Was there any reason given why Rat King only appeared in a single episode?

[CyberCubed]

Rat King only really appeared in 1 episode of the show in an adaption of "I Monster" from Tales, besides appearing as Bishop's clone "The Slayer" at the end of Season 3. He then had a 3 second cameo in the last episode of the entire series in BTTS.

For a Mirage character, Rat King was criminally underused in this show. They didn't even have Splinter and Rat King meet in this show which was bizarre. Even the Nick cartoon adapted Splinter/Rat King's meeting from City at War, which given this show adapted Mirage comic stories, it quite surprising they never did that.

He appeared early in Season 4 so they had more than enough time to give him a follow up ep in late Season 4, or could have even given him an episode in the middle of Season 5 instead of that proposed third Garbageman episode, or even a full episode in Back to the Sewers but did not. I don't get it.

[FredWolfLeonardo]

The only reason I can think of is that there was already so much going on in the show and that the Rat King was at the bottom of the creators' priorities.

[CyberCubed]

Originally Posted by FredWolfLeonardo

The only reason I can think of is that there was already so much going on in the show and that the Rat King was at the bottom of the creators' priorities.

They still made quite a lot of fillers about generic human enemies or aliens/monsters that didn't have much to do with anything. Certainly Rat King being a main villain of the franchise should have had a higher priority.

Blows my mind they wanted to make a third episode for Garbageman of all characters in Season 5 instead of giving Rat King a second episode.

[PApagreg]

Originally Posted by CyberCubed

Certainly Rat King being a main villain of the franchise should have had a higher priority.

I would't say main villian but it is a shame that we never saw more of him heck considering how he was a clone of Bishop cast out of society we could've had a good guy Rat King

[Redeemer]

I agree with everyone that it is disappointing that we only saw him in a couple episodes. I wish they would have explored this character more and fleshed out the characters. Its really interesting bc the character was essentially a blank slate in this series and could have gone anywhere with the character.

[Original TMNT Cartoon Fan]

Nickelodeon's Rat King was great.

[Wesley]

Maybe the writers just forgot about him lol. I agree he could’ve been used again a few more times in the series. He had a good backstory.

[CyberCubed]

But given he's Rat King you wouldn't expect him to just be brushed aside, given PL worked on the show and he's a Mirage character.

We sat through multiple episodes for C-tier characters but they wouldn't give an A-lister TMNT character another episode.

[PApagreg]

Originally Posted by CyberCubed

We sat through multiple episodes for C-tier characters but they wouldn't give an A-lister TMNT character another episode.

I see Rat King as more B list than A list

[ABrown]

Well there really wasn't a whole lot of time for the Rat King to appear in season five. And it wasn't very likely that he would've appeared in the Fast Forward season. So all that leaves is the Back To The Sewer season, which he did get a small cameo.

I think the problem is that there really wasn't a whole lot that the writers could do with the 4Kids Rat King. He was pretty one dimensional.

[neatoman]

Not that difficult to explain, this Rat King just seems like he wants to be left alone. There is no reason for him to show up because he has no reason to to do so.

[CyberCubed]

Rat King debuted in only the 5th episode of Season 4. They could have easily had him appear again in mid/late Season 4. There were still plenty of fillers being made or he could have appeared in the plot-centric eps with Bishop discovering his clone was still alive.

In Season 5 he could have easily been in one of the two inbetween episodes when they were back in NYC. As I said, the fact that they wanted to make a third Garbageman ep of all things instead of giving Rat King a second episode is mind blowing.

Even in Fast Forward he could have theoretically appeared if you assume Rat King could live for 100 years or something.

Then in BTTS again he could have easily gotten an ep instead of that Serling/toddler Turtles ep, or the dumb Green Mantle superhero ep, etc.


They had more than enough time in every season to give him another ep so that's not an excuse. Also at the end of his first episode he says, "I'll haunt their nightmares for days to come" or something along those lines...yet he never faces the Turtles again. And there was still the Splinter/Rat King meeting they never did where Splinter is injured and Rat King appears as a ghost/hallucination that Nick adapted instead.

[Original TMNT Cartoon Fan]

Originally Posted by Wesley

Maybe the writers just forgot about him.

