Pitch an Alternate Universe TMNT Story

[ProphetofGanja]

Okay let's say you're in charge of developing the next TMNT adaptation, with the stipulation that some part of the traditional TMNT mythos is significantly altered. What would your story ideas be? How would you change the core characters, the ancillary characters? What medium would you want your project developed for (comics, animation, film)? I want to hear some cool ideas, share em if you got em




Here's one I thought up:

Spoiler:

Basically it's the TMNT mashed up with The Pirates of Dark Water. I love the combination of nautical and magical tropes as a genre; imagine something like the more fantastic supernatural aspects of The Pirates of the Caribbean franchise but without all the extraneous crap they eventually added.

It would take place on some alien planet, the name doesn't matter, the point is it's not Earth and therefore there's no New York, no Japan, no familiar context as far as location goes. The story would pick up with the Turtles approaching their late teenage years, what is viewed as the cusp of adulthood in this region of their planet's society. The Turtles have been raised by Master Splinter, an anthropomorphic rat-man who runs a tavern on one of the many islands on this world (this world is populated by anthropomorphic animal creatures as well as other fantasy-setting races, most of them unique to the setting, so there wouldn't be any exploration of the Turtles as outsiders in this franchise, or the pathos that comes with that). Splinter has spent years training the Turtles in the mystic arts of ninjitsu, for some unknown reason, although for the most part since they've been old enough they've helped him in the day-to-day operations of the tavern.

Eventually one day an unscrupulous character comes to the tavern and asks about some mysterious artifact; the Turtles have no idea what he's talking about but Splinter does and he gets in a fight with the guy, but the guys lands a mortal blow and flees after failing to steal the artifact, a small gem on a necklace (we later see this henchman punished for failing his mission). In his last few moments Splinter tells the Turtles that his whole life he's been protecting them from the evil pirate lord Krang (Krang is a member of a race of beings evolved from parasitic swamp-dwellers that inhabit the bodies of other, larger humanoids).

The Turtles find a scroll in Splinter's room that explains what the artifact is: one of 13 magical crystals, each with a different power, which when combined would grant the bearer near god-level power. The Turtles discover that the crystal they're in possession of has the power to locate the other crystals, although it can only lead the way to the closest one, not provide an exact location.

The series then would revolve around the Turtles trying to track down and acquire the other gems before Krang and his right-hand man, a martial arts master named the Shredder (he would literally be nothing more than a glorified henchman in this series, just cuz). So within that larger narrative there'd be plenty of room for the Turtles to sail around to exotic locations to have adventures and get into trouble, eventually leading to a showdown with Krang and his minions and whatever powers bestowed by the gems his forces have acquired.

I would envision this take on the TMNT as either a three season cartoon (maybe around 20 episodes each) or a rather long limited-run comic series, like 24 to 36 issues or so. In either case, the point of the story is to see the resolution of the conflict involving the mystic crystals, not to go on forever.

Some other significant changes:
No April, no Casey, no Slash, no Stockman, no appearances by most of the familiar supporting characters. I can see a role for new interpretations of Old Hob, Karai, Harold Lillja and a few others though
Magic: there's lots of it. It mainly serves as a substitute for technology in the series. The actual physical technology present in the series is similar to what we think of as the romanticized Golden Age of Piracy (again, like The Pirates of the Caribbean series). Some anachronistic things would be present though
Weapons: all of the Turtles' weapons might as well be different since this is already such a departure from the norm. Leo would have one big-ass anime sword; Raph would have a big metal gauntlet with knuckle spikes on his right hand and wield a wicked dagger in his left; Mikey would have a long rope or chain with a hammer/pickaxe-type head on the end, to either grapple enemies/objects, impale them, or smack them with the blunt end (just watch that fight scene from Shanghai Noon where Jackie Chan fights with a horseshoe tied to a rope; it would basically be like that); Donnie would have his bo staff... but get this, it's also a long bow (get it? Long bow, bo staff? Whatever, I think it's cool ) And while his weapon isn't as drastically different as his brothers', I would want emphasis placed on Donnie’s attitude towards his weapon. Donnie recognizes that his greatest asset isn't his bow/staff but his mind, therefore he doesn't get upset if he has to leave it behind or it breaks because he knows it's easily replaced, sort of an "easy come, easy go" type of Buddhist mentality, to forego attachment to and desire for physical things.
Other than that, the personalities of the Turtles themselves are in-line with the generally agreed-upon ones, but they're very balanced. They wouldn't be caricatures where Leo is never anything but the stoic, serious leader, Raph is nothing but the angry hothead, Donnie is nothing but the nerdy tech wiz and Mikey is nothing but the annoying goofball. They'd all be a bit on the carefree and good-natured side but they'd all have their share of individualities to set them apart, too.

