We can't freaking believe it: Dylan and Cole Sprouse turn 25 today. Zack and Cody, the little boys from Big Daddy, our very first Disney Channel crushes, are fully grown men. And as they grow older in the spotlight and become extra babely in their own ways, we're starting to actually wonder: are Dylan and Cole Sprouse identical, or are they pulling a Mary-Kate and Ashley thing and have secretly been fraternal this whole time?
Short version: all signs point to yes, they are fraternal. Their major physical differences chalk up to, who knows? Diet, sun exposure, hair dye? But really, even in 2017, 25 years after their existence and 24 years and four months after their career kicked off, we still want to know all the ways our boys are different.
MORE: Cole Sprouse Had the Most Savage AF Reaction to His Brother Dylan's Big Return to Acting
Of course, we know the big ones: Cole is Jughead on Riverdale, Dylan just got out of retirement for Carte Blanche, Cole was Cody, Dylan was Zack in The Suite Life of Zack & Cody, Dylan is opening is his own Brooklyn business, All-Wise Meadery, Cole is making us sob by dating Lili Reinhart.
But seriously, how can you look at old pictures of the Twitter Kings (which we do routinely) and know who is who? Well, in honor of their birthday, we counted just a few significant differences.
1. Cole is just a little bit taller than Dylan.
Cole is reported to be 6 feet tall while Dylan comes in at 5'11!
2. Cole is all about this French Bulldog.
And Dylan is not really sure.
3. Cole got a degree in archaelogy while Dylan studied video game design.
They both graduated NYU with honors, though!
4. Dylan has a slightly fuller face than Cole.
Legit the quickest way to spot which Sprouse is which on sight.
5. Also, Dylan is stockier while Cole is leaner.
Both good to look at shirtless, though.
6. Cole's the Mario and Dylan's the Luigi.
Actually in terms of physicality, we would argue hard that Cole's the Luigi, but this otherwise checks out.
7. Cole is the Mary-Kate and Dylan's the Ashley.
Obviously.
8. Dylan is the older twin of the two.
He has Cole beat by 15 minutes!
9. Cole's upper lip seems to go up more. Or like his teeth are rounded down more. Or something.
Tl;dr their smiles are just a liiiiittle bit different.
10. Dylan's the one with an Instagram famous dog.
English Bulldog Bubba was Dylan's OG pup, but Dylan's dwarf English bulldog Magnus has his own Instagram!
11. Actually, Cole may just have a preference for French Bulldogs in general.
Witness this retro shot of him with little Curry Sprouse. YOU ARE ALL TOO PURE FOR THIS WORLD.
12. Cole loves his mom to death…but like, legit.
Dylan loves the twin's mother Melanie Wright too, we bet, but this year Cole shared a poem dedicated to his mother back when he was a baby: "I love you mom, you are the best. You're better than all the rest. And if anyone ever takes us apart. I'd repeatedly stab them in the heart." Dark, little Cole.
13. Cole historically prefers to wear his hair off his face.
This isn't law necessarily, it just seems that even back in their little Dutch Girl phase Cole favors a slight side-sweep.
14. Cole has a passion for photography.
His Instagram handle @colesprouse shows how legitimately talented he is (and makes us feel slightly insecure about our own over-filtered accounts).
15. And Dylan's first love was actually fine arts.
That and economics(!!!) were his intended focus when he first enrolled at NYU.
16. Cole and Dylan have different beauty marks—the twin with one over his lip is Dylan, while Cole has one on his chin.
Cole also has three on his left cheek and two on his right cheek, and Dylan has two more on his neck. We feel a little bit weird knowing this one, but apparently, the boys must freckle easily.
17. Cole—and not Dylan—starred as Ross's son Ben on Friends.
And developed a crush on Jennifer Aniston! "I had a really, really hard time working with Aniston because I was so in love with her," he told the New York Post. "I was infatuated. I was speechless — I’d get all bubbly and forget my lines and completely blank. It was so difficult."Aww!
18. Dylan seems to be having a religious experience watching his brother play Gamecube, Cole is too into the gameplay to notice.
Also, hey, Lil' Kim!
19. Cole was in one less scene of Big Daddy than Dylan.
But which one was in the infamous McDonald's scene? These are the things we really need to know.
20. Dylan is more open to wearing hats for recreational purposes.
This fedora may be a little hard to live down, though.
21. Cole's more of a 1920s gangster wheareas Dylan's obviously a newsie.
Ok, real talk, these pics are from Halloween.
22. Dylan's the one who dated Miley Cyrus…for like, a day.
When he was about, "11 or 12" the two Disney Chanel stars had a v romantic 24 hours together. "We met on her set, I believe, and we dated, and then Nick Jonas walked by and it was over," Dylan shared on Jimmy Kimmel
23. Cole is named after a famous singer while Dylan is named after a poet.
That is, singer Nat King Cole and poet Dylan Thomas, respectively.
24. Cole's more of a sweater-vest guy, while Dylan prefers ties.
Or at least that seemed to be the case at their Sweet 16.
25. And finally, Cole's the one who can walk in heels.
Although to be honest, we've never really seen Dylan try.
Happy Birthday, Sprouses! You'll always be J-14 heartthrobs!
Whether you like it or not. Love you. ❤️
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