I also think that!

[FredWolfLeonardo]

I find it odd as to how a secondary tmnt character appeared so often in the Original cartoon (10 episodes, mentioned in many more) while hardly ever appearing in the 2k3 series (barely 3 episodes).

Its usually the other way around.

[CyberCubed]

Originally Posted by FredWolfLeonardo

I find it odd as to how a secondary tmnt character appeared so often in the Original cartoon (10 episodes, mentioned in many more) while hardly ever appearing in the 2k3 series (barely 3 episodes).

Its usually the other way around.

The secondary villains always changed around based on the show. Like in this show since it was Hun's debut he was a major villain and he lasts throughout the entire series even into BTTS and Turtles Forever. In Nick, Hun is Bruce Lee and only gets like 2 full episodes of screentime.

4kids Baxter is also in the most amount of episodes of all the Baxter's, given he works for Bishop after Shredder is gone.

Each TMNT series also always keeps the same Shredder minions throughout the whole show and never does away with them. This series had Hun, the Elite Guards, Karai, Baxter, etc. last throughout the entire run and get beaten dozens of times. In Nick you saw Tiger Claw/Rahzar/Fishface/Bebop/Rocksteady get beaten throughout the whole show. Then in the original show Bebop/Rocksteady.

Hun gets taken down in this series by the Turtles around 15-20 times, same way they beat Tiger Claw/Rahzar/Fishface dozens of times in Nick. If you're a main villain you last throughout the whole series and get beaten over and over.

[PApagreg]

Originally Posted by CyberCubed

The secondary villains always changed around based on the show. Like in this show since it was Hun's debut he was a major villain and he lasts throughout the entire series even into BTTS and Turtles Forever. In Nick, Hun is Bruce Lee and only gets like 2 full episodes of screentime.

4kids Baxter is also in the most amount of episodes of all the Baxter's, given he works for Bishop after Shredder is gone.

Each TMNT series also always keeps the same Shredder minions throughout the whole show and never does away with them. This series had Hun, the Elite Guards, Karai, Baxter, etc. last throughout the entire run and get beaten dozens of times. In Nick you saw Tiger Claw/Rahzar/Fishface/Bebop/Rocksteady get beaten throughout the whole show. Then in the original show Bebop/Rocksteady.

Hun gets taken down in this series by the Turtles around 15-20 times, same way they beat Tiger Claw/Rahzar/Fishface dozens of times in Nick. If you're a main villain you last throughout the whole series and get beaten over and over.

Hun at least had his own criminal organization with the Purple dragons and was independent for about 2 seasons

[Original TMNT Cartoon Fan]

Originally Posted by FredWolfLeonardo

I find it odd as to how a secondary tmnt character appeared so often in the Original cartoon (10 episodes, mentioned in many more) while hardly ever appearing in the 2k3 series (barely 3 episodes).

Its usually the other way around.

I think the original Rat King could carry some episodes in the 4 Kids series (except the one he just came up from the sewers to steal a pizza). Maybe he shouldn't play the flute to control rats.

[FredWolfLeonardo]

Originally Posted by Original TMNT Cartoon Fan

I think the original Rat King could carry some episodes in the 4 Kids series (except the one he just came up from the sewers to steal a pizza). Maybe he shouldn't play the flute to control rats.

Yeah the flute would've been too goofy for the 4Kids series.

If we appeared in the 2003 show as he was in his final appearance of the Original Cartoon, with the Fedora and Telephatic powers, that would've been awesome.

[Original TMNT Cartoon Fan]

Originally Posted by FredWolfLeonardo

Yeah the flute would've been too goofy for the 4Kids series.

If we appeared in the 2003 show as he was in his final appearance of the Original Cartoon, with the Fedora and Telephatic powers, that would've been awesome.

Also, breaking his brainwash of Splinter shouldn't be as easy as just spray water at him. But still, the fight between the turtles and Splinter in "Enter the Rat King" are among the most memorable moments in TMNT history.

[CyberCubed]

Rat King's next appearance should have been meeting with a Splinter with a broken leg in a huge cavern/tunnel/storm drain or whatever from City at War, and Nick adapted that segment.