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Old 04-10-2020, 05:28 AM   #1
D-ray
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My overly deep analysis on Zog's character...

So, I've been thinking about this for alot of time, and in someway, it seems that has some logic, even if it's 90% unintentional.
I want to talk about Zog! The Triceraton Soldier that helped the turtles in the episode Rougue in the House.



So, hear me out. We all know that Zog sacrifices himself to give the turtles time to escape from the exploding Shredder's Freighter, and we all know it's the saddest thing happened to humanity (obliviously I cry everytime).
Normally, the story ends there, nothing more or less.

But since I like to give rational toughts for irrational reasons, I decided to think about it even more.

[SKIPPABLE RECAP]
Let's start from the Triceratons Republic:
They are controlled by Zanramon, a dictator who's obsessed in taking over the galaxy (just like General Blanque).
Just as the cartoon explains, the war is basically useless, since the teleportation device of Honeycutt doesn't even work.
So every soldier in the Triceraton's army is fighting and risking their lives in a senseless war.

Zog, reaching Earth trought the Transmat, breaks his gas mask (respiration device whatever), and due to the different air on Earth, his brain cells are collapsing.
Donatello saves him, but his brain was messed up anyway, making Zog constantly think that the turtles were Triceratons, and he was still fighting for the Fugitoid War.
The turtles take advantage from this, to destroy the Splinter Cyborg and Shredder's Freighter.

In the last scene of the second episode, Zog, before dying due to Shredders hit on his back, takes the Shredder by force jumping into fire attempting to kill him.
[END OF RECAP]

So, what's my thought?
I noticed some kind of parallelism between the Fugitoid War and the Rogue in the House event.
At the end of Rogue in the House part 2, you can see that Shredder gets rescued by Karai's elicopter, showing him BARELY damaged by Zog's sacrifice.
This led me to think that his sacrifice was basically useless.

But wait. I just said that the Fugitoid War IS actually useless, since the teleportation device doesn't work.

Zog lived his last days as he lived the war. He thought that the Foot was the Federation, and so he behaved like he would have done in the normal war.
This means that if he didn't got transported to Earth he would have probably sacrificed for real during the real Fugitoid War! Sacrificing himself for a useless goal! Just like his attempt in killing the Shredder.

Just to make it clearer:

Fugitoid War = Shredder's death
Federation = Foot Clan

It's incredibly sad if you think about it. This poor guy lived and died in a lie...
Sure, his sacrifice is not completely vain with the turtles, since they survived and the laboratory was destroyed, but still it's really sad.
It makes you think how terribly war can change the meaning of someone's life, maybe leading the soldier to think that his sacrifice could have been remembered.

In the Fugitoid War, he could have been just a number, but with the turtles, he became a hero, because he fought for his comrades, for his republic and for...

VICTORY!!!!!

(sorry I got excited)
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Old 04-10-2020, 09:19 AM   #2
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He was a very good, very ideal soldier. And Michelangelo honored him twice, naming triceratop dinosaurs after him.
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Old 04-10-2020, 10:45 AM   #3
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Interesting thread. Zog only appeared in a few episodes, but I liked him a lot. I didn’t think much about the war over the Fugitoid but always thought it was sad what happened to him.
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Old 04-10-2020, 11:31 AM   #4
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Quote:
Originally Posted by ABrown
And Michelangelo honored him twice, naming triceratop dinosaurs after him.
The emotions that flew in Michelangelo's head were so realistic.
With Zog he felt like a Leonardo, because of him calling him a "captain" or something like that.
That's probably why he liked him so much.