Anyways that's my AU TMNT pitch, I've been thinking it over for a while. I have another one that's like a noir/sci-fi B-movie take on the TMNT, it's much more traditional; I'll post it later

[neatoman]

It's actually kind of hard to come up with an AU concept for TMNT. It's just kind of too crazy of a franchise to begin with, you can basically shove anything into it without needing too much of an explaination.

[Powder]

Originally Posted by neatoman

It's actually kind of hard to come up with an AU concept for TMNT. It's just kind of too crazy of a franchise to begin with, you can basically shove anything into it without needing too much of an explaination.

I came up with this in 2014-



"Basically, the idea here is that their story would take place in 16th century feudal Japan. Their sensei, is Hamato Yoshi, a wise old monk, who raised them at his monastery, in secret. They're not mutants, but rather guardians of the earth, sent by the gods. (I suppose he'd find them down by the river, in weird glass egg-like orbs, as infants.) Yoshi keeps them hidden, for fear of their safety, but trains them physically, & shapes their minds in the higher arts. Splinter is a mere pet rat, one who Donatello keeps with him at almost all times. Donnie would be the outcast of the group, keeping to himself, often silent. Leo is his traditional Bushido self, but also a spiritual guide/healer. Raph's the muscle. Still very much the enforcer of the group (in battle, at least), but despite his harsh appearance, he's more of a gentle giant. Mikey is a sort of Sumo/Chef/Calligraphist. More defensive than offensive. Rather than pizza, they go nuts over riceballs. I'd like to flesh this out more & make a comic of it someday, but who knows. It'd be sorta like Souls Winter meets Usagi Yojimbo."

http://fav.me/d7nmogq

[PApagreg]

I sort of want to see TMNT in certain Battle Shonen universes like Naruto or One Piece. For Naruto maybe they are from a clan that are known for its members having reptile like skin/features or maybe in the One Piece verse they are from different parts of the world. Donnie is an aspering engineer/Scientist who wants to work with Vegapunk, Mikey wants to explore the world and have adventures, Raph wants to be a Marine and fight pirates, and Leo wants to go to Wano and learn how to be a better Swordsman.

Also I want to see an Avatar the Last Airbender au

[Ninjinister]

A version where they exist in a world where they have a fanbase and have to deal with it.

[Utrommaniac]

Oh boy, I've talked about this a bunch and now I finally have an appropriate place to put it.

The initial concept:
Splinter and the turtles were deliberately mutated, and Hamato Yoshi's death was an accident.

I haven't put together how the death was an accident yet, but I do have an idea of how the deliberate mutation goes down.

Spoiler:

The Utroms have been at war with the Triceratons on and off, and have are in another engagement. Seeking warriors strong enough to combat them, they go to Earth where they can research safely and make new warriors out of some of Earth's animals most similar to the Triceratons.

Splinter is Specimen 0 as a test subject, and he is entrusted to the care of the Utrom Guardian Hamato Yoshi of the Foot Clan, as well as his wife Tang Shen, the scientist giving him mutagenic injections.
The testing goes surprisingly well; Splinter learned martial arts at the same time as the injections, and was able to show combative prowess before he developed the ability to speak.

Soon, General Krang of the Utroms decides he's had enough with "playing around with rodents" and demands actual warriors. Conveniently, Splinter is practically human mentally and so full of admiration for Yoshi and Shen that he wants his own students to honor them.
They almost go for an albino alligator that the Utrom scientists found in the sewers, but when it's mutated, it imprints on the scientist that found it. So, Hamato Yoshi brought Splinter four turtles instead.

