A razão mais óbvia para ele parecer mais velho é simplesmente porque ele é mais antigo . Tendo em mente que o BGA tem evidentemente visto outros gigantes aparecendo e desaparecendo, pode-se supor que algo (talvez seu senso de propósito, ou sua dieta exclusiva de snozzcumbers saudáveis, mas repugnantes) o tenha impedido de sofrer o mesmo destino que seus contemporâneos.
'Giants isn't born,' the BFG answered. 'Giants appears and that's all there is to it. They simply appears, the same way as the sun and the stars.' 'And when did you appear?' Sophie asked.
'Now how on earth could I be knowing a thing like that?' said the BFG. 'It was so long ago I couldn't count.'
'You mean you don't even know how old you are?'
'No giant is knowing that,' the BFG said. 'All I is knowing about myself is that I is very old, very very old and crumply. Perhaps as old as the earth.'
'What happens when a giant dies?' Sophie asked.
'Giants is never dying,' the BFG answered. 'Sometimes and quite suddenly, a giant is disappearing and nobody is ever knowing where he goes to. But mostly us giants is simply going on and on like whiffsy time-twiddlers.'
A implicação parece ser que outros gigantes vêm e vão (eventualmente), mas o BFG simplesmente perdura.