Top 10 TMNT Facts That Will Ruin Your Childhood

Growing up, we all thought that the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles were the coolest! So it’s hard to come to terms with the revelation that they actually started out as one big joke! When comic book artists Kevin Eastman and Peter Laird came up with the idea back in 1983, they intended the characters to parody popular trends within the medium. The Turtles were knowing knock-offs of X-Men-esque mutants, Teen Titans-youth culture and Daredevil-styled martial arts. Eventually, however, the TMNT franchise became hot enough to stand on its own as a new source of creative inspiration.

Turtle Fever was arguably at its peak when the idea to create a live action, musical experience first reared its ugly head. The “Coming Out of Their Shells Tour ' might be fondly remembered by those of a certain age who saw it live, but looking back, it was truly cringe worthy stuff. It involved some in your face advertising, as the tour was sponsored by Pizza Hut, and saw creepily-designed Turtles singing and dancing at a theater near you. This tour, which was actually broadcast on pay-per-view, believe it or not, hasn’t aged well whatsoever, and is a key example of how corporations will do anything to make a buck off of a hot trend or property.

The Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles have been depicted within numerous forms of media over the years, including multiple animated series. The 2003 iteration that aired on the Fox Network was known for its willingness to explore some dark subject matter, including this fourth season arc involving the Turtles’ leader, Leonardo. Leo’s stresses and self-doubt come to a head during this season, where he becomes moody and emotionally volatile. The intention here may have flown over the heads of kids at the time, but Leonardo seems to have been suffering from Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder. It isn’t until Splinter sends his son off for more training that Leonardo is able to come to grips with his demons.

Donatello’s superior intellect has always made him stand out amongst his brothers, with his knowledge of computers often serving as an important asset in battle. However, is it Donnie’s destiny to be physically merged with a machine? In the comics, the Bo staff wielding reptile suffers physical damage severe enough to require some sort of cyborg modification. The Image comics from the late nineties saw Donatello shot up by cyborg enemies, requiring the turtle to be rebuilt with spare parts. It’s pretty dark stuff, and Donatello continually had to battle his robot half for dominance over his mind and emotions.

What’s the key to a truly successful kid’s show? [“Merchandizing!”] Joking aside, adults today that grew up with the late 80s TMNT television show likely remember all of the toys that accompanied that series’ original run. It’s another aspect of fandom that probably hits some warm emotional beats, even if we realize now that companies were clearly going hard to market as much cheap plastic to us as possible back in the day. After all, this was the era where oftentimes the desire to move kids’ toys actually preceded the animated property, such as the case with the original Masters of the Universe. It was also the decade when Hasbro killed off many of the Transformers, including Optimus Prime himself, in order to replace them with newer toys.

Julie Strain was a much-admired B-movie actress and adult model who was married to TMNT co-creator Kevin Eastman for over a decade. She also served as the physical inspiration for some of the Ninja Turtles characters, including a potential “Evil April” that was discussed for the canceled fourth live action film in the franchise. Now, we’re not judging second Strain’s work in the adult industry, but it is sort of funny to imagine such a sexual screen presence potentially finding its way into official TMNT media. Kids back then probably wouldn’t have been the wiser, but adults now might raise an eyebrow or two.

Donatello wasn’t the only character who took an unexpected turn in the Image Comics. Actually, nearly every member of the TMNT family seemed to suffer some sort of physical or emotional damage, from Leonardo losing a hand, to Raphael going to a place darker than he’s ever been before in the series. How dark? Well, how about becoming The Shredder? Yup, this comic run actually saw the Sai-wielding turtle take on the mantle of his former arch-enemy. Well, sort of. Here, Raph actually has some friends within the Foot Clan, and pretends to be the new Shredder. It works, and the turtle actually leads a branch of the Foot for a while, even clashing with Splinter and his brothers. It’s wild stuff.

Master Splinter has always been portrayed as a centering force within the turtles’ lives; a source of calm, inner peace…and revenge? Well, yes, actually…that is, if you read the original comics. Splinter’s origins are relatively the same as presented in the 1990 live action movie: an intelligent rat whose master, Hamato Yoshi, is murdered by a rival, Oroku Saki. The Mirage Comics iteration of Splinter isn’t content with just raising his mutated turtle sons, however, and is instead motivated by revenge. Splinter wants Saki dead, and actually gets his wish, as the Turtles kill Saki, now known as The Shredder, in the very first issue. Well, at least they think he’s dead, but that’s a story for another time.

The character of April O’Neil is essential to the TMNT universe as one of the turtles’ closest friends and confidants. She isn’t always depicted with consistency, however, including some iterations where O’Neil isn’t even fully human. Perhaps most egregious, however, is the accusation that the character has actually been whitewashed over the years. This stems from April’s original depiction in the comics, which sees her as having dark, curly hair and African-American features. Although the OG comics’ black-and-white design makes it difficult to know for sure, April certainly isn’t the yellow-clad redhead we saw in the 1987 animated series. Co-creator Kevin Eastman even referenced April’s original design as being modeled after a girlfriend who came from a blended background.

It’s perhaps the worst-kept secret in the entire Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles universe: the original comics were ridiculously dark. Granted, various TMNT properties have seen these heroes in a half shell engage in some spirited violence and martial arts action, and the original 1990 film was a hard PG, for sure. However, none of it comes close to the comic source material, which sees the Ninja Turtles putting their deadly weapons to good use, slaying enemies when they have to without much pause. In fact, it’s not unfair to say that the turtles earn the “Ninja” in their name from the very first issue, where they serve as the vehicle for Master Splinter’s game of assassination and revenge. Don’t mess with these teens.