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Tintin & Friends: How old are they?

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mct16
Member
#131 · Posted: 30 May 2013 11:34
jock123:
he's also seen riding in a moving caravan attached to a car, which is illegal

And Hergé showed why it is illegal: in case of accidents! In any case, allowing someone to sit in the caravan would be the responsibility of the car driver and he is excited by the prospect of chasing after crooks.

FormulaFourteen is looking at it in the context of the real world and not whether or not Hergé checked up on local laws. I personally have always thought of Tintin as being in his early to mid-twenties.
It's quite common for comics to imply that the heroes are in their teens when they are clearly much more mature and better educated than the average real-life teenager - a way of allowing the readers to more closely identify with them.
I expect that that is what Hergé had in mind when he once stated that Tintin was in his teens.
FormulaFourteen
Member
#132 · Posted: 6 Jun 2013 04:26
jock123:
it isn't a given that he wouldn't just break the odd law

Good point. I think there is a bit of a contextual difference, though. Tintin frequently exhibits his abilities to think on his feet and adapt to almost any situation, often breaking the law in the process. To my knowledge, however, he only freely bends the rules when he is in some crisis situation.

There are numerous examples in the books where Tintin does what would appear to be many age-restricted actions... drinking (The Black Island), traveling alone (King Ottokar's Sceptre), presumably owning a firearm (The Broken Ear)... And these all appear to be undertaken without the influence of a crisis, or under duress, but rather perfectly at his own convenience and election.

To me the environment Hergé created for Tintin would seem to imply (most of the time) that Tintin is around his early twenties, maybe even a bit older.

mct16:
FormulaFourteen is looking at it in the context of the real world and not whether or not Hergé checked up on local laws

Very true. It seems to me that Hergé strove very hard to depict Tintin as credibly and realistically as possible, so it makes sense to me to analyze him as realistically as possible.
Obviously, though, you can only take this line of reasoning so far before it begins to get far-fetched!
siriana2526
Member
#133 · Posted: 29 Sep 2014 04:05
Here's an interview with Hergé, in which he mentions Tintin's age (at around 5:50)

It's in French though, so for those who don't understand, here's a word-by-word translation:

Interviewer: "So how old is Tintin?"
Hergé: "How old is he? It's getting embarassing. (laughs) Let's say he's around 15, no? 15-16 I don't know."
Interviewer: "So it's adolescence"
Hergé: "Yes, yes!"

That interview took place at the time Hergé was working on The Castafiore Emerald.
That One Aussie Chick
Member
#134 · Posted: 30 Sep 2014 15:42
I would say around 16-17. Judging by the 2011 movie, he looks like he can't be any older than 20, 21 tops. And judging by the artwork in the books, he looks slightly younger, but that's just my opinion.
MT50446
Member
#135 · Posted: 6 Oct 2014 22:20
I don't know why, I thought I'd read it somewhere (maybe not), but I thought he was 16, I thought it was fact.

Having seen the above post concerning an interview with Hergé it seems it was about right, 15 or 16.

He never ages throughout the adventures, and up to today he is forever young.

As for Haddock, he has to be late 50's and colors his hair so that it remains black.
Furienna
Member
#136 · Posted: 13 Nov 2014 09:21
Like I said years ago, I don't like to disagree with the author about his character's age. And I guess we can see the early adventures as some kind of fantasy, so Tintin could be only 14 years old and still do all that travelling with his dog as his only company.

But as time passed by, everything else became more and more realistic. Even in The Broken Ear, we see that Tintin has his own apartment. So I guess he would have to be at least 18 years old by then. So I say Tintin would realistically be at least 20 years old by the end of series.

Captain Haddock and the Thom(p)sons seem to be somewhere in their 40s.

Professor Calculus is probably in his 50s.
Eivind
Member
#137 · Posted: 7 Feb 2015 15:21
miloumuttmitt:
Tintin is clearly 15 or older, as he was seen driving a car in The Blue Lotus (p.52, panel 15.)

And the logic is? The legal age for driving a car is 18. Personally I always thought he was around 25, but I hear many people think he is a teenager.
Balthazar
Moderator
#138 · Posted: 8 Feb 2015 00:49
Eivind:
The legal age for driving a car is 18.

It depends where you live, and when, I think.
MT50446
Member
#139 · Posted: 3 Mar 2015 14:32
Calculus in his 49's no way gotta be mid sixties Haddock mud to late 50's as for Tintin always about 19/20 for me
Eivind
Member
#140 · Posted: 6 Mar 2015 08:58
Tintin: 25
Captain Haddock: 57
Thom(p)sons: 55
Calculus: 70
Nestor: 58
Bianca Castafiore: 56
Rastapopoulos: 59

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