Bebop and Rocksteady Discussion Thread

[CyberCubed]

No matter how many endless animal mutants we get, how many mutant villains show up, how many mutant henchmen they give Shredder like Tiger Claw, Fishface, Rahzar/Tokka, Koya, Bludgeon (from IDW), or other random mutants there are....

Bebop and Rocksteady will always be the most popular and most iconic mutant villains of the series because they were the first.











The classics.

[Mew]

Yes. They are the best mutant baddies. We should be thankful we are getting them in the Nick series, and in the 2016 movie. Nick could have just said f**k you to the fans and make a crap show with horrible one-off villains, but they try to, for the most part, develop the characters and not just make them a one-off thing. I hope Bebop and Rocksteady are not just one-off characters, but I don't think they will be in the future.

[TigerClaw]

Very true, Even if they were created strickly for the Fred Wolf series, They have been a part of pop culture for sometime, Even though they never appeared in the original comics, But they did show up in the Archie series comics.

[Netkeeper]

I've never been a big fan of them as characters. But I love their designs.

[CylonsKlingonsDaleksOhMy]

I'm glad the 4Kids show and Mirage comics never included them, because they don't belong in Mirage.

But Bebop & Rocksteady are ESSENTIAL characters in the TMNT universe, and I love them to death. The IDW series has made them even more awesome, because we finally get to see their true danger and homicidal mania. And yet, they name their sledgehammer and chainsaw... and pay for breakfast (from smashed ATMs, but hey, they're paying for breakfast). Oh, and they're not racist! (As Hob found out.)

Man, I love those doofuses.

[bushido]

Am I the only one to think they suck and are overrated ?

[IndigoErth]

I was never overly impressed with them. 'Course, I never was/have been with any villain.

But they do own a seat in the franchise that others could never have.

[*NormalGamer*]

Rocksteady and Bebop are very fun characters in the 1987 TMNT cartoon. ^_^

I think it's great that they get an appearance in the IDW comics and in the TMNT 2012 show; love to see how well they can develop them in those series; from their character backgrounds to their personalities.

[CyberCubed]

Originally Posted by bushido

Am I the only one to think they suck and are overrated ?

Compared to what, many of the generic mutants that came in after them?

I love what Nick has done with Rahzar (their version of Rahzar) and Fishface, and Tiger Claw is cool, but all the other one-off mutants are forgettable.

[shuriken]

Easliy the most memorable. And I love that they are brutal powerhouses in IDW, but indeed are dim witted menaces as well.

[CylonsKlingonsDaleksOhMy]

There have been a TON of mutants throughout the franchise, but there aren't many memorable ones.

Bebop and Rocksteady, Leatherhead, Slash.

And of course, DeviantArt tries to make an argument for the likes of Mona Lisa and Venus.

Every other mutant is usually restricted to just one series... and while there are definitely some standouts (Old Hob and Alopex from IDW; Fishface, Tiger Claw, and Dogpound/Rahzar from Nick), they haven't yet become what I would qualify as memorable.

[bushido]

Originally Posted by CyberCubed

Compared to what, many of the generic mutants that came in after them?

Why should I make a comparison ? That's what I think. Everybody love them and want to see them...except me. I admit IDW made them cool but that's the only exception for me.

[snake]

'K


tencharacters

[neatoman]

Originally Posted by bushido

Am I the only one to think they suck and are overrated ?

No I agree, I like them well enough in the IDW series but they do still kinda suck. I think the real reason they got their icon status wasn't as much because of their personalities or actions, I think it's just because they have a pretty striking design and the fact that they were in most of the episodes of the FW cartoon.

When you really think about it, they're not interesting or important characters at all. They were just dumb henchmen in the cartoon who didn't contribute anything useful, same with the Archie series except Murphy understood that so he just dropped them off an alien planet to get them out of the way. As for the IDW series... Well I did like their Micro, funniest part of the entire series, but they still don't contribute much and I get the general feeling they're just there so they can be put on covers. We don't fully know how they are in the Nick cartoon, but to me it seems they have been treated as blank slates because they have very little to do with the old characters...

