What if the Turtles had never mutated?

[Prowler]

That's right. What if the boy hadn't dropped the bowl and thus the Turtles had remained as ordinary turtles living as house pets forever? What impact would that have had in the lives of most people the Turtles would cross paths with if they had mutated?

Let's break it down by version, shall we?

Mirage

- Splinter would have never gotten his revenge on Shredder, most likely. He'd probably just get killed or captured by scientists for being a big mutated rat. Or would just live in the sewers forever. But would he be doing then? Would he try to go kill Oroku Saki by himself? Wasn't he a bit too old and feeble by then?

- Oroku Saki wouldn't have been killed by the Turtles, obviously. He'd probably just live as a successful criminal in NYC.

- April would have most likely been killed by Baxter's mousers. And if she had somehow survived, she'd either have long lasting injuries for life. And I don't think she'd ever meet Casey.

Haven't read much of Mirage yet to cover everyone else, so I'll leave it at here.

Fred Wolf

- April would have most likely been killed by Bebop and Rocksteady's gang.

- Splinter would have been a lonely rat living in the sewers or would eventually get captured by the authorities or scientists... or by The Rat King. .

- Casey Jones would probably not have a very different life.

- Shredder and Krang would have successfully taken over the Earth.

- Perhaps Bebop and Rocksteady would have remained as humans.

- The Punk Frogs would also have remained as ordinary frogs.

- Vernon would probably have replaced April as Channel 6's top reporter and tank the channel's audience along.

- Zach would have never even thought of becoming a Ninja Turtle, since he'd have no idea what that is even. He'd probably idolise The Bugman or something instead.

- Baxter would have never turned into a fly. And probably have never met Shredder and gotten mad either. He'd probably just be an ordinary scientist.

- Most of the one-shot mad scientists and mobsters would be forced to work for Shredder and Krang and/or would eventually get killed by them.

- Dregg probably wouldn't have messed with our planet since Krang and Shredder would already be reigning supreme on it.

- Carter would probably not be into martial arts. And if he'd still have an interest in ninjutsu or any other type of martial art, he'd never have met the Turtles. Maybe he'd have met Splinter if Splinter had somehow survived until then. Plus, h'ed never mutate. Imagine that, Splinter and Carter alone trying to fight Shredder and Krang.

2k3

- Shredder would have remained on Earth untouched for a longer time and would eventually leave it without causing a ruckus once he killed off Mortu and the rest of the Utroms.

- The Purple Dragons would have remained a strong gang ruling the streets of East Side Manhattan.

- Baxter wouldn't have gotten mutilated a billion of times.

- Mikey would never have won the Battle Nexus tournament. Perhaps the big guy Mikey faced in the final or Usagi Yojimbo would have won it. Dunno if Splinter would have taken part in it, even.

- Splinter would not have gotten mutated, since he'd never had seen the accident which created the Turtles in the first place and thus would never had gotten in contact with the ooze. He'd just live as a normal rat without an owner.

First movie

- Well Shredder wouldn't have gotten crushed by Casey Jones at the end. And April would most likely have been killed by the Foot.

Second movie

- Keno would obviously have never met the Turtles.

- No need for Super Shredder, I guess. Who'd even pose enough of a threat to the normal Shredder in this scenario?

The Next Mutation

- Venus de Milo would either have lived as an ordinary pet turtle like the boys or she'd be the only turtle to get mutated. Just imagine that for a second. A world where Venus de Milo would be the only Ninja Turtle.

Nick

- Only watched a few episodes form this one, but I guess April would just have ended up being another teenager with an ordinary/boring life? And she'd never have kissed a mutant Turtle in her life.

- Booyakasha would remain as something only Ali G says.

General stuff

- Cowabunga would be something we associate with Bart Simpson or other obscure references.

- Leonardo and Michelangelo would simply be Leonardo da Vinci and the guy who painted the Sistine Chapel. Raffaello and Donatello would probably not even be known by your average joe. They'd just be random Italian names. No one would think of naming their pet turtles after any of those guys.

- No one would think of feeding their pet turtles pizza.

- We'd not be in this forum. And The Techndrome would be something terrifying for most of mankind, like the Death Star or the Eye of Sauron are in their respective universes.

[snake]

IDW earth would either be literally destroyed or a mutated utrom hellhole.

[victory_angel]

In the nick version they made April a human/Kraang hybrid. An interesting concept but didn’t do much with it beyond that reveal. But apparently the Kraang wanted her because her psychic gifts made her a living weapon and her DNA could be used to help perfect the mutagen and retro mutagen.