In three years, the turtles were mutated to bipedal and speech capacity, and Splinter's mental development was nearly complete.

Oroku Saki comes around and gets into a fight with Yoshi, which results in a fire. Splinter flees with into the sewers with the turtles, as they were nearest to him, and returns in hopes of saving Yoshi and his family, but arrived too late. The home was gone, and he saw the Utroms investigating the damage.

This is where I think I get a little sloppy, since instead of going to the Utroms for help, he decides to strike out on his own with his turtles.
Which of course makes Krang unhappy, as the blueprints for his soldiers have gone missing. And of course, he takes his anger out on Saki, whose temper resulted in years of research disappearing in a puff of smoke.


There is one situation that is worse than the Triceratons and the Utroms being at war with each other, and is even a result of their war.

The Triceratons and Utroms abandoned a planet they had been warring over, leaving room for a new Malignoid Queen to establish her hive. Over the years,
the Malignoids restored the planet to its former glory, except for one problem:
the war caused an environment for a cordyceps-like fungus to flourish and begin to infect Malignoid drones. At first, the planet was contained to prevent the infected Malignoids from escaping, but now those efforts are beginning to wither.

All the while, the turtles know nothing of their origins, nothing of the Utroms.
Only that their Master Splinter's beloved parents was murdered by 'the Shredder' - or so he believed.

(Also, 'the Shredder' isn't Saki's official codename, it's just what Splinter thought of Saki as because of his armor.)

[dragonside]

Those above are some really cool ideas.


Putting in my two cents...

I'd like an adventure series, where the four brothers are separated when they are young. I'd like them to be adopted by different teachers teaching them something different. Then Master Splinter looking for his lost sons and bringing them together to become a team. With Leo being the only son he was able to recover.

In terms of the setting for this. I'd enjoy an alternate kind of reality, where there are modern and classic things mixed (kind of like One Piece actually).
I'd like the age of Samurai warriors mixed with major technological advancements. Maybe even a remix of the renaissance age.

and of course with every great adventure, they need a goal. I guess the goal for this one would be family and revenge/justice.

Maybe the fight against an illuminati type organization.

[neatoman]

Alright, despite my misgivings, an idea just cross my mind. What if you had all the characters, except the Turtles themselves? What would happen and how would the conflict be resolved?

[Powder]

Originally Posted by neatoman

What if you had all the characters, except the Turtles themselves?

You'd have the IDW series, these days.

I kid, of course. S'a good book.

[CyberCubed]

The problem with alternate universe TMNT stories....is it feels like every other concept has ALREADY been done in canon.


1. Turtles with magical/mystical powers? Done in 2k3 Season 5 and now the 2018 cartoon.

2. Turtles in the future? Done twice, with Archie's Cyber Turtles and then Fast Forward.

3. Turtles in a cyberspace? Done in Back to the Sewers.

4. Turtles globe-trotting around the world? Done in the Archie comics.

5. Turtles in space? Done constantly in every series.

6. Turtles in Feudal Japan? Done countless times.

7. Turtles being actual superheroes with powers? Done in Mirage with the SuperTurtles, and the 2k3 series also adapted them for one episode in Season 3.

etc.


It almost feels like any concept you can think of, has already been done in some form already.

[sdp]

Alien Turtles and a White Shredder.

[Original TMNT Cartoon Fan]

Originally Posted by CyberCubed

The problem with alternate universe TMNT stories....is it feels like every other concept has ALREADY been done in canon.


1. Turtles with magical/mystical powers? Done in 2k3 Season 5 and now the 2018 cartoon.

2. Turtles in the future? Done twice, with Archie's Cyber Turtles and then Fast Forward.

3. Turtles in a cyberspace? Done in Back to the Sewers.

4. Turtles globe-trotting around the world? Done in the Archie comics.

5. Turtles in space? Done constantly in every series.

6. Turtles in Feudal Japan? Done countless times.

7. Turtles being actual superheroes with powers? Done in Mirage with the SuperTurtles, and the 2k3 series also adapted them for one episode in Season 3.

etc.