In summation they're really only iconic because people remember them as part of the status quo, they only show up in modern incarnations to make the Fred Wolf fans feel comfortable.

[Netkeeper]

Yeah, IDW's version of them isn't too bad. But I never liked their characterisation in the 87 show, which would be the only reason anybody would be super attached to them as characters. I liked their designs, but I never understood why so many people went crazy for two dumbass villains.

[Kingoji]

I got into TMNT through the Fred Wolf material, and here in the UK we only got so much of that show so it never quite became the weekly mutant-fest that I understand it came to be for the rest of the world, so Bebop and Rocksteady will always be a huge part of the franchise for me. So much so that when Secret Of The Ooze came out in those halcyon pre-internet days I had no way of knowing that those two shadows on the poster WEREN'T them until getting to see the film... and being kinda disappointed that it wasn't. And their continued absence in other iterations of the franchise was something it took me quite a while to get over (I wasn't upset, exactly, it was just always strange to me). I for one an extremely happy to see them not only making such huge comebacks, but also not being treated entirely as jokes.
I've said plenty of times before that outside of the four Turtles, Ninjara is my favourite character in the franchise. If I were pushed to go further, then Bebop and Rocksteady take joint fifth.

[neatoman]

Originally Posted by Netkeeper

Yeah, IDW's version of them isn't too bad. But I never liked their characterisation in the 87 show, which would be the only reason anybody would be super attached to them as characters. I liked their designs, but I never understood why so many people went crazy for two dumbass villains.

I think the majority of people only have a really vague memory of Bebop and Rocksteady.

I went to a convention two or three years ago where two guys geeked out over Bebop and Rocksteady toys. I asked them why they liked them and they replied with "we think they're cool", to which I said "Why? All they do in the cartoon is act like children" and they admitted that they had not watched the cartoon since they were kids.

So I don't think they're attached to Bebop and Rocksteady as much as they're attached to their memory of them, which seems to be very foggy.

[turtlefanforever]

So iconic! But kinda wish they stayed solely in the OT and TF movie

[Candy Kappa]

They are fun power-house bosses, but rather lackluster in the character department. I think IDWS really did a greT job of making them into compelling characters as well as badass adversaries.

[CylonsKlingonsDaleksOhMy]

Originally Posted by neatoman

No I agree, I like them well enough in the IDW series but they do still kinda suck. I think the real reason they got their icon status wasn't as much because of their personalities or actions, I think it's just because they have a pretty striking design and the fact that they were in most of the episodes of the FW cartoon.

When you really think about it, they're not interesting or important characters at all. They were just dumb henchmen in the cartoon who didn't contribute anything useful, same with the Archie series except Murphy understood that so he just dropped them off an alien planet to get them out of the way. As for the IDW series... Well I did like their Micro, funniest part of the entire series, but they still don't contribute much and I get the general feeling they're just there so they can be put on covers. We don't fully know how they are in the Nick cartoon, but to me it seems they have been treated as blank slates because they have very little to do with the old characters...

In summation they're really only iconic because people remember them as part of the status quo, they only show up in modern incarnations to make the Fred Wolf fans feel comfortable.

Have you actually read the IDW comics? Believe me, they do more than contribute.

They totally shift the balance of power in the City Fall final fight, preventing the Turtles from claiming a full victory and forcing them into retreat; they further wreck EVERY OTHER MUTANT CHARACTER in the "New Mutant Order" storyline; and in March, it appears they will be brutally smashing Donatello to the point of total paralysis and having his consciousness downloaded to Metalhead as his only means of survival.

These guys are brutal wrecking balls of mayhem; weapons of mass destruction for Karai and Shredder to aim at the Turtles and then get out of the way as they destroy everything in their paths. They've survived gang fights, electrocution, gunfire, and collapsing buildings. They are DEATH INCARNATE.

Okay, maybe that's a little much. But they're totally badass, wicked dangerous, and pretty damn funny to boot.