The turtles were also pets that Hamato Yoshi purchased himself. So in that case instead of following that one Norman bot and getting splashed with mutagen in the scuffle once he was caught. Yoshi would have been killed for spying on something he was not meant to see. The turtles would have been left to fend for themselves or they would have been experimented on by the Kraang.

April and her father would have been found and abducted by the Kraang. April would have been used to perfect the mutagen the Kraang succeed in terraforming Earth into Dimension X. April’s father is used as a means in forcing April to follow the Kraang’s demands.

Shredder would endlessly be looking for Hamato Yoshi so he can achieve his blind vengeance.

Karai would go through life believing that Hamato Yoshi murdered her mother in a jealous rage never knowing that Yoshi was her true born father.

Casey, Karai, and Shredder among many citizens of Earth are mutated.

Triceraton operative Zog reports to the Triceraton Fleet that the Kraang have taken over a backwater planet known as Earth. The Triceraton’s obtain the heart of darkness and destroy the Earth. Majority of the Kraang return to Dimension X before the Triceraton’s fully destroy the Earth. All the while leaving the now mutated inhabitants of Earth to be destroyed with their planet.

[Utrommaniac]

Originally Posted by snake

IDW earth would either be literally destroyed or a mutated utrom hellhole.

I did just realize something about that...

The turtle are basically the reason why the Triceratons exist.

Without their time travelling mishap, Churk would never have been inspired to create the Triceratons. No Triceratons means, no super soldiers. No super soldiers means severely reduced galactic conquest. Severely reduced galactic conquest means no pillaging of Ooze. It also means rebellion would be less likely/easier to subdue. Which probably means Utrominon would still be a thriving planet, to some degree. Quanin would still get cocky and declare himself as an emperor, but Krang would likely be turning red waiting for him to keel over from age. (Krang who would probably be a bit more psychologically stable, having not lost his entire planet and civilization in a blink of an eye because of planetary destruction and rebellion). Utrominon surviving means Krang wouldn't have operations on Earth. So Stockgen wouldn't be working with Ooze/studying mutation; I don't even know what they'd be doing without it. There also wouldn't be a Technodrome project if Utrominon survived. So Honeycutt and his family would maybe be safe. MAYBE. Krang would have no reason to go to Earth at all, except maybe to observe the scientific studies that have been there through most of its biological history. They would be able to hold back the Malignoids effectively. Null probably would not have been able to pursue her own mutation experiments - since Utroms never developed biological mutation to begin with.

Casey would have been unlikely to get away from Hun, who wouldn't have been able to heal himself with Ooze. April's dad might still have had his stroke, but wouldn't have been able to heal with Ooze April found. Hob probably would have been a street cat for a while. Either dying through the numerous ways that could strike an abandoned cat - or being rescued and being taken into a new human family. Bebop and Rocksteady would be getting kicked out of gangs a bunch.

However, Earth still would not be safe because of Kitsune resurrecting the Dragon without a hitch. Unless the absence of Ooze changes those plans as well.
So if she didn't, she wouldn't have been able to carry along the spirit of the Dragon like she could. Which means Saki would probably have just been a normal guy and wouldn't have been bothered by Kitsune. Probably would have been a better person with agency. Probably means he wouldn't have attacked Yoshi and his family.


The turtles not being mutated just changes EVERYTHING in IDW in so many different directions.

[Original TMNT Cartoon Fan]

Archie

Everything Prowler mentioned above about Fred Wolf, would also apply to the Archieverse, except characters who weren't in that universe.

Nickelodeon

April O'Neil would have been captured by the Kraang

[neatoman]

OK, Prowler. I see you got some things here right, so I'm just going to add some amendments here:

Mirage:

• Renet might have ended up facing Savanti directly, with only the help Cerebus.
• The Utroms would have most likely gone off to their homeworld quietly, possibly being able to take Leatherhead with them.
• Honeycutt might have ended up being captured by either the Federation or the Triceratons, thereby giving one side the advantage.

Fred Wolf:

• Given the nature of the Fred Wolf cartoon, April wouldn't have been killed. The worst thing that might have happened is her being captured and mutated as punishment. More likely she'd get tickled until she agreed to not follow the story.
• We do see a scenario of Shredder and Krang taking over the world but seeing how that just ended up in Shredder doing paperwork...

4Kids cartoon:

• Nobody would have stopped the return of the demon Shredder.
• Unless of course the Turtles are the sole reason the elite could trick someone into destroying the medallion.
• The Future we see in fastforward would have radically different.
• A lot of the stuff in the Mirage section would also apply.

First movie series:

• Shredder would most likely just have remained a petty television thief, because that's all he really was.
• It would of course create a time paradox, given what TMNT III implies.

TNM:

• Who the **** gives a ****?

