Krang before he turned into a brain?

[DarkFell]

Originally Posted by Ravenshell

Hmmm, shades of the blue babboon bodies from 2012?

"Where's its head?!"
"We lost it, it's under the sofa somewhere..."

Your comment reminded me of this clip. It gets good @ 1:09. 0r @ 1:45. Your preference.

[Original TMNT Cartoon Fan]

Was Krang ever, strictly stated, declared as being just a brain at all? I see him more as a brain-like creature.

[neatoman]

Originally Posted by Original TMNT Cartoon Fan

Was Krang ever, strictly stated, declared as being just a brain at all? I see him more as a brain-like creature.

He is indeed stated to be a disembodied brain, they keep calling him a brain and it's established early on that he lost his body, although there are some episodes where it seems he's simply a brain-like creature. You could either chalk that up to the horrible writing of the show or you could go the apologist route and say he always looked like that, the body he lost was just another android.

Regardless, from the 4Kids series onwards he's been depicted as an Utrom. What his exact origin is in the Fred Wolf cartoon is unimportant going forward, because most likely he'll be depicted as Utrom for most (if not all) future projects.

[Candy Kappa]

FW is also a show that changes about Shredder's real name, seeing sometimes they correctly use Oroku as his last/family name and sometimes they use Saki as his last name. So things aren't consistent.

[neatoman]

Originally Posted by Candy Kappa

FW is also a show that changes about Shredder's real name, seeing sometimes they correctly use Oroku as his last/family name and sometimes they use Saki as his last name. So things aren't consistent.

Yeah I know. The same type of technology can be treated as a new scientific breakthrough over and over again, Splinter feared that a sword that can't be used by evil hands would fall into evil hands, Bebop and Rocksteady seem to alternate between former humans and former animals, Atlantis changing appearance and don't get me started on the mask coloring!

Supposedly many of these contradictions came from a lack communication between the writers. Another cause may be Wise's infamous script recycling, recycling scripts that much is bound to cause some problems with the scripts themselves...

[CyberCubed]

Bebop/Rocksteady never said they were former animals, just that the zoo in that episode was where "they were from" meaning the animals.

[Original TMNT Cartoon Fan]

Originally Posted by neatoman

He is indeed stated to be a disembodied brain, they keep calling him a brain and it's established early on that he lost his body, although there are some episodes where it seems he's simply a brain-like creature. You could either chalk that up to the horrible writing of the show or you could go the apologist route and say he always looked like that, the body he lost was just another android.

Regardless, from the 4Kids series onwards he's been depicted as an Utrom. What his exact origin is in the Fred Wolf cartoon is unimportant going forward, because most likely he'll be depicted as Utrom for most (if not all) future projects.

I saw a lot of these references more as a reference to his intellect (like he's the brain behind that).

[Kingoji]

'Man's empire had passed away, taken swiftly and without error by these creatures who were composed entirely of brain. Unhampered by the complex systems which make up man, they made and used different bodies according to their needs.'

The idea of an alien invader being nothing but an autonomous brain is one of the oldest traditions of the science fiction genre. The above quote is in fact lifted from the very first alien invasion story ever written; H.G. Wells' The War of the Worlds.
I like to think that the original 'toon simply played Krang as a tribute to that tradition.

[Ravenshell]

Shredder: "What we gonna do tonight, brain?"
Krang: "The same thing we do every night, Shreddie... try to take over the world!"

[neatoman]

Originally Posted by Original TMNT Cartoon Fan

I saw a lot of these references more as a reference to his intellect (like he's the brain behind that).

Well they aren't just references, it is meant to be taken literally.

Originally Posted by Kingoji

'Man's empire had passed away, taken swiftly and without error by these creatures who were composed entirely of brain. Unhampered by the complex systems which make up man, they made and used different bodies according to their needs.'

The idea of an alien invader being nothing but an autonomous brain is one of the oldest traditions of the science fiction genre. The above quote is in fact lifted from the very first alien invasion story ever written; H.G. Wells' The War of the Worlds.
I like to think that the original 'toon simply played Krang as a tribute to that tradition.

I liked that the the Utroms turning out to be good guys better than Krang just being evil like every other brain alien.

Originally Posted by Ravenshell

Shredder: "What we gonna do tonight, brain?"
Krang: "The same thing we do every night, Shreddie... try to take over the world!"

Awesome, and I think Pinky and the Brain actually got closer to taking over the world honestly.

