Were the 1987 TMNT actually brothers?

[MikeandRaph87]

Originally Posted by oldmanwinters

I’m gonna say.. probably not.

You know, aside from Next Mutation that went out of it's way in order for Venus to to be at the center of a love triangle its not addressed formally.


In the 1987 cartoon both Michelangelo and Raphael have birthdays on different days so they might be born in different clutches if they are actual siblings. It's possible that the four of them have the same parents and each came from the 4 cluches of one laying season. Perhaps it's over thinking it, but did Eastman and/or Laird consider them full blooded brothers when they crafted the backstop in late 1983?

[neatoman]

Originally Posted by MikeandRaph87

In the 1987 cartoon both Michelangelo and Raphael have birthdays on different days so they might be born in different clutches if they are actual siblings.

How... Would they know that? Wouldn't that require them to know exact dates from when they were still regular turtles?

[Zog The Magnificent]

I always lean towards "Not brothers" in this interpretation. This is due to the fact that the show goes out of its way to avoid familial terms. They never refer to each other as brothers, they only call Splinter "sensai," and when the 2003 turtles called Splinter "father" in Turtles Forever, they reacted with surprise. They only had a Teacher-Student relationship with Splinter, and they came across more as roommates and good friends than an actual family.

[Jester]

I remember Splinter using the phrase "brother turtles" in one episode of the Fred Wolf series...but I can't remember which.

Google points me to Green With Jealousy:

Splinter (to Donatello): Pray that it works, my son. The fate of April, your brother Turtles and the entire world rests on its success! *beat* But don't feel you're under any pressure.

That reseach also pointed to the 2 episodes where the turtles are de-aged as times the Turtles called eachother brothers...even if it was the kid Turtles calling them big brothers.

[Andrew NDB]

Originally Posted by neatoman

How... Would they know that? Wouldn't that require them to know exact dates from when they were still regular turtles?

I've been asking that for years. Of the people pondering which Turtle is the "oldest" and different ages for each. How could they possibly know... in ANY universe?

Of course, the overwhelming likelihood is that 4 identically sized red earred sliders in one particular pet shop all came from the same batch of eggs hatching at roughly the same exact time.

[newfan]

I remember ths conversation being one that was never resolved, it's just going to be how you take it. I mean, were the writers thinking about them being biological or not, where exactly each egg came from or was it just that they were 4 brothers?

Personally I just asumed they are, unless anything says otherwise, why can't they have come from the same batch of eggs?