Are mutants sterile?

[Mutant Ninja Anole]

Dare I actually wade into this with any seriousness...

Mutagen has been shown to obliterate laws of physics and biology as we know it, so who knows, but it’s also possible that Hob, Null etc. may envision a future where new people are not born into natural families but primarily grown and designed in controlled mutations. Quite a few people (I’ll state for the record that I am very much NOT in this camp) imagine a future in which most or all babies are created in a lab with special genetic tinkering. Sex and reproduction would be mostly divorced in this future. In practice, Null in particular seems to be intent on creating a slave race to accomplish their goals. Hob...I’m honestly not sure how far ahead he’s actually thinking in terms of the logistics. Which honestly wouldn’t make him that different from a lot of violent revolutionary types but I won’t get into that.

[Dejablue]

That's a very interesting and super creepy idea of the future. But at the same time an interesting future to be explored. There are several science fiction stories where heterosexuality isn't even a thing anymore because all reproduction happens through machines. Yeah I think thats pretty creepy.

On the other hand we still have the strange oversight of Null's mutants having free will and the ability to reason and question what they are told to do. Something that stands in stark contrast to what one would want out of a slave race. Especially a slave race with super powers. I think creating mutants that are conscious and self aware on a human level is more dangerous than weather or not they can breed.

I chatted about this with a friend of mine and he said: It's like the Ooze is a character creator than an actual substance that does something.
"Well it's supposed to make a new labor force but all it does is make technicolor dogs who call themselves Kyle and won't shut up about their backstory."

@PizzaPower1985 If you think a possible romantic relationship with a sapient and humanoid being is zoophilia then I guess movies and shows like startrek and starwars/ any sci-fi media must be horrifying to you.

[neatoman]

It was what I was getting at. Obviously a future of forced mutations and cloning is not one worth striving for and is clearly one that ought to be prevented.

[Egon1982]

Originally Posted by PizzaPower1985

To add a bit to this thread... I'll echo John Byrne from his own forum and ask the question he asked his own boards.

"What about non-human characters in superhero comics? Should they be celibate?"

Granted the 80's and 90's did happen in comic book history and it can add mature and dramatic flair to see Matt Murdock (the man-whore) in bed with all those ladies or Spidey and Mary Jane getting dressed after a roll in the hay... and Bruce W. had Silver St. Cloud and Selina Kyle and a number of others, but SHOULD WE DRAW THAT LINE at humans?

What exactly is entertaining about seeing animal characters or mutants like X-men's Beast or aliens or demons carrying on an adult/mature relationship?

Should we never explore it, ignore it and gloss over it OR should we perhaps treat these walking, talking humanoid characters like their human counterparts for added drama and maturity? Should TMNT, Hellboy, Bllacksad, non-human members of the X-men etc. never have THAT SIDE of their character explored?

Hellboy was a monster creature not a mutant.

[ebilly99]

I mean yes but we also get a reasoning why super mutants are infertile, FEV (Fallouts OOZE) saw the sex cells as broken and tried fixing them... however that said FEV didn't fix Brahman (Cows) Super Intelligent Death claws or half a dozen creatures.
Considering in most cases Human is the default (Turtles all mutating into half human instead of the Turtle rat hybrids) as well as other animals who never touched humans becoming human, I think Utron's have human base in mind. That said I feel that Mutants should be able to have a family because
#1 To allow sexual attraction without the ability to breed seems cruel and wasteful, and
#2 To not allow a slave species to provide you a next generation of slaves is stupid and finally
#3 Seri and Mikey had a child together (Or at least a egg.)

Also someone mentioned Alopexa and Rapheal... wouldn't there kid be a Armadilo?

[AquaParade]

I have started to wonder about the turtle's reproductive capabilities and even their sexuality. It's hard not to, because they are humanoid characters and it's such a big part of being human.

That said, I thought "Sons of the Silent Age" handled that aspect quite tastefully. The idea that no, these mutant turtles can not reproduce and are therefor the last of their kind - a species soon to be extinct.

[oldmanwinters]

I don't know why, but everytime I see this thread pop up again I think about this clip from The Office:

Spoiler:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HjOa-pzdRZg

[Andrew NDB]

Originally Posted by ebilly99

#1 To allow sexual attraction without the ability to breed seems cruel and wasteful,

Don't tell that to CNN.

#3 Seri and Mikey had a child together (Or at least a egg.)

That was never confirmed.

[Cloudrunner]

Originally Posted by ebilly99

Also someone mentioned Alopexa and Rapheal... wouldn't there kid be a Armadilo?

Don't worry, since Alopex and Raphael had fallen out, she's destined to become another Campbell LGBT special. So we no longer have to worry about horrible foxturtle hybrid monstrosities.

[Sumac]

Originally Posted by ebilly99

#1 To allow sexual attraction without the ability to breed seems cruel and wasteful,

Why? Maybe some people do not want to have kids?

Originally Posted by ebilly99

#2 To not allow a slave species to provide you a next generation of slaves is stupid

Unless, those slaves can be manufactured or provided by different means.

[neatoman]

Yeah, the IDW Triceratons are almost entirely grown artificially, it's not a problem making them sterile.

[oldmanwinters]

Harvey Birdman:
[upon learning that he's George Jetson's great-great-great-great-great-grandfather] Then that means... that I'm your... This means I finally get to have sex! [shouts] With a woman!

George Jetson:
No, there are other ways.

https://www.quotes.net/mquote/750589

[TigerClaw]

Originally Posted by Sumac

Why? Maybe some people do not want to have kids?

Some people prefer having pleasure without the fear of getting somebody pregnant.

[ProphetofGanja]

I just remembered that canonically the IDW TMNT are originally sea turtles

[neatoman]

Originally Posted by ProphetofGanja

I just remembered that canonically the IDW TMNT are originally sea turtles

Yes but how is it relevant?

[ProphetofGanja]

Well, hopefully mutants' species of origin will still be more relevant than whether or not they are sterile in this iteration of the TMNT

(I also concede that whatever the original artwork may imply, the Turtles are probably not meant to be derived from sea turtles in-universe)

[hypered1]

Originally Posted by ProphetofGanja

I just remembered that canonically the IDW TMNT are originally sea turtles

I believe the intent was that the brothers are all meant to be generic slider turtles unlike Slash and Tokka who are specifically snapping and alligator-snapping turtles respectively.

[Andrew NDB]

Originally Posted by ProphetofGanja

I just remembered that canonically the IDW TMNT are originally sea turtles

I guess so. I mean it isn't like the art came in and Bobby and company didn't notice the artist drew them as sea turtles. So either it was always the plan that the IDW Turtles were sea turtles or it became the plan then.

[neatoman]

I kind of figured it was meant to explain the lack of fingers. The TMNT are usually depicted as having three fingers and two toes, while freshwater turtles tend to have more (I'm going to assume all of them do, I really don't want to research what the number of digits per foot is in every freshwater turtle species).

If they instead started out with flippers, then they would have to grow fingers rather than lose some, which I guess was deemed a little easier to believe?

[Andrew NDB]

Originally Posted by neatoman

I kind of figured it was meant to explain the lack of fingers. The TMNT are usually depicted as having three fingers and two toes, while freshwater turtles tend to have more (I'm going to assume all of them do, I really don't want to research what the number of digits per foot is in every freshwater turtle species).

If they instead started out with flippers, then they would have to grow fingers rather than lose some, which I guess was deemed a little easier to believe?

Makes sense to me.