Probability of Donatello being from a different clutch of eggs.

[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.

Originally Posted by MsMarvelDuckie

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]

Originally Posted by FlogginMcMurryZombiePizza

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]

Originally Posted by Bossa Nova

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]

Originally Posted by 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).

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.)