Pitch an Alternate Universe TMNT Story - Page 2

*ProphetofGanja* · 02-24-2018, 04:14 PM

Okay let's say you're in charge of developing the next TMNT adaptation, with the stipulation that some part of the traditional TMNT mythos is significantly altered. What would your story ideas be? How would you change the core characters, the ancillary characters? What medium would you want your project developed for (comics, animation, film)? I want to hear some cool ideas, share em if you got em

Here's one I thought up:

Spoiler:

Basically it's the TMNT mashed up with The Pirates of Dark Water. I love the combination of nautical and magical tropes as a genre; imagine something like the more fantastic supernatural aspects of The Pirates of the Caribbean franchise but without all the extraneous crap they eventually added.

It would take place on some alien planet, the name doesn't matter, the point is it's not Earth and therefore there's no New York, no Japan, no familiar context as far as location goes. The story would pick up with the Turtles approaching their late teenage years, what is viewed as the cusp of adulthood in this region of their planet's society. The Turtles have been raised by Master Splinter, an anthropomorphic rat-man who runs a tavern on one of the many islands on this world (this world is populated by anthropomorphic animal creatures as well as other fantasy-setting races, most of them unique to the setting, so there wouldn't be any exploration of the Turtles as outsiders in this franchise, or the pathos that comes with that). Splinter has spent years training the Turtles in the mystic arts of ninjitsu, for some unknown reason, although for the most part since they've been old enough they've helped him in the day-to-day operations of the tavern.

Eventually one day an unscrupulous character comes to the tavern and asks about some mysterious artifact; the Turtles have no idea what he's talking about but Splinter does and he gets in a fight with the guy, but the guys lands a mortal blow and flees after failing to steal the artifact, a small gem on a necklace (we later see this henchman punished for failing his mission). In his last few moments Splinter tells the Turtles that his whole life he's been protecting them from the evil pirate lord Krang (Krang is a member of a race of beings evolved from parasitic swamp-dwellers that inhabit the bodies of other, larger humanoids).

The Turtles find a scroll in Splinter's room that explains what the artifact is: one of 13 magical crystals, each with a different power, which when combined would grant the bearer near god-level power. The Turtles discover that the crystal they're in possession of has the power to locate the other crystals, although it can only lead the way to the closest one, not provide an exact location.

The series then would revolve around the Turtles trying to track down and acquire the other gems before Krang and his right-hand man, a martial arts master named the Shredder (he would literally be nothing more than a glorified henchman in this series, just cuz). So within that larger narrative there'd be plenty of room for the Turtles to sail around to exotic locations to have adventures and get into trouble, eventually leading to a showdown with Krang and his minions and whatever powers bestowed by the gems his forces have acquired.

I would envision this take on the TMNT as either a three season cartoon (maybe around 20 episodes each) or a rather long limited-run comic series, like 24 to 36 issues or so. In either case, the point of the story is to see the resolution of the conflict involving the mystic crystals, not to go on forever.

Some other significant changes:
No April, no Casey, no Slash, no Stockman, no appearances by most of the familiar supporting characters. I can see a role for new interpretations of Old Hob, Karai, Harold Lillja and a few others though
Magic: there's lots of it. It mainly serves as a substitute for technology in the series. The actual physical technology present in the series is similar to what we think of as the romanticized Golden Age of Piracy (again, like The Pirates of the Caribbean series). Some anachronistic things would be present though
Weapons: all of the Turtles' weapons might as well be different since this is already such a departure from the norm. Leo would have one big-ass anime sword; Raph would have a big metal gauntlet with knuckle spikes on his right hand and wield a wicked dagger in his left; Mikey would have a long rope or chain with a hammer/pickaxe-type head on the end, to either grapple enemies/objects, impale them, or smack them with the blunt end (just watch that fight scene from Shanghai Noon where Jackie Chan fights with a horseshoe tied to a rope; it would basically be like that); Donnie would have his bo staff... but get this, it's also a long bow (get it? Long bow, bo staff? Whatever, I think it's cool

) And while his weapon isn't as drastically different as his brothers', I would want emphasis placed on Donnie’s attitude towards his weapon. Donnie recognizes that his greatest asset isn't his bow/staff but his mind, therefore he doesn't get upset if he has to leave it behind or it breaks because he knows it's easily replaced, sort of an "easy come, easy go" type of Buddhist mentality, to forego attachment to and desire for physical things.
Other than that, the personalities of the Turtles themselves are in-line with the generally agreed-upon ones, but they're very balanced. They wouldn't be caricatures where Leo is never anything but the stoic, serious leader, Raph is nothing but the angry hothead, Donnie is nothing but the nerdy tech wiz and Mikey is nothing but the annoying goofball. They'd all be a bit on the carefree and good-natured side but they'd all have their share of individualities to set them apart, too.

