To everyone against the clothing/gear

[Wildcat]

I too was thinking they had a bit too much on and some things are unnecessary but I just realized...Bebop and Rocksteady had alot of clothing and stuff on too. Why didn't that bother anybody?

They had shirts, pants, shoes, pads and basically everything the new live action turtles have.

I know they were mutated humans but still just because the turtles were turtles first doesn't mean they have to be naked. The clothing isn't that strange the more you see it. Its really just ninja wear, except Mikey, which fits his personality and Don's backpack probably has a purpose.

[electric_sheep]

Originally Posted by Wildcat

I too was thinking they had a bit too much on and some things are unnecessary but I just realized...Bebop and Rocksteady had alot of clothing and stuff on too. Why didn't that bother anybody?

They had shirts, pants, shoes, pads and basically everything the new live action turtles have.

I know they were mutated humans but still just because the turtles were turtles first doesn't mean they have to be naked. The clothing isn't that strange the more you see it. Its really just ninja wear, except Mikey, which fits his personality and Don's backpack probably has a purpose.

Sunglasses, a bunch of crap on your back and a twigs armour ninja wear? Wouldn't that cause more noise that ninja's should make?
Bebop and Rocksteady started out as humans so it makes sense for them to wear clothes.

[Wildcat]

Originally Posted by electric_sheep

Sunglasses, a bunch of crap on your back and a twigs armour ninja wear? Wouldn't that cause more noise that ninja's should make?
Bebop and Rocksteady started out as humans so it makes sense for them to wear clothes.

Well fighting wear. Ya know what I mean. The turtles have never been portrayed as realistic ninjas...this has been brought up before this movie.

[Refractive Reflections]

Bebop and Rocksteady were the stereotypical punks who were loud and attention-grabbing with their destruction and personalities; so why not also expect it with their clothes? They didn't concern themselves with stealth like ninjas are supposed to be, as one of the foremost principles of their fighting technique. Should we really expect the same loud and gaudiness from the Turtles who are supposed to be ninjas?

The main reason the gear/clothes fail in my eyes, is because it doesn't suit practicality, in fact some of the gear can be not only superfluous, but possibly even detrimental. I mean Donnie wearing glasses... seriously? He's going to be involved with physical combat and this Turtle can invent the craziest technology out there, but yet he can't even design contacts? Oh brother... All an enemy has to do is just knock Donatello's glasses off, and he'll be easy pickings since his vision is apparently so bad he needs these corrective lenses in physical combat.

Leo's bamboo armor? Cool looking perhaps. Practical when there are bullets being fired (which this 2014 movie seems to imply)? Not at all... and he's supposed to be the most strategic and knowledgeable about combat situations. At least if Leo wore some type of bulletproof armor then I could accept the design, but whatever...

[Wildcat]

^ Ya, like I said some things are unnecessary, like Don's glasses which was one of the things I was referring too. Also the necklaces but I can see wanting to wear a personal item even its not practical. Not the glasses though.

The bamboo armor doesn't help in gun fights but if he did have some kind of metal/bulletproof armor I think people would complain even more for it being over the top. Thats actually something I would not like myself.

The clothing itself though is really just cover-up and fight wear.

[Candy Kappa]

Not sure what Raph's loincloth thing is useful for? Or Mikey's waist sweater. And I have griped about the impracticality about Leo's shoulder plates that don't look properly secured as shoulder plates should be to be useful, he isn't in a larp.


For me, it's not as much as the turtles wearing different gear then the traditional look, it's what the designers chose and what we get on the turtles that bugs me. So not the concept of different clothes, but the execution.

[slingtheory]

Just to add to what other people are saying bebop and rocksteady started off as humans and the clothes we see them wearing are the same as what they had on when they were mutated. It could be a case of old habits dying hard, a way for them to hold on to whatever humanity they have left or considering who we're talking about maybe they were just to lazy to take them off. And besides they're meant to be big guady and eyecatching powerhouses everything the turtles are not. The tmnt were never human and therefore don't have a human reference on things and none of the reasons to dress up thatb&r do. Its not something they would miss and its not a human practice they would imatate because they don't want to be human but just accepted by humans for what they are.
That being said I'm not against this look because its not traditional but because the most important word in the title to me is ninja. I just imagine that if the turtles, who spend 15 years living in a sewer training to perfect thier skills were going to wear anything it would be about ninja practicality. That's the beauty of the original design it was simple and functional just protective pads on the joints and belts tp carry their weapons. Very minimal, nothing that would hinder movement or slow them down. The movies gear looks like the complete opposite. It doesn't look functional or protective and a lot of it looks like they'd be worse off for wearing it. I'm not sure what purpose you get out of bamboo chest plates that look useless against not only bullets but pretty much everything or loincloths when you shouldn't have visable junk to begin with or swaeterss tied around your waist like you just stepped out of a 90s highschool. and poor Donatello has it the worst. not only does it look like he'd be weighted down by all that gear but you expect me to believe he can make or scavenge a pair of night vision goggles but not a pair of sports glasses. did anybody put more than 2 seconds of thought into this?

