if they are by blood or family bond. They are still brothers.

This right here.

[MsMarvelDuckie]

It may not really matter if they are blood-related, but I like it better when/if they are, and it also makes more sense that they were sold together if they are. but in the greater scheme, it really isn't important.

[IndigoErth]

One thing I disliked in the FW series was them referring to each other as "friend" instead of "brother".
Yeah, likewise. I'm glad TMNT has evolved to where it's entirely brothers, father, family now (to the point 2014 Leo is I think the first to say "Dad"?), and no longer just friends and teacher.



My personal preference is to consider them blood related and been in this together since they hatched, but either way they are no less brothers if not.

[Warhorse]

For the most part, it doesn't bother me. But, if the writers/creators decide to got the non blood bond path purely so they can use it to make some sort of romantic twist between the Turtles, like they did for Next Mutation and Venus, then yeah, I have a problem with it.

[MsMarvelDuckie]

If they're not it's not called tcest anymore.

This made me laugh more than it should have!!

[Sumac]

Not really. Turtles don't need to be blood related to be brothers in spirit. The same goes for the rest of the "Hamato extended family".

[Prowler]

I don't think it matters. In fact, if anything, it makes their bond even more special. They are bros where it counts. They spend their lives together and back each other up.

Although, I am an only child so maybe I'm missing some very special sibling bond by blood thing going on. Even with the people around me, though, sometimes water is thicker than blood. Some families have cut ties with kin, whereas friendships run a lot deeper in that case.
I think it's understandable for only children to think things would be better if they had a sibling or another. But not all siblings are close, trust me. Especially if the age gap is fairly wide.

[Levia24]

I also don't think it matters much if they are/aren't blood related. The bond of friendship is way more important. Like others said, blood siblings may not necessarily get along.

[Luckyday]

I think it's understandable for only children to think things would be better if they had a sibling or another. But not all siblings are close, trust me. Especially if the age gap is fairly wide.

Sometimes the age can be too close for comfort. Speaking from experience. :ohwell:

[Mandy Chan]

Not really. Turtles don't need to be blood related to be brothers in spirit. The same goes for the rest of the "Hamato extended family".

That's it! They have a strong brotherly bond anyways. So they dont have to really be brothers by blood.