Carter, the forgotten sidekick

[Cipher]

The problem with Carter, other than appearing late and in very few episodes, is that he hardly has a personality quirk to speak of.

His single flaw is his mutation, and his sometimes being pushed aside by the Turtles. Other than that, he's just a guy who's great at everything -- great at science, great at ninjutsu -- who we know nothing about.

What does he like to do? What's his background? What's funny about him?

It's a shame to have a foreground character that seems less defined than ancillary cast like Vernon or Burne, as one-note as they are. It's no wonder he's a little-remembered footnote in the TMNT mythos.

[cammy85]

One word: Dregg. That was the problem everyone had with him. A new sidekick and new main villains all in one season after pretty much being solo save for a few sidekick episodes and fighting Shredder and Krang over and over.

[CyberCubed]

Carter did have some background with Jet. Carter was in 13 episodes total. He only missed the last 3 eps of Season 10.

[***First of Two Latin Kings***]

The thing to me about this final season was how serious everything was. The cartoon went from being fairly light-hearted and became something so much more serious, but still had very little substance.

[Prowler]

Originally Posted by cammy85

I chalk Yoku's appearance to happening between seasons 6 and 7 (or maybe before?) and who knows if he got is government agent license before and trained with Splinter after? If Master Mogu-san still communicated with Splinter after the alleged murder attempt I'm sure that's how Yoku and Carter knew where to find them. That, or he thought like Lotus or Zach.

Carter wasn't a bad character even though he did have a rough start with his lack of teamwork and uncontrollable mutant form at first. It was weird having a secondary character stick around for more than two episodes like Usagi or the HAVOC mutants for example. But once he grew as a character all was well.

Also, unlike his nephew, Mogu didn't know Splinter had mutated into a rat. Which makes the whole thing even stranger. But whatever.

And about finding the Turtles' Lair, how the hell did The Rat King know exactly where it was in season 8? He had never been in their Lair before.

Anyway, back to Carter, he was a bit of mix of Donatello and Raphael, imo. He was great at science and math and also quite hotheaded at times.

[cammy85]

D'oh!! Forgot that. They haven't seen each other since the incident I'm guessing and their telepathic communication still works as if Splinter were still human, not his current state.

In "Were-rats", the Rat King nearly found them but met with some sewer slime instead so his rat sense was just developing. Or he kept blasting through walls until he could hear them talking.

Agreed on your Carter points. Take him as you will but his early episodes didn't paint him very well.

[Candy Kappa]

Oh, Carter isn't forgotten, but I sure wish he was.

[Prowler]

Originally Posted by Cipher

The problem with Carter, other than appearing late and in very few episodes, is that he hardly has a personality quirk to speak of.

His single flaw is his mutation, and his sometimes being pushed aside by the Turtles. Other than that, he's just a guy who's great at everything -- great at science, great at ninjutsu -- who we know nothing about.

What does he like to do? What's his background? What's funny about him?

It's a shame to have a foreground character that seems less defined than ancillary cast like Vernon or Burne, as one-note as they are. It's no wonder he's a little-remembered footnote in the TMNT mythos.

We know that he is a university student and that he likes science and computers. And since he debuted during the Red Sky period, there was no need to make him a funny character.

[Original TMNT Cartoon Fan]

Originally Posted by Prowler

And about finding the Turtles' Lair, how the hell did The Rat King know exactly where it was in season 8? He had never been in their Lair before.

Maybe hours of sewer-walking and searching finally gave result.