[Candy Kappa]

As an add-on about Bebop and Rocksteady. In Archie, when they began getting memories of a "past" life as their respective animal, they also retire on a paradise planet filled with wildlife, and they ditch their clothes.

[Donatello19]

Well, Bebop and Rocksteady started out as humans, so...

[Myko]

Originally Posted by Candy Kappa

As an add-on about Bebop and Rocksteady. In Archie, when they began getting memories of a "past" life as their respective animal, they also retire on a paradise planet filled with wildlife, and they ditch their clothes.

That really annoyed me as a kid. Why would they have memories of past animal lives they didn't have?

[Candy Kappa]

It was odd for sure, but maybe the mutagen imprints memories to the victim that will eventually surface subconsciously, on adults.

Or maybe R&B just got a huge animal instinct spike for a period, yearning so much for a wildlife lifestyle they started to dream about it.

[Radical Raph]

I look at it as them wanting to fit in with humans and/or show off their personalities. Why stop at just colored bandanas?

Splinter always wore clothes because he's dignified. I would think since he's basically their father, they would try to emulate him.

[Candy Kappa]

I doubt it has anything to do with dignity, seems more like Rat!Splinter just likes robes or kimonos, maybe it's a memorabilia after Yoshi?

Cause Rat!Splinter don't use trouser or underwear, just a kimono.

[Radical Raph]

Originally Posted by Candy Kappa

I doubt it has anything to do with dignity, seems more like Rat!Splinter just likes robes or kimonos, maybe it's a memorabilia after Yoshi?

Cause Rat!Splinter don't use trouser or underwear, just a kimono.

I guess you could look at it that way. But then again, being a rat covered in fur and living underground doesn't exactly require you to wear clothes. I wear button up shirts because I like the way they look, but I wear clothes in general because, well, I'm too dignified to just walk around in the nude.

[Candy Kappa]

Or, using clothes is a social norm. As it is in most modern societies, complete nakedness is a no no.

[NoName999]

Originally Posted by Wildcat

I too was thinking they had a bit too much on and some things are unnecessary but I just realized...Bebop and Rocksteady had alot of clothing and stuff on too. Why didn't that bother anybody?

They're not masters of ninjutsu.

[Radical Raph]

Originally Posted by Candy Kappa

Or, using clothes is a social norm. As it is in most modern societies, complete nakedness is a no no.

I would still argue that Splinter wears clothes because he sees himself as something more than just a rat which would translate to a more dignified being. The fact that his clothes also pay respect to his past only highlights this. Either way, I think the turtles probably wear clothes because Splinter does and because they are teenagers looking to fit in.

[UGHShellshocked]

The way I see it the toy line had all kinds of costumes on, there were clowns turtles, cavemen turtles, astronaut turtles and even sumo wrestler turtles. So they wear Samurai armor/loincloth/gadgets/sweat shirt shouldn't be such a big deal.

[SwiftNinjaFox]

Originally Posted by Radical Raph

I look at it as them wanting to fit in with humans and/or show off their personalities. Why stop at just colored bandanas?

Splinter always wore clothes because he's dignified. I would think since he's basically their father, they would try to emulate him.

"April, why do humans want to make themselves look dumber than they already are?" - Raphael from OT

Raphael in Mirage said that humans wear clothes because their bodies are ugly.

There's always been a bit of wanting to be accepted for who they are, not be accepted for adopting human appearances.

I just think it's a bit unnecessary myself, though I kind of dig the bracers on Leo and his shoulder guards. The bamboo seems silly to me.

Not crazy about all of them having a form of loincloth and I've NEVER thought they look normal in pants. They ALWAYS look weird wearing pants to me, in every incarnation.

[Radical Raph]

Originally Posted by SwiftNinjaFox

"April, why do humans want to make themselves look dumber than they already are?" - Raphael from OT

Raphael in Mirage said that humans wear clothes because their bodies are ugly.

There's always been a bit of wanting to be accepted for who they are, not be accepted for adopting human appearances.

I just think it's a bit unnecessary myself, though I kind of dig the bracers on Leo and his shoulder guards. The bamboo seems silly to me.

Not crazy about all of them having a form of loincloth and I've NEVER thought they look normal in pants. They ALWAYS look weird wearing pants to me, in every incarnation.

I would actually love it if Raphael still shares that point of view in this new version. Even though he's wearing clothes, it is the most minimal amount of the four and looks like something an ancient barbarian would wear if you excuse the sunglasses.

It's also not like they're wearing so much that they're disguising themselves as human. You can still clearly see they are mutants. But the clothes to me translate a desire to want to be accepted amongst humans while not completely disregarding their mutant/ninja origins. Raphael can still think of humans as ugly while wearing clothes since the turtles did kinda grow up being influenced by our culture.

I dunno man, even with all those blades, there's no way Shredder is going to be able to get past Leo's bamboo armor.