The Great Saiyaman
09-27-2018, 06:46 PM
Hi all, I'm new here and what better way to introduce myself then with an essay about the mutations in TMNT.
First of all, I had this in mind for a while now and putting it all together was a lot of fun, so I hope you guys enjoy this.
So how can THIS...
https://2x0r8i4133bf3vh7w91g7xh4-wpengine.netdna-ssl.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/10/Pet-Turtles-that-Stay-Small.jpg
...become THIS?
https://vignette.wikia.nocookie.net/tmnt/images/a/aa/First_issue_page_%281%29.jpg/revision/latest?cb=20140203142825
I guess we all know the story: The turtles came to be mutated when they came in contact with Mutagen which was lost by the Utroms (The Kraang in the 2012 series)
So what does mutagen do?
It splices the DNA of the original host and combines it with the DNA of the last organism it has been in contact with. But the ratio with how it does isn't fifty-fifty, it's more 20% of the original and 80% of the guest DNA. The turtles themselves were touched by humans before they were mutated, either by Splinter or by an employee of the pet store where Splinter bought them.
https://scontent-atl3-1.cdninstagram.com/vp/27c03a4b4ccb2f0f135d4e0619f91898/5C1699E0/t51.2885-15/e35/21433480_121858191805403_8386533290277863424_n.jpg
The turtles as infants in the 2012 series just after they mutated.
So what traits of the turtles are human and what still is turtle?
Turtle traits:
- Their back and front shells remain integral part of their skeletal structure, they can't step out of their shells. The 2012 series also shows the fact that as with actual turtles there's actually a side armor too, whereas on the 1987 design, the back and front shells look like armor plating covering only their chests and backs.
- As with real turtles, the Turtles are amphibious, they are excellent swimmers and can hold their breath for a long time.
- The Turtles still retain the ability to do THIS!
https://i.stack.imgur.com/xQHBW.gif
Human traits
- Well as the pictures of the turtles as infants already shows: their body proportions became that of a human, their arms and legs much longer in proportion to their torsos as they were when they were still regular turtles. This also accounts for how they are able to walk upright since a real turtle doesn't have the strength in its hind legs to support the weight of its body.
- They have the ability to speak and understand human language, which means that their lungs and tongues are human, a real turtle makes noises by pushing air through their throats, they cannot make vowels to turn into words.
https://media.giphy.com/media/L3US3Og3FWeCQ/giphy.gif
- Their stomachs can digest human food, every pet store owner will tell you that you shouldn't feed turtles human food, since they can't stomach it.
- They don't have scaly skins, you can see it in close ups of their faces in the cartoons and the comics, their skin is smooth as a human's. Which also happens to help out with their mouths becoming flexible so they can speak.
- Although they retain their back and front shells, they are much more bendable, having the rigidity and flexibility of a human spine and chest casing, that accounts for how they can practice martial arts.
- They have human eyes.
- They can be attracted and fall in love with and, as was hinted in several panels in the comics, be sexually compatible with human girls.
- AND... Now this is where it gets interesting, I doubt that Kevin Eastman and Peter Laird were consciously aware of it but they gave some very big clues in their original comics about this:
* Donatello and April O'Neil working side by side to disable Baxter Stockman's Mousers with the both of them sweating bullets. (https://www.miragelicensing.com/comics/mirage/volume01/02/0204.gif)
* Leonardo fighting the Foot Soldiers as the snow is falling all around him, his breath clearly visible in the freezing air (https://vignette.wikia.nocookie.net/tmnt/images/5/55/Leonardo_in_snow_and_mud.png/revision/latest?cb=20140923124302)
Which means that the Turtles are warm blooded, which also explains how Splinter could keep them underground without them dying. Real turtles because of them being reptiles have to warm up in the sun if they want to become active, which is also why if you buy pet turtles at a store, you have to have a lamp in their enclosure so they can warm up.
So the turtles became 80% human but when a human mutates they lose 80% of their humanity. Case in point:
https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/4/4e/Bebop_and_Rocksteady.png
Although with these two with both sets of DNA being mammalian, they retain all of the mammal traits
https://encrypted-tbn0.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcQq-4z3kTGB23BGwIhrROD_kipf7CR2oqZ7wz8_Gf1tNvyTzdlqyQ
SHE however is a different story.
https://pm1.narvii.com/6629/b825c0c6c37512c222ff6e4359a9569b503e9bfe_hq.jpg
When Karai got mutated with the DNA of a horned viper, she became 80% Snake. As such the ratio of what is human and what is snake is different from what is human and what is turtle with the turtles.
Karai's human traits
https://orig00.deviantart.net/422f/f/2014/360/a/f/karai_snake_by_korkiesth-d8bcuwu.jpg
- She does retain her torso and hip structure which still makes her look feminine. Heck she retains her breasts but as a reptile, they aren't of much use.
- Likewise, she also retains the shoulders and arms but her hands change into snake heads.
- She can still speak somewhat and she can still recognize the ones close to her.
Karai's snake traits
- She becomes very feral, moves on instinct alone, which makes her very dangerous and unpredictable.
- Her bite is venomous
- She becomes a stellar swimmer, able to remain submerged for a long time.
- The fact that she has to go overground and warm up in the sun reveals that she's coldblooded.
- She DOES get scaly skin, even when she goes into her "in-between" state, the scales all over her face become visible. (https://img00.deviantart.net/c83c/i/2016/227/6/5/tmnt_city_at_war__karai_serpent_by_ninjaturtlefang irl-dadzyim.jpg)
- Likewise she sheds her skin, an ability which she uses later in the series to heal pretty significant injuries to her face.