[Mew]

I'm gonna guess he was Mr. Yuk.

[sdp]

Originally Posted by neatoman

Well they aren't just references, it is meant to be taken literally.

He is indeed stated to be a disembodied brain, they keep calling him a brain and it's established early on that he lost his body, although there are some episodes where it seems he's simply a brain-like creature. You could either chalk that up to the horrible writing of the show or you could go the apologist route and say he always looked like that, the body he lost was just another android.

Yeah I know. The same type of technology can be treated as a new scientific breakthrough over and over again, Splinter feared that a sword that can't be used by evil hands would fall into evil hands, Bebop and Rocksteady seem to alternate between former humans and former animals, Atlantis changing appearance and don't get me started on the mask coloring!

Supposedly many of these contradictions came from a lack communication between the writers. Another cause may be Wise's infamous script recycling, recycling scripts that much is bound to cause some problems with the scripts themselves...

It's never stated he had a real biological body, it's only ever implied. The fact that it's never outright told is enough to warrant the debate, all the dialog can work either way if you really analyze it. We don't know if it was meant to be taken literally, there are just as many references of shredder being a tin head, but is that one meant to be taken literally?

Fiction and shows are full of retcons and they are written as they go and the OT wasn't a show that got too much focus on continuity, the writers wrote each episode as they viewed the universe in their eyes but outside the show bible many things are open to interpretation. It's also a weak argument to say "the writers made mistakes" to explain away things that don't fit your point of view. That's why forums on the internet exist, to explain inconsistencies or have crazy theories and have fun. Most of the stuff fans deduce or things they argue were never thought of by the writers and yet they're considered canon, or fanon or whatever, hell many times the writers like the ideas so much they even incorporate them to the real universe canonizing it.

[Jester]

RELEVANT UPDATE:
NerdSync gets the Mirage No-Prize for putting BOTH Krang's Body episodes in context:

[FredWolfLeonardo]

In my opinion, Krang started out as the brain creature shown in "Four Musketurtles" before growing a body over his lifespan just like the clones in "Invasion of the Krangzoids.", until he was stripped of it by subprime and banished to 2D Earth.

That would explain how General Traag recognized him even as a brain, since Krang took time to grow into the lizard body and wasn't always that way from the beginning, just like the clones. Even if Traag never saw him in his brain form before Krang grew the body, Krang's voice and face, which is identical to the face of the lizard creature, would've been enough for Traag to recognize him.

Also on a side note, I don't see Krang as a first cousin to Subprime, but as a cousin on a species level to all of the Kraang race as a whole, much like how humans and chimpanzees are cousins in the evolutionary tree model.

[neatoman]

Does this topic even really matter anymore? In addition to the show itself not really being clear one wheter or not he was something else before, most modern material just makes him an Utrom.

[Original TMNT Cartoon Fan]

Originally Posted by FredWolfLeonardo

In my opinion, Krang started out as the brain creature shown in "Four Musketurtles" before growing a body over his lifespan just like the clones in "Invasion of the Krangzoids.", until he was stripped of it by subprime and banished to 2D Earth.

Maybe Krang used mutagen for that. It doesn't say he ever got a lizard-body. Just look at the Shredder clones in other TMNT versions having four arms. Shredder himself never get that.

[pferreira]

Originally Posted by neatoman

Does this topic even really matter anymore? In addition to the show itself not really being clear one wheter or not he was something else before, most modern material just makes him an Utrom.

Can't fault fans for wanting to figure it out.

[ABrown]

Originally Posted by FredWolfLeonardo

until he was stripped of it by subprime and banished to 2D Earth.

Um, yeah. That's the Nick series. Not the original cartoon.

[FredWolfLeonardo]

Originally Posted by ABrown

Um, yeah. That's the Nick series. Not the original cartoon.

I consider both shows to be canon to each other.

[FredWolfLeonardo]

Originally Posted by Original TMNT Cartoon Fan

Maybe Krang used mutagen for that. It doesn't say he ever got a lizard-body. Just look at the Shredder clones in other TMNT versions having four arms. Shredder himself never get that.

I agree with this 100 % It would also keep Krang as a cousin species to the Kraang appearance wise, secretly using some of Kraang Primes mutagen behind his back, making himself a muscular lizard creature before using it to create himself an army of rock soldiers. This kind of power hungry behaviour on Krang's part would likely cause his cousins to banish him for betraying them, stripping him of his powerful and deadly body in the process to weaken and humiliate him.