Of all the various incarnations, which is the most Teenage? Mutant? Ninja? Turtles?

[pannoni1]

This should be a fun yet insightful thread. The name of the franchise is teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, and throughout each story, we notice that some seem to look at each word more than others, some strongly slanted toward one, while others more equal and balanced. Even some series can alter their look over time, becoming less about the Ninja and more about the Teenage, Mutant, and/or Turtles.

That said, I'd give Nick as being the most Teenage. You can clearly tell by the slender designs and somewhat more adolescent behavior.

For the most Mutant, I'd call it a tie between the OT, Archie, and Nick. The OT of course was gagged for adding so many, Archie had its own line called the Mutanimals along with a bunch more, and Nick is trending the same way with lots of mutants.

For most Ninja, I'd lean toward the 2003 series. It had numerous incarnations of the Foot/Shredder and though Fast Forward weakens its premise a bit, fighting is very important. The 1990 movie comes very close.

And simply for the Turtles, I'd go with The Next Mutation. Despite the "Mutation" in the title, Venus created controversy with regards to how Turtles are related to each other.

PS: You could even say that each Turtle represents a different word: Michelangelo for the Teenage, Donatello for the Mutant, Leonardo for the Ninja, and Raphael for the Turtles (often being the heaviest and having a red bandana as for Mirage and the red-eared sliders).

[Prowler]

Teenage: Nick
Mutant: Archie
Ninja: Mirage
Turtles: Eh... all of them?

[Netkeeper]

Teenage: 1990. 2012's turtles feel preteen to me. 1990 really captured the teenage feel more than any of the others.

Mutant: This is a tough one, because previous answers made me think "which continuity has the most mutants" but when I initially looked at it, I thought of it as more like "which continuity makes the turtles feel the most like mutants". I'll go with my gut and with the latter in my answer. Out of the Shadows.

Ninja: Mirage. But from my perspective that's kind of cheating, as well. 2003 would be the runner up. Almost none of the other continuities did this one well, which is a bit of a shame since it's my favourite part.

Turtles: This is a tougher call? Perhaps 2003. I feel like it made reference to their reptilian nature more than the others, but my answer might also be influenced by 2003's dialogue being the freshest in my memory.

[terrorblade]

Teenage: Nick. Other incarnations felt they were older than 15.

Mutant: I think the mutant part will be more emphasized if there are less mutants involved so I gotta go with the 1990 film.

Ninja: Nick. When their eyes turned white...you know it's ninja time. And I think stealth and ambush are more emphasized here compare to other incarnations.

Turtles: OotS. Same anatomy as the Nick show but looks more turtle-y.

[ssjup81]

Before posting my opinions here, I would like to remind everyone that I've never watched much of the 2k3 series and since I haven't, I won't use them for this...

Teenage: Either the Nick version or the 1990 movie. Like others, I felt that in other incarnations, they came across as older than what they were.

Mutant: The 1990 movie. They were the only mutants around.

Ninja: Hm....I'm going to have to say the Nick version. I think it's nice how they added a "stealth" mode which does kind of emphasize the 'ninja' thing. They are supposed to be stealthy and stuff.

Turtles: Mirage. :-P

[RaphAndDonnie]

Teenage: Nick. I feel like it emphasizes the teenage aspect quite a bit and it shows.

Mutant: 1990 film. They were the only mutant there, so it really heightened their importance.

Ninja: I don't hae much exposure to Mirage and even though I'm compelled to say it...I'm gonna have to go with 2k3 here.

Turtles: I'm torn between saying Nick and OOTs...so I'll just say both.

[Mewzard]

Teenage: This is tricky because I have a feeling each had a little bit of teenage flair from their particular era. Not really sure I can pick one here. I suppose if I had to, I'd say the Nick Cartoon (though, they'd certainly be more goofy teens).

Mutant: Most likely the 80s/90s cartoon, due to the sheer volume of them.

Ninja: I'd say Mirage, given they were a bit more prone to killing some people like real ninjas did (including taking an assassination mission to kill the Shredder), though a lot of them were other Ninjas admittedly. They were fairly decent at stealth (though they could be surprised and lose that element), and did the duties of a Ninja far more often than any other incarnation.

Turtles: ...Not sure quite how to take this one. They all are turtle mutants, but beyond that...

[Foombamaroom]

Teenagers: Nick, but the 2014 is pretty close, too. The first few episodes of the TMNT 2003 series also did a good job, but the Nick series takes this.

Mutants: Probably the 2003 series since there weren't that many mutants compared to the '87 series and the 2012 series.

Ninja: Mirage, hands down. They were ruthless.

Turtles: Ugh, they're all turtles?

[Lisardo]

Teenage - 2k12 definitely. They act, sound, and look very teenager (for the first time EVER).

Mutant - OS'87 because it had the mutation that made the most sense of all the versions.

Ninja - Mirage probably. Tho 2k3 right behind it.

Turtles - Bay Turtles, simply because they look the most like 'real' turtles, even tho I hate the designs. Who wants realism?