It almost feels like any concept you can think of, has already been done in some form already.

The turtles visiting various places doesn't make them alternate.

[MsMarvelDuckie]

Or- this....

https://www.fanfiction.net/s/9377718/1/Love-Is-Shell

Features most of the characters we've come to know, from every version from Mirage through FW, IDW, 2k3, Nick, and even the movies. I tried to mix the best elements and ideas from every version, along with a few of my own. Such as altering backgrounds of a few characters like Chet Allen being human, or having Kazuo end up as an antagonist aftee Saki is defeated, or having Bishop indirectly reponsible for forming the Mutanimals by hunting mutants for government experiments, causing Hob to lead a mutant revolution. Or a new character named Corvos who is a former scientist at Stock-Tronics.

[FredWolfLeonardo]

How about this?

The year is 4000 something, and humanity has advanced till a point where it no longer depends on nature for survival and has given themselves superpowers that has given them complete dominance over nature.

A few animals however, have managed to survive despite all odds being stacked against them. Among these is a rat named Splinter who resided in Japan with his owner Hamato Yoshi.

Splinter lived a relatively quiet life with his owner Yoshi,who was fond of learning ninjitsu despite it having no practical use in the futuristic setting. Yoshi's dream was to change the world and restore the "real" balance of nature where humanity would live as they once did thousands of years ago.

However, Yoshi's ambition caught the attention of many, including a powerful Japanese man named Oroku Saki, whose goals and ambitions were the polar opposite of Yoshis, having no sympathy for those who want to strip humanity of their god-like powers. One day, Saki comes in and burns down Yoshi's house, with the aim of completely wiping out all of Yoshi's plans. However, Splinter managed to escape the tragedy and searched long and hard for a new home, struggling immensely in a world where animals were disintegrated upon sight.

Eventually, after years of searching, Splinter finds a home in one of the last sewers in the world left untouched by futuristic humanity below New York, finding four baby turtles along the way and raising them as his sons. One day, they are mutated and gain human like intelligence, using their newfound sentience to learn the art of ninjitsu and use it to survive against all odds against an ever increasingly hostile world of superhumans.

[AnarkyLantern]

There’s this Jane Austen turtleverse on tumblr that’s actually pretty cool too... My pitch is a shared Gargoyles/TMNT world. Maybe with Lexington dating one of the turtles idk

[MsMarvelDuckie]

Actially, I've done that. Its part of the AU I linked to above. Lex doesn't date any turtles, but I did end up pairing him with Griff. And Lex and Donnie become tech-buddies, while the two clans team up to stop Demona from destroying the city with the Sword of Nowhere and a page from the Grimoram, while Hun goes out hunting for the turtles' lair and blows up the garage where they keep the van.

[pferreira]

Have four teens dosed with mutagen while in contact with Turtles. When they feel adrenaline or a call to action they transform into the TMNT!

[TurtleWA]

Just noticed this thread. Has a prequel been done or suggested before? Something that ends with the pet shop. So basically the entire story the turtles would not be mutants.

[Utrommaniac]

I'm working the "prequel" in my own concept, though it takes really understanding what causes the fight between Saki and Yoshi.

But it namely focuses on the science-fiction elements.

A war between the Utroms and Triceratons reigniting
The realization that the infection spreading around the Malignoids is getting far worse than anyone expected.
Krang hiring Hamato Yoshi to train his first mutant soldiers to combat the war and the Malignoid problems - and Splinter's rather slow mutation into a sapient being. Which ultimately results in his own desire to be a father and teacher by Yoshi's model.

Of course it mostly takes place from Krang's perspective because that's how I roll, but of course it would have to shift onto others.

[TurtleWA]

Sounds intriguing!

I’m thinking along the lines of how did the turtles end up in a kids bowl to be spilled down the sewer drain. Did a pet shop hatch the turtles in the back room? Did someone gather them from the wild and sell them to the shop? How long did they live in the wild and what was it like? Obviously they can’t talk because they are only ordinary turtles at this point. However entertaining things can still take place. They could still have known character traits present among others ingredients that we associate with TMNT.