Anyways that's my AU TMNT pitch, I've been thinking it over for a while. I have another one that's like a noir/sci-fi B-movie take on the TMNT, it's much more traditional; I'll post it later

02-24-2018, 04:14 PM	#1
ProphetofGanja Dub Professor Join Date: May 2013 Location: Dub Side of the Moon Posts: 3,442	Pitch an Alternate Universe TMNT Story Okay let's say you're in charge of developing the next TMNT adaptation, with the stipulation that some part of the traditional TMNT mythos is significantly altered. What would your story ideas be? How would you change the core characters, the ancillary characters? What medium would you want your project developed for (comics, animation, film)? I want to hear some cool ideas, share em if you got em Here's one I thought up: Spoiler: Basically it's the TMNT mashed up with The Pirates of Dark Water. I love the combination of nautical and magical tropes as a genre; imagine something like the more fantastic supernatural aspects of The Pirates of the Caribbean franchise but without all the extraneous crap they eventually added. It would take place on some alien planet, the name doesn't matter, the point is it's not Earth and therefore there's no New York, no Japan, no familiar context as far as location goes. The story would pick up with the Turtles approaching their late teenage years, what is viewed as the cusp of adulthood in this region of their planet's society. The Turtles have been raised by Master Splinter, an anthropomorphic rat-man who runs a tavern on one of the many islands on this world (this world is populated by anthropomorphic animal creatures as well as other fantasy-setting races, most of them unique to the setting, so there wouldn't be any exploration of the Turtles as outsiders in this franchise, or the pathos that comes with that). Splinter has spent years training the Turtles in the mystic arts of ninjitsu, for some unknown reason, although for the most part since they've been old enough they've helped him in the day-to-day operations of the tavern. Eventually one day an unscrupulous character comes to the tavern and asks about some mysterious artifact; the Turtles have no idea what he's talking about but Splinter does and he gets in a fight with the guy, but the guys lands a mortal blow and flees after failing to steal the artifact, a small gem on a necklace (we later see this henchman punished for failing his mission). In his last few moments Splinter tells the Turtles that his whole life he's been protecting them from the evil pirate lord Krang (Krang is a member of a race of beings evolved from parasitic swamp-dwellers that inhabit the bodies of other, larger humanoids). The Turtles find a scroll in Splinter's room that explains what the artifact is: one of 13 magical crystals, each with a different power, which when combined would grant the bearer near god-level power. The Turtles discover that the crystal they're in possession of has the power to locate the other crystals, although it can only lead the way to the closest one, not provide an exact location. The series then would revolve around the Turtles trying to track down and acquire the other gems before Krang and his right-hand man, a martial arts master named the Shredder (he would literally be nothing more than a glorified henchman in this series, just cuz). So within that larger narrative there'd be plenty of room for the Turtles to sail around to exotic locations to have adventures and get into trouble, eventually leading to a showdown with Krang and his minions and whatever powers bestowed by the gems his forces have acquired. I would envision this take on the TMNT as either a three season cartoon (maybe around 20 episodes each) or a rather long limited-run comic series, like 24 to 36 issues or so. In either case, the point of the story is to see the resolution of the conflict involving the mystic crystals, not to go on forever. Some other significant changes: No April, no Casey, no Slash, no Stockman, no appearances by most of the familiar supporting characters. I can see a role for new interpretations of Old Hob, Karai, Harold Lillja and a few others though Magic: there's lots of it. It mainly serves as a substitute for technology in the series. The actual physical technology present in the series is similar to what we think of as the romanticized Golden Age of Piracy (again, like The Pirates of the Caribbean series). Some anachronistic things would be present though Weapons: all of the Turtles' weapons might as well be different since this is already such a departure from the norm. Leo would have one big-ass anime sword; Raph would have a big metal gauntlet with knuckle spikes on his right hand and wield a wicked dagger in his left; Mikey would have a long rope or chain with a hammer/pickaxe-type head on the end, to either grapple enemies/objects, impale them, or smack them with the blunt end (just watch that fight scene from Shanghai Noon where Jackie Chan fights with a horseshoe tied to a rope; it would basically be like that); Donnie would have his bo staff... but get this, it's also a long bow (get it? Long bow, bo staff? Whatever, I think it's cool ) And while his weapon isn't as drastically different as his brothers', I would want emphasis placed on Donnie’s attitude towards his weapon. Donnie recognizes that his greatest asset isn't his bow/staff but his mind, therefore he doesn't get upset if he has to leave it behind or it breaks because he knows it's easily replaced, sort of an "easy come, easy go" type of Buddhist mentality, to forego attachment to and desire for physical things. Other than that, the personalities of the Turtles themselves are in-line with the generally agreed-upon ones, but they're very balanced. They wouldn't be caricatures where Leo is never anything but the stoic, serious leader, Raph is nothing but the angry hothead, Donnie is nothing but the nerdy tech wiz and Mikey is nothing but the annoying goofball. They'd all be a bit on the carefree and good-natured side but they'd all have their share of individualities to set them apart, too. Anyways that's my AU TMNT pitch, I've been thinking it over for a while. I have another one that's like a noir/sci-fi B-movie take on the TMNT, it's much more traditional; I'll post it later __________________ "We've been frantically trying to reach you, Dude."