r/TeenWolf • u/QueenOfGreenwood Hale Pack • Jul 22 '25
Question Derek Hales age..
I know it’s been asked several times what age he is and that it’s never consistent but I was doing a rewatch and I noticed Kate finds his driving license so is this his corrected DOB? Just curious..
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u/Little200bro Jul 22 '25
It changes a lot, originally hes only a year older than Scotts pack, then its revealed werewolfs age differently than humans, then its revealed he had a little love affair with Kate, so its a jumbled mess
I think you might as well just assume thats a fake license
70
u/Nearby-Structure-739 Team Stiles Jul 22 '25
I don’t think he was ever a year older than them. Stiles said he was a few years older in season 1 iirc
14
u/Khalesssi_Slayer1 Team Lydia Jul 23 '25
Yeah in the pilot episode, after Derek catches Scott and Stiles on his property, Stiles says: "That was Derek Hale. remember, he's only a few years older than us. his whole family burned to death in a fire like 10 years ago."
38
u/Skiller0Dani Team Stiles Jul 22 '25
then its revealed he had a little love affair with Kate
I always assumed Kate preyed on him when he was a minor during their love affair. That she seduced him, knowing hes a minor, so she could get to his family.
6
u/Little200bro Jul 23 '25
She did, but it was still when he was 15-16, meanwhile shes pushing 40 by the time shes a werejaguar, idk I think its just makes sense to me that she was younger at the time too but not underage
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u/Techsupportvictim Jul 22 '25 edited Jul 22 '25
No, he was originally 2-3 years older than Scott was. The original pilot script had him at 19 when Scott and styles were 16. But then they never bought up his age in the pilot, making the script a tad moot.
And that license is likely intended to be legit. The show started in 2011 and we have nothing to suggest that they didn’t intend for the show to be set in 2011 at that point. That ID would make 24 at that point. 6 years before when the fire happened he’d be 17-18 which fits with the idea of Kate seducing him after the whole Paige thing (which was when he was 15-16 years old.)
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u/Prudent_Zombie_2692 Jul 22 '25
How does 1988-2011 make him 24? It makes him 22-23 depending on if he’s had his birthday yet
9
u/Techsupportvictim Jul 22 '25
OK so he would’ve been 22. Whatever, he wasn’t 19 as stated in the script and cut from the actual episode. And he wouldn’t have had his birthday in 2011 cause the show started in January/February as that’s when the wolf moon happens.
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u/anniebanannie123 Jul 23 '25
He was supposed to be 19 but that would have made him like 12/13 when Kate was preying on him and tht was a little too evil for the writers so they aged him up to like 22 ish like the Id would make him
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u/-slaps-username- Jul 22 '25
i thought stiles said the fire was “like ten years ago” unless there was some retcon
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u/Strict_Box8384 Werejaguar Jul 22 '25
i think it was just Stiles not knowing the exact date and guessing. because it’s repeated many times in the show that the fire was six years before the show starts
4
u/Techsupportvictim Jul 22 '25
A teenager not knowing the exact date of an event that didn’t directly affect him is not a shock
5
u/kp__135 Jul 23 '25
He was never a year older. Closest was 3-4. But that was before the season was even written. His age was changed hella early.
Dunno if that age was ever brought up again. To me that age makes a lot of sense and the only thing that goes against it is Stiles saying a few grades(or years) ahead of them. But that is so vague that for me it’s not contradictory
11
u/QueenOfGreenwood Hale Pack Jul 22 '25
I knew his age was all over the place so I did think that it was probably a fake ID but I knew someone in here would know better than me! 😁
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u/-KingSharkIsAShark- Jul 22 '25
As others have said the timeline + his age are inconsistent, but since Cora is the same age roughly as Scott and Stiles and the Hale fire happened when they were ~10 and Derek was ~16, and Scott and co. ~16 in season 1, that means Derek would be around 22. So while this ID is probably fake due to reasons (hunters), it’s probably not that far off.
7
u/Techsupportvictim Jul 22 '25
If Derek was using a fake ID because of the hunters he wouldn’t be using an ID with the name Derek Hale on it because that’s the name they know.
