What is the obsession with TMNT creators adding in a 5th turtle?

superstaff · 02-11-2021, 09:47 AM

I wasn't sure whether to put this here or at the movie section since this issue seems to crop up mostly in the movies (but also in TV and comics, as I will discuss below).

But I was just watching this video from THE OLD TURTLE DEN, on a Hallmark movie from the early 2000s that got scrapped. One of the things that caught my attention was that the twist in this film was going to be that the Shredder was, in fact, a long lost brother of the TMNT. A 'fifth' turtle, as you will.

It's a concept that's been forced into the franchise, time and time again. Sometimes it gets rejected like with Kirby, the turtle Shredder, and others they've planned to put into a movie in the past. Then there's the times they've actually managed to canonize it, like with Venus in The Next Mutation and Jennika in the IDW comics.

I've seen some people here regard the concept with disdain, and I can't disagree. I've never seen them do this concept right. It just comes off as lame, hokey, and awkward. For instance, how would a Shredder turtle work? I guess you'd need to completely re-write their backstories, not just for the TMNT but also Splinter. How would such an arc end? Would Shredder turtle join them, and seek redemption? Would they kill him? Does he die? How would this affect their group? It's...strange to think about, and I honestly wonder if the creatives behind that project actually thought this through.

I'd really like to see people's thoughts on this concept. Do you like the idea of a fifth turtle? How would it be able to work, if at all?

02-11-2021, 09:47 AM	#1
superstaff Mad Scientist Join Date: Mar 2016 Location: NJ Posts: 1,091	What is the obsession with TMNT creators adding in a 5th turtle? I wasn't sure whether to put this here or at the movie section since this issue seems to crop up mostly in the movies (but also in TV and comics, as I will discuss below). But I was just watching this video from THE OLD TURTLE DEN, on a Hallmark movie from the early 2000s that got scrapped. One of the things that caught my attention was that the twist in this film was going to be that the Shredder was, in fact, a long lost brother of the TMNT. A 'fifth' turtle, as you will. It's a concept that's been forced into the franchise, time and time again. Sometimes it gets rejected like with Kirby, the turtle Shredder, and others they've planned to put into a movie in the past. Then there's the times they've actually managed to canonize it, like with Venus in The Next Mutation and Jennika in the IDW comics. I've seen some people here regard the concept with disdain, and I can't disagree. I've never seen them do this concept right. It just comes off as lame, hokey, and awkward. For instance, how would a Shredder turtle work? I guess you'd need to completely re-write their backstories, not just for the TMNT but also Splinter. How would such an arc end? Would Shredder turtle join them, and seek redemption? Would they kill him? Does he die? How would this affect their group? It's...strange to think about, and I honestly wonder if the creatives behind that project actually thought this through. I'd really like to see people's thoughts on this concept. Do you like the idea of a fifth turtle? How would it be able to work, if at all?