Did You Like Splinter's Origin Better in the Comics or in the Old Cartoon Series?

[Lady R. Santi]

Originally Posted by odupianist

Okay, NO ONE can say a rat learning ninjitsu from a cage is silly/proposterous/outrageous/undoable. We all love a show about four mutated ninja turtles, I mean really.

LOL. I came just short of using one of those choice adjectives in my previous post and I TOTALLY understand what your saying but I must add...

WE CAN. It is possible that even within silly/proposterous/outrageous/undoable ideas can reside even more silly/proposterous/outrageous/undoable ideas...not that I'm saying the TMNT are silly/proposterous/outrageous/undoable, I'm just saying --it can happen.

[comixfan]

I voted for neutral, because both origins are very interesting. I used to only appreciate the one from the old cartoon series, because the thought of Hamato Yoshi and Splinter being the same person was an interesting concept, especially when you think of the level of training the TMNT got.

But the comic book origin is much more dramatic and makes the Splinter character more meaningful, as he tries to be as good of a sensei to the Turtles as Yoshi was to him.

[Serp]

I perfer the old toon Cartoon orgin. I just thinks it works better and I didn't find it that complicated to follow.

[Rooish]

Originally Posted by KROW

While I understand the first issue was not meant to be taken seriously (after all, the turtles made their printed debut in a book called Gobbledygook with The Flaming Carrot), I still say that a rat -- a normal, average, everyday rat -- learning martial arts from observation in a cage is ridiculous. I can say it's ridiculous, because before the ooze showed up, we readers still had realism when Splinter was recanting his origin.

Although I do like the interpretation here of Splinter being able to hang on to that knowledge after the mutagen made him more intelligent, I think the OT origin made just a little more sense. It's easier to comprehend that a human or animal can transform with the ooze after being in contact with one another.

My take on the comic origin, after waving off the rat-mimicking, is that after being mutated, Splinter found a book on ninjitsu or martial arts (like he did with the Renaissance book) and perhaps had a flash of memory from his time in Yoshi's house.

I'm still borderline on both origins, though. I like the comic for its originality and the OT's for its charm.

Right on. Thanks for expressing what I am not articulate enough to explain.

[jestermon]

I think the human-cartoon version makes the most sense,the fact that he had books is alot more likely then finding reference materials lost in the sewer.

I am bias as I grew up on the toon and did not even know about the comic untill some time later.

I still have not read massive amounts of the comic, but I do have the jist of the material, the super rat thing was quite odd in the movie to me as well.

[Dinobot]

Got to be the comics for me too - as has been said, there's a major plot flaw with the animated series since he was in contact with the Turtles last. It also makes more sense with Splinter being old since Hamato Yoshi looked like he was in his thirties at the most.

[Raphael91]

I like the cartoon version more, makes a lot more sense that a human that turned into a rat is trained as a ninja and is interested in art ("named the turtles after renaissance masters"). ordinary rats probably just think of cheese and their own survival that´s also the origin story i grew up with.

like when spiderman got his powers by that spider he was also able to shot web out of his wrist, didn´t need any mechanical web shooters to do that like some comics tell. i actually got pretty mad once when i was 7 or something when one dude said "look i have a webshooter like spiderman does"
"HE DOESN`T HAVE WEBSHOTERS IDIOT, IT COMES FROM HIS WRISTS!!!1!

[Revan]

Originally Posted by Raphael91

I like the cartoon version more, makes a lot more sense that a human that turned into a rat is trained as a ninja and is interested in art ("named the turtles after renaissance masters"). ordinary rats probably just think of cheese and their own survival that´s also the origin story i grew up with.

I thought that too a while ago. "How can a rat learn ninjitsu?" The conclusion I came to was that splinter watched yoshi practice his ninjitsu while he was still a normal rat. Then after the mutagen enhanced his body and mind, the memories were unlocked and he could remember and mimic the movements that he suddenly remembered. My theory, the mutagen caused his memories to become more vivid re-creatable

I like the comic origin best. The most popular confusion I see though is that question "How can a rat do that?"

[Buslady]

#1 Splinter could watch and later on as his brain developed remembered thsoe movements. No way a real rat can do such things.
#2 I voted Original origins just cos I prefer orginal concepts over ones that were milked down for kiddie shows.
#3 Splinter is a selfish rat. Raising the turtles solely to kill some guy to avenge the death of his owner. yay. Using them for his own purpose. I wish one of them had said NO before going out to kill Shreds. After raising them, becoming a father, teacher, sensei, etc. and emotionally attatched, how could he send them off to their possible death? He's a rat!

[Revan]

Originally Posted by Buslady

#3 Splinter is a selfish rat. Raising the turtles solely to kill some guy to avenge the death of his owner. yay. Using them for his own purpose. I wish one of them had said NO before going out to kill Shreds. After raising them, becoming a father, teacher, sensei, etc. and emotionally attatched, how could he send them off to their possible death? He's a rat!

