Is any one Ninja Turtle really "older" than another?

[Andrew NDB]

This only seems to be the case in the spinoff universes like the cartoons and such (in the Mirage/Palladium RPG sourcebooks they are all the same age), but even in those it's pretty puzzling.

OK, four baby turtles are in a bowl, bowl falls into sewer and the four turtles are exposed to an ooze and mutate into the TMNT, right? How the f*** do any of them, even Splinter, determine which turtle is older than another turtle?

Assuming, for the sake of argument, by some freak coincidence there were two pregnant red-earred sliders (the TMNT's mommas) in the pet shop that laid their eggs at similar -- but different, by a couple weeks -- points in time... still, how would Splinter or the Turtles have any idea when they hatched and in what order?

And it's kind of irrelevant. Red-earred slider eggs are laid in sets of many. There may be some variance of hours or a day, tops, in what order they hatch in... but one is certainly not "older" than another.

[Kendamu]

I figured them all to be the same age in the comics. It's in the OT that they were actually given ages to go by. And, we all know, the OT isn't exactly a source of powerful drama steeped in a strictly humorless continuity. Even in the OT, though, it was never specifically mentioned or acted upon. It was only on the toys and junk where the ages were even mentioned.

Any other time the "big brother" or "little brother" stuff comes up, like in 2k3 or the comics, I always see it as a figurative outlook based upon their personalities, martial arts skills, and the personal family heriarchy that came to be based upon those things.

[Jelly Bean]

**face palm** why won't this topic of age order just die!

[Hero]

Having the TMNT at varied ages just complicates things. Not sure whose idea that was... Simply we can identify with the identical looking four as brothers hatched together (so therefore the same age) who lived in the same bowl. Why some canons want to set them months or even year apart in age (going by the card files on the old toys here) is just silly.

It could be worse. The TMNT could be not brothers at all... Or did'nt Next Mutation already do that idea?

[Kendamu]

Originally Posted by Hero

Having the TMNT at varied ages just complicates things. Not sure whose idea that was... Simply we can identify with the identical looking four as brothers hatched together (so therefore the same age) who lived in the same bowl. Why some canons want to set them months or even year apart in age (going by the card files on the old toys here) is just silly.

It could be worse. The TMNT could be not brothers at all... Or did'nt Next Mutation already do that idea?

They only played with the idea of them not really being brothers in TNM so that one of 'em could hook up with Venus.

[cup-mikey-gertha]

Originally Posted by Goongasnootch

They only played with the idea of them not really being brothers in TNM so that one of 'em could hook up with Venus.

Exactly! It doesn't look to nice if you are competing with your "own" brother for your mate.

[TheUltimateShredhead]

There are ot eps centered to some off the birthday to some off the turtles individually, so apparently yes

Sorry for double posting, but i just got in mind that the turtles birthday's could be hand picked of splinter for the thrill of birthday's so well, i guess it's hard to tell, maybe it dependence on what specie there mother turtles was

[Buslady]

Well. First off Turtles aren't "pregnant", they're gravid.
Secondly, turtles aren't bred in pet stores. They don't have room for hundreds of eggs; and it's illegal to sell hatchlings but figuring the tmnt (in mirage) are late 30s, the law wasn't in effect in 1970-71.
RES are bred in thousands on farms in the south, they would be most likely bred, laid, hatched and shipped from a farm like this.
Their parents could be all different, four different fathers, four different mothers.
The chance they all hatched at the same time is slim. Their ages could be a month apart.

Four turtles could be all different heights, and be the same age. Nor could they tell their ages by the rings on the shell. Only by hatchday.

Their ages are most likely picked from the day they either began or ended mutation into anthro form. They could also chose a special day that is JUST their day, call that their birthday.

[Cowabunga Kiefer]

idk. Mainly in the OT they refer to each other (especially Michelangelo) as best buds and not really brothers. I'm thinking maybe in these new series and movies when they refer to each other as brothers perhaps resembles a rank of maturity in the group. Leonardo often is seen as the oldest since he's well disciplined, meanwhile Michelangelo is seen as the youngest in regards to his behavior. So, I just leave it at that. Who's older? Donatello or Raphael, I'm not sure, but I'm not willing to spend loads of time and money to find out!

For me, I see it both ways, and aply both to fitting universes.
We've always seen it as either all four being the same age, or each having a different ages - oldest to youngest being Leo, Don, Raph, Mikey.
So I actually like to use both concepts for particular universes.
That being said, I look at it like this...

The TMNT are the same age in the following universes...

• Mirage comics
• TMNT triligy movies
• TMNT Archie comics

The TMNT are different ages (Leo>Don>Raph>Mikey) in the following universes...

• Original tv series
• 2k3 series (and all its awful spinoffs)
• New TMNT movie

[Sage Ninja]

you know it's funny, but I never got the vibe that their was a particular age hiearchy in the classic toon. In fact I never got the vibe that Michaelangelo was the youngest or Leonardo was the oldest. In fact I was ushually under the impression that Leonardo's status as "the one left in charge" when Splinter wasn't home was due to his responciable personality and natural maturity that made Splinter trust him in charge when he he went out of the lair.