Quote:
Originally Posted by Wesley
I didn’t think much about the war over the Fugitoid but always thought it was sad what happened to him.
Don't worry, It's just me who's overly obsessed with the Fugitoid War.
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Old 04-10-2020, 11:51 AM   #5
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Zog wasn't really changed much from how he was in the comic, though they did actually explain where he came from, there he thinks he's part of scouting party but it's not clear why he's on earth in particular. A bigger difference is that in the comic the Turtles don't show much empathy until he dies and mostly just treated him like a convenient piece of muscle, here they at least fix his breathing mask, showing some level of compassion.
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Turtles is basically the red-headed stepchild of Nick.
Hahahaha!
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Old 04-10-2020, 05:14 PM   #6
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Originally Posted by neatoman View Post
Zog wasn't really changed much from how he was in the comic, though they did actually explain where he came from, there he thinks he's part of scouting party but it's not clear why he's on earth in particular. A bigger difference is that in the comic the Turtles don't show much empathy until he dies and mostly just treated him like a convenient piece of muscle, here they at least fix his breathing mask, showing some level of compassion.
Interesting too.
I would pay to have a chance to read the original comics...
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Old 04-10-2020, 05:41 PM   #7
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Interesting tuo.
I would pay to have a chance to read the original comics...
They're not that hard to find anymore. IDW printed up The Ultimate Collections, six volumes containing (most) of the non-guest issues of the original 62 issue series. Some of the reprints don't have the duo shade for some reason but it's not that big of a deal. Plus they come with annotations detailing a few behind the scenes parts. I'd recommend that you also get Tales volume 1, because it contains the introduction to two important characters IDW decided to only include in the Tales reprints. There are also more reprints but they're not essential. I included links to their Amazon Italy pages, since I assume that would be the easiest place for you to buy them.

And if want an alternative, just PM me.

https://www.amazon.it/Teenage-Mutant...SDCSJX31XN895S

https://www.amazon.it/Teenage-Mutant...al-text&sr=1-1
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Turtles is basically the red-headed stepchild of Nick.
Hahahaha!

Last edited by neatoman; 04-10-2020 at 05:53 PM.
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Old 04-11-2020, 02:00 PM   #8
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@D-ray:

Quote:
I didn’t think much about the war over the Fugitoid but always thought it was sad what happened to him.
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Old 04-12-2020, 11:57 AM   #9
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Quote:
Originally Posted by ABrown View Post
@D-ray:



Oof sorry! I manually use the QUOTE script and sometimes I do mistakes!
The gif cracked me up by the way.
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Old 04-13-2020, 04:35 AM   #10
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Quote:
Originally Posted by neatoman View Post
They're not that hard to find anymore. IDW printed up The Ultimate Collections, six volumes containing (most) of the non-guest issues of the original 62 issue series. Some of the reprints don't have the duo shade for some reason but it's not that big of a deal. Plus they come with annotations detailing a few behind the scenes parts. I'd recommend that you also get Tales volume 1, because it contains the introduction to two important characters IDW decided to only include in the Tales reprints. There are also more reprints but they're not essential. I included links to their Amazon Italy pages, since I assume that would be the easiest place for you to buy them.

And if want an alternative, just PM me.

https://www.amazon.it/Teenage-Mutant...SDCSJX31XN895S

https://www.amazon.it/Teenage-Mutant...al-text&sr=1-1
Thank you so much for your interest in helping me!
But I already knew that there were the collections.
What I meant was having the collections translated, just because I could give them to someone else who doesn't know anything about English if they (somehow) ever asked me.

Heck, Usagi Yojimbo has an Italian translation but not the TMNT?
UNACCEPTABLE!!!
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Old 04-13-2020, 08:05 AM   #11
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Originally Posted by D-ray View Post
Thank you so much for your interest in helping me!
But I already knew that there were the collections.
What I meant was having the collections translated, just because I could give them to someone else who doesn't know anything about English if they (somehow) ever asked me.

Heck, Usagi Yojimbo has an Italian translation but not the TMNT?
UNACCEPTABLE!!!
Huh, odd. I could have sworn an Italian edition existed but I guess not. I know French, Spanish and Russian editions exist though.

I know there's actually a Swedish translation of the first two issues as well, but it's a bit overpriced and not worth it. Such a translation isn't really necessary here though, pretty much everyone can read english here. Besides, the first two issues, that's nothing.
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Turtles is basically the red-headed stepchild of Nick.
Hahahaha!
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Old 04-20-2020, 07:51 PM   #12
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That's pretty deep. Its probably not something the show itself shed light on. A cartoon that would have side dialogue about war and its effects on life like that would be really interesting.
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