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u/yo_yo_yiggety_yo Jul 22 '25
I don't care about his age, I care about THAT PRINCESS HANDWRITING😭 SO PWETTY
17
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u/Juicer639 Jul 23 '25
What always gets me about the license lmao. How did they take a picture of him when it’s just shown that their eyes flash at pictures. Doesn’t make me mad but I notice it everytime
3
u/evieeeeeeeeeeeeeee Hale Pack Jul 23 '25
definitely a silly plothole but fanon is that its another thing they can learn to control, and derek being a born wolf has had his entire life to practice
8
u/Creepy-Trouble1714 Jul 22 '25
Originally he was 19, but once they cast Tyler Hechlein they realized he couldn’t be 19, but the actor was 23 in Season 1 so he was probably meant to be 21-22 I HATE how lots of Fanfics make him he like 27 when Stiles is 16-17?!! Seriously?? He doesn’t even LOOK 27! and “Affiar”??! He was groomed and raped! That’s not a Affair! She was around 24 and he was Maybe 17 at that point! That’s not an Affair! But all in all it’s Kinda up for debate, but I like to think he was meant to be Tyler’s actual age. Just makes it easier lol plus 23 isn’t that far off from 16. That IS one thing I have always liked about the show, aside from the girl who plays Allison they picked teens or 20 year olds still close enough to a teen to Actually Play teens ya know? They aren’t 25 year olds playing 16 year olds like they always do now a days lol
3
u/QueenOfGreenwood Hale Pack Jul 22 '25
I always took it that the Kate thing was not long after Paige and he was vulnerable because he was heartbroken so I always thought that happened 15/16 at most and that the fire was around similar ages (16 but before 17) which would put him at 22 in season one.. but that’s just the way I took it 🤷🏽♀️
4
u/evieeeeeeeeeeeeeee Hale Pack Jul 23 '25
this is confirmed to be a fake id (by jeff davis) but it is assumed to be close to his retconned age, as others have said he was written to be 19 and so his characterisation through season 1-2 is very much that of a young adult, and then wildly shifts somewhere between season 3-4, its super inconsistent! he doesn't have a canonical age to this day, even as recently as the movie interviews tyler hoechlin was joking about not having any idea how old derek is supposed to be
2
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u/Intrepid_Ad_3157 Alpha Jul 23 '25
It’s been contradicted multiple times. Though two things we know that are canonical is 1. werewolves age slower & they stay in their prime way longer than humans. 2. Derek in terms of timeline Derek was chronologically over the age of 20 years old in season 1. He was more than likely in his mid 20’s in S1 as the events of the fire took place almost/ around a decade before S1 & he & his sisters only survived because they were in hs & i believe the eldest sister was in New York creating her own pack i think. I theorize that werewolves age physically like dogs do in the 7 years every year thing. I suspect that Derek at 25 physically/chronologically could hasn’t experienced the consequences in terms of his age yet. As satomi at i believe 108 physically looks like she’s in her 50’s to 70’s at most but is as spry as a 20 year old as she could dodge bullets at close range.
2
u/Alternative_Duty4179 Jul 26 '25
Don’t take teen wolf seriously when it comes to any of their ages because teen Wolf is notoriously known for their ridiculous, plot holes
6
u/flashPrawndon Jul 22 '25
I believe he was 16 when the fire happened, which at the beginning of the show was 10 years previously, which would make him 26 in series 1, but I think it got changed to 6 years previously at some point later putting him at 22 in series 1? I might be wrong though.
9
u/Aggressive_Ad_5722 Jul 22 '25
The fire happened 6 years before season 1, when its discovered Peters the alpha he says something along the lines he was burnt and broken for 6 years or something like that
-3
u/Techsupportvictim Jul 22 '25
Yes but remember that folks might say 6 years when they mean 6 and some months. Often as which as four months just gets dropped off. “About 6 and a half years ago” kicks in around month 5 and can stretch to the end of month 7. Then it’s “almost 7 years ago”.
So without firm dates it’s hard to say that this is “clearly fake” as some folks are claiming
4
u/Aggressive_Ad_5722 Jul 22 '25
That’s got nothing to do with what I said, I replied because someone said the fire took place 10 years before season 1, I told him it was 6 as confirmed in the show, how many months after 6 years is irrelevant
1
u/Kitty1321 Jul 22 '25
He has the same birth date as my mum lol 😂
2
u/QueenOfGreenwood Hale Pack Jul 22 '25
The birthdate is only a month or so before mine! Now I feel old! lol
2
1
u/The_Writx Jul 24 '25
Tbh I just go by his actors age when the show started lol! He was about 24 or so and he LOOEKD that age and a bit of let so I headcanoned him as 23-27. It just made sense especially since he seemed so well versed and knowledgeable about everything. Plus since in his drivers license it lists his date of birth as 11-07-88. If the show took place when it was aired (2011) that would have made him 23 in the beginning. His actor was 24 when the show started so it just kinda aligned itself lol
1
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u/orphicxhadow Jul 22 '25 edited Jul 22 '25
In original script he was supposed to be like 19 years old. However, since we had flashback episodes with Derek being 15 or so like a year before the fire, that would make him like 21/22 in the pilot. Anyway, it's all very inconsitent, so people just assume he is somewhere between 19 to 23, even if they basically made him look and behave much older in later seasons.