Wow, thanks for all the thoughtful replies, folks!
Put simply: I have a skull I plan to incorporate into a "custom" as a trophy of sorts, but in my own head canon (neither beholden to the gritty seriousness of Mirage nor anything like as silly as the Fred Wolf toons), the Turtles keeping a foe's skull seems a bit dark and weird, so I'm trying to come up with a narrative justification.
Quote:
Originally Posted by neatoman
I'm not sure what you're really getting at here... I don't see why there would be a debate about it, unless someone is in denial about it.
|
Because this is a franchise spanning several decades and countless tones and audiences? Because for every die-hard Mirage purist there are hundreds of people who only know the Turtles from a silly and decidedly non-violent cartoon?
Quote:
Originally Posted by Ulisa
The one universe I change it up is the Fred Wolf universe. In this case, I say they know HOW to kill but don't.
|
I loved when one of the Nick Turtles derisively said to the classic Turtles, "You don't even fight with your weapons!"
Quote:
Originally Posted by IndigoErth
I think he means when Casey crushes him in the garbage truck compactor.
|
Indeed.
Quote:
Originally Posted by IndigoErth
Heck, Casey thought nothing of it, despite not even personally encountering Shredder or seeing what went on between him and the Turtles on the rooftop. For all he could have really known or heard from the ground, Splinter could have been trying to save some guy from falling and then Casey just assumes and kills the guy.  (edit: Now I want a rewrite where it isn't Shredder, just some guy who tried to get involved, so everyone is looking over the edge of the buliding like "Wtf, Casey??" lol) |
Ha ha, I'd never really thought of it like that. Hilarious!
Quote:
Originally Posted by Panda_Kahn_fan
Andrew, this idea Ninja are never ever "crime fighters" or all of them lack a a moral code is a silly concept. As has been said, 'ninjas' in japan are anyone who practices a set of martial arts stealth techniques for any purpose, ninjas are not just assassins. Anyone who uses those stealth based martial arts is a ninja; a ninja clan can protect a village or shrine from criminals or bandits, another clan can be mercenaries for hire, another clan can be saboteurs, and another might be assassins. The idea that only the assassins who use those techniques are ninja, or that ninjas are primarily assassins and can't be 'good guys', is a WESTERN IDEA, it's a Frank Miller-ism.
If anyone went to Japan, and tried to claim 'ninjas aren't heroes' you'd be LAUGHED AT. There are three sentai teams who are ninja, multiple anime with heroic ninja, and Japanese historical fiction is full of noble ninjas. Most versions of the TMNT has had Splinter with a code of honor, and teaching it to the turtles. And the idea of them being crime fighters isn't a 'goofy' as you pretend it is. It appears in the non-mirage versions that Splinter raised them to see New York as the Hamato Clan's protectorate, so patrolling it and protecting is citizens from criminals in the darkness of the night under the cover of shadow, is little different from the ninja clans who protected villages in the sengoku era.
|
I don't usually quote something this long, but I endorse every word. The pedantic folks who feel their preferred take is the only relevant or accurate version of the mythos are stunted, silly and tiresome.