Tintin Forums

Age is hard to gauge; no one becomes older. By the time of Tintin and the Picaros, Tintin still does not quite resemble a full adult. How relevant would they be for the plot, anyway?

Your ages for Tintin sound about right although unless there are two Snowies, I think we have to allow for some poetic licence about his age.

The other characters strike me as older than your suggestions. I'd put Haddock at late-forties or early-fifties, Nestor late-fifties, the Thomsons and Wagg early 40s, Calculus and Castafiore both late 50s/early 60s.

None, it's just a fun distraction.

Now that I think about it, the Thom(p)sons and Wagg do seem older than what I initially suggested, I would also say early forties. I don't think Castafiore is that old, I could say early fifties or late forties.

I could say Calculus may be in the fifties, but Haddock doesn't strike me as being over fifty.

theone, the ages for the rest of the cast are way off. I agree with you about Tintin. May be early thirties in the Picaros. But here're my estimates for the rest:

Haddock: Late fourties to early fifties
Calculus: Mid-fifties
Thom(p)sons: Mid-fourties to early fifties.
Bianca: Late fourties
Joylon: Late fourties to early fifties
Alcazar: Late fourties

The excellent Tintin book by Benoît Peeters stated that Hergé replied to a letter 28th December 1970 saying that Tintin was 14 years old in the beginning (Soviets) and 17 years old "now" (1970). And if Hergé says Tintin is between 14 and 17 years thats what he is, in my opinion anyway.

Maybe he got as old as 18 years in Picaros but he is still a teenager, what a special boy indeed ;-)

I have the book in Swedish and don't know what's the title in English but I think it is the Tintin and the World of Hergé.

Tintin is a teenager. In those days, most people left school at a young age and got jobs.
It wasn't necessary for you to have qualifications. Take Hergé for example, he didn't have any formal art training to be employed at the newspaper as an artist.

I do however believe Tintin must have been a bit older than 14 to drive a car in Soviets, even if he wasn't very good.

I think that he was really short at first because Hergé wanted him to look clearly young or just a style of drawing, though it is not impossible for him to be 14.

I think that where albums have been re-drawn Tintin appears to be older. eg.in The Black Island he looks older than eg. Shooting Star. But, if you think about it, his overall starting off young and getting older does work, and he has side burns in The Picaros.

I'd put Tintin at about 24; Haddock at around 55 and Calculus at about 55-60.

All of the major characters never change, and they look like they are all the same age throughout the series.

There is another theory: the simple drawing style makes him younger as opposed to his "correct" age, if that makes sense?