Hey everyone, welcome to another installment of Harry Potter Theory.
In today’s video, we’re going to be discussing the Weasley twins - Fred and George.
More specifically- we’re going to be discussing the differences between the pair.
Fred and George are the 4th and 5th born children of Arthur and Molly Weasley- they were born
in the year 1978 and it’s probably no surprise to anyone that they’re IDENTICAL twins.
This means that they’re physically identical in nearly every way- however, the twins are
extra similar in that they also share very similar personality traits.
In fact, most of the time it’s hard to tell them apart.
Given that they are so similar, today I want to explore how we can actually determine which
is one which.
Additionally, I wanted to take a look at their individual contributions to the series to
see if one twin is more significant than the other (from the perspective of the story only).
First things first: one has to be older, right?
Well yeah, it turns out that when they were born on April 1 1978- Fred popped out first.
So he must be the OLDER, wiser brother- right?
Tragically, Fred was also the first of the brothers to die- suffering an untimely death
during the Battle of Hogwarts.
JK Rowling has revealed that Fred’s death was one of the hardest to write in- however,
she did ALSO reveal that Fred was the chosen brother to die because he was ‘slightly
more conspicuous’ suggesting that Fred plays a slightly large role in the books/films than
George.
Actually, it turns out that Fred is mentioned over 900 times in the books, while George
is only mentioned around 700 times.
The reason for this is not entirely clear, however it may be because Fred is the slightly
more vocal brother-the one who is more likely to act and speak first:
From Pottermore:
“When you read through the books you can see that it was almost always Fred who spoke
first, usually a joke or a dramatic comment.
He was the front man, the lead singer, the one who first got everyone’s attention.
George was the slightly more level-headed twin who explained what his brother actually
meant.
Fred even passed George the task of explaining the Marauder’s Map to Harry when he could
have done so himself.
In fact, while Harry was close to both of the twins, he had longer conversations with
George, who often explained events Harry might have missed, plans he and Fred had, or things
Harry didn’t quite understand.
Fred and George really did complement each other perfectly.”
Additionally, Fred was the instigator for most of their pranks- George simply followed
suit:
“Whenever the Weasley twins did something particularly naughty it always seemed to be
Fred who took the lead.
When the twins and Ron broke Harry out of Privet Drive in his second year, it was Fred
who was driving the flying Ford Anglia.
He was usually the one behind even the smaller pranks; Fred was the one who liberated a salamander
from Care of Magical Creatures so they could try to feed it a Filibuster Firework, and
Fred was the one who ‘accidentally’ dropped a Ton-Tongue Toffee in front of Dudley.”
Did you ever notice that it’s always ‘Fred & George’ and not ‘George & Fred’?
Fred spoke first and George explained second- which almost makes George’s circumstances
after Fred’s death even sadder.
The two were inseparable for their entire lives, and provided that Fred was the front
man, George was probably quite lost after the war- after years of following the actions
of his twin and never really having to take action himself.
In life they spent nearly every waking moment together- they had a beautiful friendship-and
interestingly enough the books don’t really delve much in to what actually happened to
George after the death of his brother.
Losing any kind of friend or family member is horrendous- but to lose a twin must be
soul destroying.
After the death of Fred- what happened to George?
In the documentary JK Rowling: A Year in the Life, Rowling dives in to the Weasley family
tree, and mentions the following with regards to George.
“A lot of readers ask me: was George all right?
And of course he wouldn't be all right, would he?
That's the reality.
But I think that he married Angelina, who was actually Fred’s ex.
Maybe it’s a bit unhealthy, but I think that they would have been happy; as happy
as he could be without Fred.
I think he really would have felt like part of himself died.”
Additionally, Rowling was asked about George Weasley’s state in a 2007 interview with
Bloomsbury:
INT: How is George getting along without his twin?
JKR: Well, I don’t think that George would ever get over losing Fred, which makes me
feel so sad.
However, he names his first child and son Fred, and he goes on to have a very successful
career, helped by good old Ron.
The interview also confirms that George continued working at the business which he and his brother
had created:
Ron joined George at Weasleys’ Wizarding Wheezes, which became an enormous money-spinner.
These are quite tragic answers from Rowling- but it’s good to see that she isn’t softening
the truth.
Losing a family member is one of the worst things that we have to deal with in life.
Effectively-yes, life would go on for George, but it would never be the same.
His companion-the person that he had shared every moment with since childhood, was gone.
Would he be happy again?
Would he experience joy again?
Yes, of course- but would George Weasley be changed forever after the passing of his brother?
Absolutely.
So how else did these twin brothers, who were nearly identical in every way, operate as
individuals?
While Fred was a bit more outgoing and inclined to do a bit of damage- him and George were
almost the perfect combo because George was always there to mitigate the damage.
However, don’t get me wrong- George was happy to do so.
He would never have wanted his twin’s demeanour to change, and was happy to take on damage
control after his brother opened his mouth.
“Fred and George were both undeniably charismatic, but George was, as it were, the public face
of the Weasley twins, able to be much more subtle and diplomatic than Fred.
George was the twin who made edits to their letter to Ludo Bagman, knowing that certain
wording would sound accusatory, and was the one who realised why Hermione wanted to get
into the school kitchens.
He was even the one who remembered to get the new Common Room password from a prefect.”
But not only were their PERSONALITIES different, they were also, unsurprisingly, not identical
in athletic performance.
Athleticism will vary largely on an individual basis- and it just so happens that George
was the better athlete.
What game?
Quidditch.
What position?
Beater.
“While both Fred and George were excellent Beaters, and a credit to the Gryffindor Quidditch
team, there were more mentions of George hitting Bludgers than there were of Fred.
George seemed to be the slightly more aggressive of the two on the Quidditch pitch, described
once as hitting a Bludger at a player as a way of venting his feelings, and retaliating
for a foul by elbowing a Slytherin Beater in the face.“
Lastly- I want to explore if there is a way to tell them apart PHYSICALLY.
Are there any key differences that can help us to spot which one is which?
This next part is going to be exploring the characters from the films- as the real life
actors (Oliver & James Phelps) do in fact have some subtle differences in their physical
appearance.
For reference: Oliver plays George and James plays Fred.
I got the following information from a source I’ve never heard of online so hopefully
it’s accurate!
It turns out that George (Oliver) has a longer, straighter and slightly thinner face with
a slightly differently set jaw.
He also: -has a mole on the right side of his neck
-has slightly more slanted eyes that are less deep
-has a slightly longer and curved nose with a bump
-has a slightly crooked smile -and is slightly taller than Fred (James)
James (Fred) can be characterized by:
-A shorter, rounder face -A scar on his left eyebrow
-Less slanted, deeper eyes.
-A straight nose -A slightly shorter stature
And I think that about summarizes all of the differences between Fred/George.
Did you guys learn something?
I know that I didn’t know all of this until researching for the video.
Did anything surprise you?
Let me know in the comment section below
Until next time
Remember
Ask us no questions and we'll tell you no lies