Tintin Forums

So by Picaros he'd be like, twenty or twenty-one? What's the legal driving age in Belgium?

Well, he could be, but there's no evidence, one way or the other, as has been long-esatblished in this discussion – if you want him to be 22, then that's great, but we'll never know...!


It took a couple of seconds to Google that, and it appears to be 18 for a full licence. However, without seeing it, we never know whether he's even got one.

He steals rather a lot of vehicles, so, as was said earlier, he may not be bothered by the legality of whether or not he's passed a test!

As Ladybird and others have been saying, the books are a fantasy world, where anything can happen, including 14 year-olds becoming globe-trotting reporters and having adventures!

He does buy a car in "Soviets" - someone pointed out that it is the ONLY time he actually buys a car (though there is the car he uses in the Congo of course).

Whilst it is odd that a 15-year-old could be a top reporter, it was not unusual for kids of that age doing some kind of work in the 1930s, as errand boys or office couriers.

Tintin could have an exceptionally high IQ which enabled him to learn to write professionally from an early age, got a job as courier to the paper and came across a major story which made his name as a reporter. (The way he attracts crooks it is not impossible.)

I've always thought of him being about 20 to 25. When I was a kid I didn't need to think of him as being in my age group in order to like him.

I've always found it odd how some writers of comics or children's novels seem to think that their young but exceptionally mature, knowledgeable and capable heroes should be the same age group as their readers. fantasy or not.

I think during the Soviets adventure, Tintin was about 18, because in the book he enrolls for the army. I think you have to be 17 or 18 to enroll in the army, so Tintin had to be at lest 17.

About the Castafiore's age... I heard somware that Herge intended for her to be about 45.

I was just listening to the Tintin podcast on my iPad this morning, and they said that Herge decided he'd be seventeen. This was in one of the last interviews I think. It doesn't say which book he's referring to but to my understanding he stays that age until Picaros. It's unclear whether or not he was that age when the series started out or he got older...so maybe in Soviets, he was fourteen.
Anyways, he can't be THAT young; he does go out and buy drinks (with the corresponding consequence) and he lives by himself with Snowy.

I would probably say Tintin is in his 20's,
and Captain Haddock, maybe 40-50

Tintin was 13 or 14 years old in Soviets and 17 in Flight 714 to Sydney.
(Herge's interview with Numa Sadoul, 1971)
So the oldest he could possibly be in Picaros is 18 years old.

I place Tintin around 17, and Haddock around 38.

Herge always said that Tintin started out being around 14-15 years old (for some reason he can drive) and ages a year every ten years. I like this formula, as it means he ends up being about 19 in the last few albums. I think that is the perfect age. He's a "boy" reporter, after all.

I always like to think about Tintin as 16... Dunno, 14-15 seems too young for our hero! and then as the albums progressed he'd be around 21 in the Picaros! But I'm always reconsidering my evaluation since the way Herge drew Tintin... he makes him look young! And Captain Haddock would be in his mid-40s... not 50s, yet. Calculus would probably be in his late 50s. And Castafiore... I think she's in her early 50s. =)