[Andrew NDB]

Originally Posted by Buslady

and it's illegal to sell hatchlings

Are you sure? There's like 3 websites I can go to right now, pay $20, and a red-earred slider hatchling will be on its way to me in the mail.

[Buslady]

Originally Posted by Andrew NDB

Are you sure? There's like 3 websites I can go to right now, pay $20, and a red-earred slider hatchling will be on its way to me in the mail.

Yes it is. Those 3 sites are all owned and run by "seltrut". They skirt around the law by including a free turtle you "Adopt" when they sell you overpriced starter kits that aren't even built for a turtle!

It's a federal law since 1975 prohibiting the sale of turtles under 4". (Title 21 CFR 1240.62) Exempt from this law are those who intend to use the turtle for bonafide scientific, educational or exhibition purposes. Not pets. Go to PetCo, you won't see a turtle under 4" and at sexable size.

The big laugh is that some of these companies claim to eliminate salmonella from the turtles, this is impossible. They're born without it, soon as they hit the water, they got it.

The funny thing is, I can go to any of my breeder friends and buy a healthy captive bred exotic hatchling right now. I bought a 1" reeves from a well known breeder in '07 at the reptile show. What the big difference is, reptile hobbyists aren't the type to get bored and chuck a turtle in the wild so they can destroy it.

Seltrut doesnt care, they hand you turtles you dont want to anybody. You buy a mud or musk, they throw in a RES free if you want it or not! Sometimes you buy a red belly, you end up with a yellow belly. They're lame. Oh and then they breed blind eyeless RES with a know repeat producer. At the shows they show all these deformed turtles I think they purposely breed for then charge rediculous prices for.

http://exoticpets.about.com/od/repti...urtlesales.htm

[Cipher]

I've never considered the Turtles to be different ages. Except for Michelangelo having a birthday episode in the old toon, has it ever actually been established that they're supposed to be different ages? Is it just fan say?

Even the birthday stuff is very flimsy evidence, since the old toon constantly contradicted itself, and nothing's to say the Turtles couldn't have just decided on different days for themselves, not knowing their true birth dates.

[CyberCubed]

I thought the age stuff was decided on the maturity of the Turtles in terms of personality.

Leo was the most responsible, so he's viewed as one of the oldest.

Donatello is the most intellectual, so you can say he's the second oldest.

Then there's Raph, and then lastly Mikey, for acting more like kids rather than young adults.

In the "Turtles in Time" game it said that Mike was only 15 years old.

[Cipher]

Originally Posted by CyberCubed

I thought the age stuff was decided on the maturity of the Turtles in terms of personality.

Leo was the most responsible, so he's viewed as one of the oldest.

Donatello is the most intellectual, so you can say he's the second oldest.

Then there's Raph, and then lastly Mikey, for acting more like kids rather than young adults.

"Older" does not always correspond with "more serious."

I will continue to think of the Turtles as being the same age unless there's confirmation otherwise. It's not like the Turtles even know their real age, apart from when they first mutated.

It could be worse. The TMNT could be not brothers at all... Or did'nt Next Mutation already do that idea?

I kind of liked that idea, and just assumed it to be unspoken in most universes. I mean, how the hell do they know whether they're biological brothers or not? They still bros.

Word.

[Buslady]

my son's 14, he doesnt act like a typical14 yr old.



i laughed in TMNT1, the "baby" turtles they used in the flashback were at least 3-4 years old, I could ID one as a male, another- the one crawling away from the camera, short tail, girl! LOL
TMNT could be a few yrs older than they think! at least in TMNT1 hehe

[Evenstar227]

Donatello would have conducted carbon dating tests to determine who was born first.

[Raph's Girl]

I dunno about other stores but at Petco their turtles are generally 14 - 15 years old. This is the age of maturity in several species.

So altho the guys were mutated over 30 years ago they could very easily be a heck of alot older then that. In most bios Leonardo is listed as being a year older than his brothers. However in the Mirage books they're all the same age and there was even an issue (I believe it was Vol 1) where they celebrate their 17th birthday together.

It's only in the animated stuff (IE the Michelangelo birthday ep and the Raphael birthday ep in the OS and the Michelangelo birthday flashback in BTTS) that they appear to have individual birthdays.

On the back of the old cards from the 80's/90's it listed the farms and whatnot they originated from....they all came from different places, making them not really related.

This is what it says on the backs of the 1988 cards:
Leonardo is from McMahon's Pet Emporium in Massachusets
Don's from Joe's Pet Place in Oklahoma (or rather Slowklahoma )
Raph's from Shelly's Pet City (New Hampshire/shell )
Mike's from Woody's Pet Shop in Pennsylvania

Also on those cards Leonardo is 16, Mike is 15 1/2, Raph and Don are 15. But it also makes note that those are their ages in HUMAN years...not turtle years

[Golden ShredHead]

I think Leo's the oldest. That's why he's the leader of the gang.