Is it "off-brand" to put characters without FW counterparts in FW based stuff?

[neatoman]

So discussion on how that "Saturday Morning" comic made a bunch of homages to the Tournament Fighters game (while still not including certain characters in that game), and to a lesser extent the appearance of Super Shredder in Shredder's Revenge, got me thinking a bit. Since Tournament Fighters itself included a bunch of characters who were never part of the Fred Wolf cartoon and Super Shredder was never in the Fred Wolf cartoon despite SR's obsession with sticking to what was in it, how "off-brand" would it be to you if/when characters who were never in the Fred Wolf cartoon when it aired are used in stuff that otherwise makes use of the Fred Wolf cartoon as a basis?

So, for example. Imagine that Nickelodeon decides to make a special all about the Fred Wolf turtles. Every returning is voiced by a surviving cast member, April is a News reporter without psychic powers or anything, Shredder and Krang are hanging out in he Technodrome pulling the same types of schemes, the Foot Clan are all robots and all that. None of the elements present in the Fred Wolf cartoon are in any way substantially different from the Fred Wolf cartoon, a direct comparison would be required to tell the difference. And most importantly, it is not a crossover with whatever version is currently on the air. But here's the catch, Savanti Romero, The Fugitoid, Karai, Hun, Bishop etc. are characters in this special. None of whom were in the Fred Wolf cartoon when it was still airing. Would you consider this special to be "off-brand"?

[Leo656]

No more or less than stuff like the "Batman '66" cartoons or comics where they used Two-Face or other characters as if they had been on the table for the original series, even though they never appeared. Or when Super7 commissioned a Masters of the Universe short in Filmation Style, "The Three Terrors", and launched a couple of action figures based on the brand new villains in that short. I don't see how stuff like that hurts anything.

[Powder]

IMO, yes, but if you're gonna do it, I think it's necessary to Fred Wolfify them, to an extent. That may mean compromising the integrity of their design or demeanor, probably both, but it's kinda required to make it believable. Simplify the design, make it look a little goofier, scale down how lofty or evil their goals are, etc.

[oldmanwinters]

I am in agreement with the comments here. The Batman 66 comparison is fair.

[CyberCubed]

For me it depends if they "fit" the universe of the original cartoon.

Can I see Super Shredder in an episode? Yes, but it would be for a single episode. And most likely the mutagen would be unstable so Shredder would keep changing back and forth till it wears out at the end of the 22 minute episode. Kinda surprised they never did make an episode like that in the show.

Could I have seen Armaggon in the original cartoon? Sure, even with the time travel origin, but he'd probably make shark puns if he appeared in the show and be a little less menacing.

[IndigoErth]

A bit universe tampering, though if they were reworked to fit into that series and were brought in as if they existed within that TMNT's timeline in the future after the show had ended, I wouldn't be opposed.

[MikeandRaph87]

A bit universe tampering, though if they were reworked to fit into that series and were brought in as if they existed within that TMNT's timeline in the future after the show had ended, I wouldn't be opposed.

Same here. For example I can see John Bishop as Wesley Knight's boss in Dark Water. Dark Water never got any follow up and just a nod in IDW despite the potential.

[Original TMNT Cartoon Fan]

Would they be introduced, with a backstory explaining who they are and why they suddenly show up?

[Prowler]

For me it depends if they "fit" the universe of the original cartoon.

Can I see Super Shredder in an episode? Yes, but it would be for a single episode. And most likely the mutagen would be unstable so Shredder would keep changing back and forth till it wears out at the end of the 22 minute episode. Kinda surprised they never did make an episode like that in the show.

Could I have seen Armaggon in the original cartoon? Sure, even with the time travel origin, but he'd probably make shark puns if he appeared in the show and be a little less menacing.

Chrome Dome was pretty mich the FW version of Super Shredder. A giant Shredder-like robot.