Nick:

• April wouldn't have been a normal teenager, at all. She would have been used to experiment with the mutagen until the Kraang had a satisfying version of it.
• Given the general incompetence of the Kraang however, I doubt they would have succeeded in the long term. Either being taken care of by the earth authorities, the Triceratons or the Utroms.
• Yoshi might have remained human.
• Shredder would most likelyjust have continued to stew in his bitterness.

IDW is one where there is an interesting prospect about the not mutating. Regardless of wheter or not they do, they're going to be reincarnations of Hamato Yoshi's children.

[Prowler]

Originally Posted by neatoman

[*]We do see a scenario of Shredder and Krang taking over the world but seeing how that just ended up in Shredder doing paperwork...

I had completely forgotten about the Shredderville episode. Good shout! But in that alternate reality apparently Shredder and Krang did not even know Bebop and Rockseady, as I recall? Remember it was all just a strange dream the Turtles collectively had. Unlike the future from that Dregg episode where Landor and Merrick showed the Turtles that he had conquered the Earth.

Originally Posted by neatoman

TNM:

• Who the **** gives a ****?

Good point. Can't argue with that

Originally Posted by neatoman

IDW is one where there is an interesting prospect about the not mutating. Regardless of wheter or not they do, they're going to be reincarnations of Hamato Yoshi's children.

Ah interesting. I haven't read a single IDW issue so I had no idea that's how it was.

As for the rest of your post you added some interesting possible scenarios that I had not thought about.

[Original TMNT Cartoon Fan]

Originally Posted by neatoman

More likely she'd get tickled until she agreed to not follow the story.

Shredder didn't tickle. More likely, a swing from Human Rocksteady's baseball bat would knock her unconscious.

[Coola Yagami]

I know Splinter was old by the time we met him in Mirage but he had also spent 15 years of his life training the turtles to kill the shredder. Without the turtles, he might have seeked out and tried to kill the Shredder himself. He'd be 15 years younger and closer to his prime then.

[Original TMNT Cartoon Fan]

Originally Posted by Coola Yagami

I know Splinter was old by the time we met him in Mirage but he had also spent 15 years of his life training the turtles to kill the shredder. Without the turtles, he might have seeked out and tried to kill the Shredder himself. He'd be 15 years younger and closer to his prime then.

We would have another comic. Old-Age Mutant Ninja Rat.

[Utrommaniac]

Senior Mutant Ninja Rat

[Original TMNT Cartoon Fan]

Originally Posted by Utrommaniac

Senior Mutant Ninja Rat

Senior Mutant Ninja Rodent (in-line with the theme songs for the cartoons)

[Utrommaniac]

Ahh there it is! We have it, lads!

(That would make Usagi crossovers interesting to say the least, but I'd totally see a comic with a premise akin to that.)

[Original TMNT Cartoon Fan]

Originally Posted by Utrommaniac

Ahh there it is! We have it, lads!

Let's write his theme song (Senior Mutant Ninja Rodent).

[IndigoErth]

Looks like my general thought was already put out there, but yeah, I suppose it wouldn't stop Splinter and/or Yoshi's story so it would just be one lonely mutated rat guy.

Would he even bother with the ninja thing though? My guess is he might just focus on providing for his own survival and that's about it since there wouldn't be any adopted kids to give him a greater purpose than simply his own survival. (Or, lets be honest, to train as tools for revenge.) Who knows if a Splinter who was always a rat would ever even bother with the human amenities, etc, since always knowing only a rat's life he might not even care about that; four young Turtles however who don't remember being regular turtles and growing up as isolated kids on the outskirts of humanity and being eager to be a part of the world probably are a big part of wanting all those human things.

[Original TMNT Cartoon Fan]

Originally Posted by Prowler

I had completely forgotten about the Shredderville episode.

Shredderville should have been an alternate Earth, where the turtles could go with Donatello's portal, and not just a dream.

[pferreira]

My answer:

Originally Posted by Original TMNT Cartoon Fan

Shredder didn't tickle. More likely, a swing from Human Rocksteady's baseball bat would knock her unconscious.

He's getting Shredder confused with the mobsters.

[oldmanwinters]

Seems like a common link in most of these scenarios is that April ends up dead due to the Turtles not being around to save her.

But maybe that's an unnecessarily dark, worst-case perspective on things.

What if she just lost an eye or something?

[pferreira]

Originally Posted by oldmanwinters

But maybe that's an unnecessarily dark, worst-case perspective on things.

What if she just lost an eye or something?

I see: sewer, thugs with weapons, possible rape. No one would find the body...

No I can't imagine there being a better scenario.

[Coola Yagami]

I mean honestly Shredder wouldn't waste time with them just roughing her up. They'd have to all out kill her to silence her