Hey, I know I have too much time on my hands. 8)
First of all, I had this in mind for a while now and putting it all together was a lot of fun, so I hope you guys enjoy this.
So how can THIS...
https://2x0r8i4133bf3vh7w91g7xh4-wpengine.netdna-ssl.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/10/Pet-Turtles-that-Stay-Small.jpg
...become THIS?
https://vignette.wikia.nocookie.net/tmnt/images/a/aa/First_issue_page_%281%29.jpg/revision/latest?cb=20140203142825
I guess we all know the story: The turtles came to be mutated when they came in contact with Mutagen which was lost by the Utroms (The Kraang in the 2012 series)
So what does mutagen do?
It splices the DNA of the original host and combines it with the DNA of the last organism it has been in contact with. But the ratio with how it does isn't fifty-fifty, it's more 20% of the original and 80% of the guest DNA. The turtles themselves were touched by humans before they were mutated, either by Splinter or by an employee of the pet store where Splinter bought them.
https://scontent-atl3-1.cdninstagram.com/vp/27c03a4b4ccb2f0f135d4e0619f91898/5C1699E0/t51.2885-15/e35/21433480_121858191805403_8386533290277863424_n.jpg
The turtles as infants in the 2012 series just after they mutated.
So what traits of the turtles are human and what still is turtle?
Turtle traits:
- Their back and front shells remain integral part of their skeletal structure, they can't step out of their shells. The 2012 series also shows the fact that as with actual turtles there's actually a side armor too, whereas on the 1987 design, the back and front shells look like armor plating covering only their chests and backs.
- As with real turtles, the Turtles are amphibious, they are excellent swimmers and can hold their breath for a long time.
- The Turtles still retain the ability to do THIS!
https://i.stack.imgur.com/xQHBW.gif
Human traits
- Well as the pictures of the turtles as infants already shows: their body proportions became that of a human, their arms and legs much longer in proportion to their torsos as they were when they were still regular turtles. This also accounts for how they are able to walk upright since a real turtle doesn't have the strength in its hind legs to support the weight of its body.
- They have the ability to speak and understand human language, which means that their lungs and tongues are human, a real turtle makes noises by pushing air through their throats, they cannot make vowels to turn into words.
https://media.giphy.com/media/L3US3Og3FWeCQ/giphy.gif
- Their stomachs can digest human food, every pet store owner will tell you that you shouldn't feed turtles human food, since they can't stomach it.
- They don't have scaly skins, you can see it in close ups of their faces in the cartoons and the comics, their skin is smooth as a human's. Which also happens to help out with their mouths becoming flexible so they can speak.
- Although they retain their back and front shells, they are much more bendable, having the rigidity and flexibility of a human spine and chest casing, that accounts for how they can practice martial arts.
- They have human eyes.
- They can be attracted and fall in love with and, as was hinted in several panels in the comics, be sexually compatible with human girls.
- AND... Now this is where it gets interesting, I doubt that Kevin Eastman and Peter Laird were consciously aware of it but they gave some very big clues in their original comics about this:
* Donatello and April O'Neil working side by side to disable Baxter Stockman's Mousers with the both of them sweating bullets. (https://www.miragelicensing.com/comics/mirage/volume01/02/0204.gif)
* Leonardo fighting the Foot Soldiers as the snow is falling all around him, his breath clearly visible in the freezing air (https://vignette.wikia.nocookie.net/tmnt/images/5/55/Leonardo_in_snow_and_mud.png/revision/latest?cb=20140923124302)
Which means that the Turtles are warm blooded, which also explains how Splinter could keep them underground without them dying. Real turtles because of them being reptiles have to warm up in the sun if they want to become active, which is also why if you buy pet turtles at a store, you have to have a lamp in their enclosure so they can warm up.
So the turtles became 80% human but when a human mutates they lose 80% of their humanity. Case in point:
https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/4/4e/Bebop_and_Rocksteady.png
Although with these two with both sets of DNA being mammalian, they retain all of the mammal traits
https://encrypted-tbn0.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcQq-4z3kTGB23BGwIhrROD_kipf7CR2oqZ7wz8_Gf1tNvyTzdlqyQ
SHE however is a different story.
https://pm1.narvii.com/6629/b825c0c6c37512c222ff6e4359a9569b503e9bfe_hq.jpg
When Karai got mutated with the DNA of a horned viper, she became 80% Snake. As such the ratio of what is human and what is snake is different from what is human and what is turtle with the turtles.
Karai's human traits
https://orig00.deviantart.net/422f/f/2014/360/a/f/karai_snake_by_korkiesth-d8bcuwu.jpg
- She does retain her torso and hip structure which still makes her look feminine. Heck she retains her breasts but as a reptile, they aren't of much use.
- Likewise, she also retains the shoulders and arms but her hands change into snake heads.
- She can still speak somewhat and she can still recognize the ones close to her.
Karai's snake traits
- She becomes very feral, moves on instinct alone, which makes her very dangerous and unpredictable.
- Her bite is venomous
- She becomes a stellar swimmer, able to remain submerged for a long time.
- The fact that she has to go overground and warm up in the sun reveals that she's coldblooded.
- She DOES get scaly skin, even when she goes into her "in-between" state, the scales all over her face become visible. (https://img00.deviantart.net/c83c/i/2016/227/6/5/tmnt_city_at_war__karai_serpent_by_ninjaturtlefang irl-dadzyim.jpg)
- Likewise she sheds her skin, an ability which she uses later in the series to heal pretty significant injuries to her face.
Hey, I know I have too much time on my hands. 8)