Tintin Forums

In The Canadian Medical Association Journal's annual (and more lighthearted) holiday edition, Professor Claude Cyr (with the help of his two young sons) attempts to explain Tintin's ageless appearance as the result of "pituitary injury" due to repeated blows to the head. He notes each instance of loss of consciousness in the Adventures, with length of time and severity, as well as what brought on the black-out (train accident, tree trunk, club, chloroform).

The full text of the article is available here: "Acquired growth hormone deficiency and hypogonadotropic hypogonadism in a subject with repeated head trauma, or Tintin goes to the neurologist", and as a PDF here.
There's also an article about it, Ouch! Researchers tackle Tintin's traumas, which can be found in the Toronto Globe & Mail.

I've got to say that's completly hilarious! I've always wondered why Tintin didn't have brain damage after all those knocks to the head.

I thought it was great, too, although it's mentioned that the results were drawn from the sixteen albums that they had - so there's eight not included, and there's probably a few loss-of-consciousness moments in there. There's no reference to being hit by a car in "King Ottokar's Sceptre", which should probably have caused trauma, or at least sent Tintin into a state of shock.

Tintin appears to be 16 years old. But at the same time he is a journalist by profession which means that he is definitely in his mid 20s. His behaviour also seems to be very kiddish. I might be mistaken but doesn't he get teary eyed sometimes when he finds himself caught in a bad situation?

On some celebrated anniversary (I'm not really sure whether it was Tintin's 75th or 80th birthday or Herge's 100th) an article was printed in the Bombay Times or the Times of India regarding this difference in age and appearance. A Psychologist had given a theory that Tintin might have fallen on his head really hard as a child causing a hormonal problem of some sort which caused him to stop growing physically and mentally beyond a certain age (16 I presume).

As you can see, I read this article a really long time ago and I don't really remember much. But I would really like to know the name of this disorder which causes a person to stop growing physically and mentally beyond a certain age. Better yet, may be one of you could give me a link to the article itself if you manage to find it.

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Moderator note: Have moved your post here virtualvarun. See the first post above which gives a link to the article. Also remember that the article was written as a joke, so the details in it may not be correct, or even real!
The Tintinologist Team

Of course, I've noticed that Tintin is shorter than many other characters. Even many women are taller than him. But is that because he has a hormone deficiency? I doubt it.
But he's supposed to be very young, of which other characters repeatedly remind us - Hergé himself has supposedly said, that he only was between fourteen and eighteen years old during the whole run of the series.

I will agree though, that he often seems to be an adult. And how would a fourteen-year-old be able to travel alone, with only his dog as company, from Belgium to the Soviet Union, Congo, America, etc.?

Not to mention how he had managed to become a reporter as such a young age. But then again, maybe we shouldn't over-think it, but just enjoy the stories for what they are?

As for Tintin not shaving, do we see anybody shave in any of the adventures? And as for him not having a girlfriend, no one in the series does. They're either already married or remain single.

I've been wondering about all those head injuries though. That can't be good.

Moderator Note: There's no need to quote a post verbatim to comment on it - a short representitive selection will be enough for people to follow the point you are making. Your post has been edited.

The Abbr'v't'd T'nt'n'l'g'st T'm

I think you might need to go back and re-read the original article, as it is in no way meant to be taken seriously - the professor wrote it as a joke, spoofing the style of an academic dissertation.

The fact that the "research" was carried out by his sons, aged seven and five, who are named as co-authors of the paper, is further evidence, if it is needed, that the good doctor's tongue was quite firmly in his cheek...!

Also, it's the spirit of Tintinology - looking at the "evidence" and making "sense" of what it tells us!

I think it's cute how people want to know all this stuff, but at the end of the day, Tintin is a created character, and thus will never age! I believe that the stories are all read individually; they take place in their own time. I always figured Tintin was 15 in the first adventure and about 25/28 in the last. In the end, his character is what lives forever

I like the photo (in PDF file) where the author's eyes are censored, that adds funniness to the journal... XD.

"...Unfortunately, no brain imaging was performed." line makes me laugh, together with other lines in the journal.


Indeed! Now that Claude Cyr made this article together with his sons, I now think that this might be a past time between him and his sons. It must have been a great fun for them both!