The Duality of Mikey the Ninja and Mikey the Turtle Titan

[Sage Ninja]

Alot of fans, my self included on occasion, think that Mikey's obsession and his desire to be a superhero is childish or annoying, others think it cute little facet to his personality. Alot of people think his alter ego Turtle Titan is ridiculous (personally I sometimes find it cute) and should have ended in the first episode Mikey created the turtle titan when he found out he was better at being a ninja. But regardless of what he realized in the episode The Unconvincing Turtle Titan Mikey has still humg onto his turtle titan ego. He knows that he does just as much good in the shadows as a ninja as he could as a superhero but yet he still clings to it, and maybe the reason he does is that turtle titan represents than just playing superhero.

I think on an unconscious level Mikey is just trying to hang on to his innocence. Its been stated before that Michelangelo is the heart of the group, the innocent that keeps the turtles family from becoming too dark and keeps them on the lighter side of morality. Maybe what Michelangelo fears most is becoming too dark, world weary and hard. And you have to admit that given the turtles life style that wouldn't be too hard to happen.

Maybe that's why Mikey likes superheroes so much and tries so hard to cultivate his super hero Turtle Titan identity and hang on to it. I think Super heroes represent to Mikey his ideal of being a warrior that makes a difference with out all the dark harsh unpleasant stuff that goes along with being a ninja. I mean from Mikey's point of view he must recognize the difference between him self as a warrior that of superheroes. Super Heroes like Silver Sentry are so powerful that they can take on an enemy and get the job done with out killing the enemy since they are easily more powerful. For Super heroes it's all very black and white. Super hero's good, villains bad; very cut and clean with no ethical dilemmas; this is a stark contrast to Mikey's life as ninja that is filled with dangerous battles where he or his brothers might not make it out of a battle or its kill or be killed and lots of gray situations where it usually boils down to the lesser of two evils. All the while having to keep to the shadows and have no pay off for the harsh realities he has to endure.

In the Unconvincing Turtle Titan episode Mikey pretty much learns that he can do more good from the shadows as a ninja instead of a super hero, so you would think the whole wanting to be a super hero thing would be resolved. But in later episodes it's shown that Mikey is still hanging on to his superhero alter ego even though he knows that he does more good as a ninja. I think this shows how even though in his head he understands he is a ninja but he doesn't want to altogether give into that reality and hold on to the innocence and simplicity that being a super hero represents.

[triplexxx]

Maybe that's why Mikey likes superheroes so much and tries so hard to cultivate his super hero Turtle Titan identity and hang on to it. I think Super heroes represent to Mikey his ideal of being a warrior that makes a difference with out all the dark harsh unpleasant stuff that goes along with being a ninja. I mean from Mikey's point of view he must recognize the difference between him self as a warrior that of superheroes. Super Heroes like Silver Sentry are so powerful that they can take on an enemy and get the job done with out killing the enemy since they are easily more powerful. For Super heroes it's all very black and white. Super hero's good, villains bad; very cut and clean with no ethical dilemmas; this is a stark contrast to Mikey's life as ninja that is filled with dangerous battles where he or his brothers might not make it out of a battle or its kill or be killed and lots of gray situations where it usually boils down to the lesser of two evils. All the while having to keep to the shadows and have no pay off for the harsh realities he has to endure.
That's one distinction between ninjas and superheroes I never noticed. Of course sometimes super heroes DO kill, but only when absolutely necessary. Also, I remember bringing up the subject of vigilantism, and any type of hero (ninja, superhero, boxer, whatever) that doesn't fall into the category of cop/military-officer is a vigilante. But I suppose more often with superheroes this is true, that more ethical situations are black and white and require less violence to finish the job. So that's what is meant by "innocence", I never got that 'til now. However, sometimes superheros don't get much praise either, they probably get a parade every now and then celebrating the name they carry ("Hooray for Batman/Superman"), but like is the case with the turtles, a lot of times, they can't reveal their true name AND have it connected to their superhero identity...though they can have people who are friends and know their name but not know the fact that they're a superhero. So they can know the praise by reading it in the paper or seeing it on the television, they just can't go stand on the stage. Of course, the turtles can't do either because they don't have alter egos, and their presumed monsters because what they are is "for real", non-human mutant turtles.

[odupianist]

I know this is probably going to take it farther than it should, but I heard someone ask Dr. Keith Ablow something about the biggest psychological problem facing the world today, and he said that we all don't want to feel pain, be a superhero type character and have a reality show of our own so to speak (not an exact quote but that was the jist of it). I think Mikey just embodies this more and gives into it moreso than the other turtles. Let's face it, don't we all want some sort of superpower or something along those lines? I don't think continually reading comics helps Mikey's addiction to the superhero thought. If you remember right, with the Ultimate Drako storyline, he still stayed a ninja (maybe just cause he didnt have his outfit) but used his TT name.

[NameGoesHere1066]

Turtle Titan was just the writers attempt (or avoidance) to give Mikey some depth of character. Turtle Titan is just there to emphasis Mikey's chilshishness, not the complexity of his ideals of being a warrior. It's a shame really, the writers could have nusanced it as his escape from the dark reality of being a ninja warrior and having him realize the diffrence between the two and take a deeper look at how he feels about being a ninja, but all turtle titan serves is Mikey's immature infatuation with a bunch of lame ass superheros, and Mikey sees it no deeper than playing dress up, and being in the lime light.

And that's the extent of any depth to Mikey's character in the show he wants attention and thats it. There really isn't anything else to him in the show. It's a shame really the show constantly avoids giving Mikey any good character traits and nusances and instead just gives him flashy gimmicks (like turle titan or he can chanel his chi better than the others) instead of giving him anything solid that make you identify with him. I would like Mikey better as a character if they didn't make him so unlikable.