That was actually something I liked about the comics. I was one who saw the shows and movies before reading the books and it was nice to see a different version of splinter. One who knows of honor but still not perfect. It made him seem more realistic because most people know what it's like to want revenge.

[Coola Yagami]

Originally Posted by Raphael91

like when spiderman got his powers by that spider he was also able to shot web out of his wrist, didn´t need any mechanical web shooters to do that like some comics tell. i actually got pretty mad once when i was 7 or something when one dude said "look i have a webshooter like spiderman does"
"HE DOESN`T HAVE WEBSHOTERS IDIOT, IT COMES FROM HIS WRISTS!!!1!

Umm dude.... Spiderman DID use mechanical webshooters.... the comics came first, so what they say goes and without them there wouldn't be a movie to begin with. The new movies don't count as actual comics-canon. And BTW for a time, Spidey got the ability to shoot webbing from his wrists in the comics (due to how popular the movies were), but currently, he lost that ability and went back to the webshooters.

[Krang]

Originally Posted by Dinobot

Got to be the comics for me too - as has been said, there's a major plot flaw with the animated series since he was in contact with the Turtles last.

A common misconception, but that's not quite what happened.

[JusticeForce]

Originally Posted by Coola Yagami

Umm dude.... Spiderman DID use mechanical webshooters.... the comics came first, so what they say goes and without them there wouldn't be a movie to begin with.

Quoted for truth. Spider-Man created his web-shooters in his first appearance / origin story in Amazing Fantasy No. 15, which came out waaaaaay back in 1962.

However, I can sympathize with Raphael 91's confusion because I saw the old TMNT cartoon first and was going WTF when I saw Splinter's origin in the first movie. It too me a couple of years to finally sort out which was the original origin.

And that's the origin I voted for: the comic book one. It just makes more science-fiction-y sense to me for the Utrom's ooze to accidentally change both a rat and a turtle into something more humanoid, than for Shredder to send Krang's mutagen into the sewers in hopes that it would somehow reach his old rival and somehow change him into something that would no longer be a threat to him.

[odupianist]

Splinter can learn ninjitsu just as turtles can mutate from an ooze that came from brain like aliens lol

[Masked Ninja]

I always thought the "stepping in the ooze first" thing saved their plot hole, but only barely. Mutation is not an instant process (though in the original it does happen pretty fast), and Yoshi would have had only traces of rat to react with the ooze. Then he picks up a Turtle... direct contact, and the thing is even covered in ooze itself! He should probably be a mostly turtle, partly rat mutant, unless the mutagen itself is sentient and knows "aha! He touched a RAT most recently!"

Or they should have animated him turning into a rat as soon as he made contact, and dispensed with the whole "pick up the ooze'd turtle" scene. It would have made things much clearer. I guess I'll call it poor storyboarding and get on with my life.

[Spike Spiegel]

I say the comic is better. The death of Hamato Yoshi, in a sense, has defined who Master Splinter is. If Splinter IS Yoshi...well...to me, there's just not as much depth.

I'm glad they used the comic origin in the movies. Makes so much more sense.

[Krang]

Originally Posted by Masked Ninja

I always thought the "stepping in the ooze first" thing saved their plot hole, but only barely. Mutation is not an instant process (though in the original it does happen pretty fast), and Yoshi would have had only traces of rat to react with the ooze. Then he picks up a Turtle... direct contact, and the thing is even covered in ooze itself! He should probably be a mostly turtle, partly rat mutant, unless the mutagen itself is sentient and knows "aha! He touched a RAT most recently!"

Good point. I guess the best explanation for that would be that mutagen can only combine two types of creatures and no more than that. By the time Splinter had picked up the turtles, he had already begun transforming into a mutant rat, so his contact with the turtles wouldn't count toward his mutation. It may not be very realistic (then again, these are Ninja Turtles we're talking about ), but it still makes sense.

I guess I'll call it poor storyboarding and get on with my life.

That explanation works, too.

[Original TMNT Cartoon Fan]

The 1987 cartoon. The silliest thing with the 1984 comics is not Splinter learning ninjutsu, but Splinter knowing how to read, he named the TMNT after renaissance names in an old comic book.

[Mr._Mutant_Man]

Originally Posted by Coola Yagami

Umm dude.... Spiderman DID use mechanical webshooters.... the comics came first, so what they say goes and without them there wouldn't be a movie to begin with. The new movies don't count as actual comics-canon. And BTW for a time, Spidey got the ability to shoot webbing from his wrists in the comics (due to how popular the movies were), but currently, he lost that ability and went back to the webshooters.

I kind of prefer the webs coming from his wrist. It makes him more spider-like, plus in the movies it made him seem a little more like an average guy getting these powers, as opposed to a high school kid being amazingly smart and knowing how to replicate a spider's silk.