TMNT: Family Issues/Tropes


 * Actor Allusion: This is the second time Diamond White voices a young teenage superhero genius in an animated series based on a comic book.
 * Adorkable: Mei / Diana is just a cute little dork.
 * Adaptational Angst Upgrade: Mei is shown grieving her father and trying to find a new family in the turtles, two missing things from her original version. Her taking Leo's place dyring the "Silent Partner" storyline and the Northampton amd Return to New York storylines only furthers this.
 * Adaptation Distillation: Season 2 loosely adapts the City at War and City Falls story arcs, while its finale is a near direct adaptation of "Silent Night". Season 3 is a direct adaptation of the Return to New York arc. According to the writers, they choose to be more faithful to the comics in hopes of avoiding similarities with the 2012 series, which also adapted the latter two stories as the season 2 finale and the first half of season 3.
 * Adaptation Name Change: Or nickname. This version of Mei Peih Chi is nickamed "Diana" instead of "Venus de Milo", due to the Unfortunate Implications of naming a female character after an object.
 * Adaptation Personality Change:
 * Mei goes from a non-nonsense Team Mom to an excitable dork akin to Starfire from Teen Titans (2003). She also constantly uses metaphors wereas her original version was Literal-Minded.
 * Ace Duck here is a cocky and suave pilot who neverthless has good intentions.
 * Adaptation Relationship Overhaul: April in the series works alongside the Utroms as a scientist (and a paid one at that), which never happened in prior incarnations.
 * Adult Fear: In this version, Splinter didn't just "missed" Mei, he lost her. As a baby.
 * Audience Surrogate: Mei serves as this for audiences unfamiliar with the franchise, being a new individual unaware of the Turtles' allies, enemies, personalitues, abd experiences, much like how first-time viewers who are being intrudiced to the franchise througth this show are most likely unaware of TMNT mythology and lore beyond the basics.
 * Author's Saving Throw:
 * The series noticeably fixes many errors found in Mei's debut show, Ninja Turtles: The Next Mutation:
 * Mei is given a far more memorable personality and a stronger, less romance-focused, character arc that fits within the franchise's themes of family bonds. She is also potrayed in equal footing with the rest of the Turtles. And, to further avoid any romantic story wuth her, Diana explicitly says early in the series that she is aromantic.
 * Fans complained over Mei having no idea of western pop culture as a Dead Horse Trope. This series goes the opposite way by having Mei learning English by watching TV and her adoptive father translating the shows for her.
 * April and Mei appear together on this series, aliveniating complains of Mei being a Replacement Scrappy for April.
 * Many fans felt Splinter "missing" Mei was an Ass Pull. This series provides a better explication for her absence: She fell off into the sewers' waters and Splinter failed to find her after days of searching.
 * The Shredder is the series main antagonist, fixing a big sore spot TMNT fans had with The Next Mutation.
 * Fans also decried her having boobs to distinguish her as female, which this series thankfully avoids by having her design be based on real-life female turtles.
 * Fans also felt Mei was a Creator's Pet, defeating the Shredder and the entire Foot Clan single handedly in one fight when none of the Turtles could after years of war, and geberally being the Only Sane Woman in the group. This version is not only given a flaw in the form of her low social skills, but she goes througth some serious emotional drama due to grieving her father and later Splinter being possesed. The fact that she is the one who is beaten by the Shredder and left in a coma instead of Leonardo further avoids this.
 * While generally well-received, Rise of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles received a few complains for having Raphael to be less angry than usual. This series goes back to his angry potrayal while still showing him to be openly affectionate of his family. Same goes for Splinter, who is once again potrayed in his traditional personality while also being as much of a father to the team as a sensei.
 * After having two series in a row with Splinter as Hamato Yoshi, this series goes back to potraying him as Yoshi's pet, much to the rejoice of fans who were getting tired of him and Yoshi being the same.
 * Fans were admitedly confused at Leo mistrusting vigilantes due to them being vigilantes themselves. This series has Leo state he does not trust Nobody not due to her vigilantism, but because he knows nothing about her, which comes off as more reasonable.
 * Awesome Moments: The series starts with the Turtles having fought the Foot Ckan for three years and it shows! They are skilled enough that they are already a match for the Shredder!
 * Mei herself isn't too far behind. She admitedly hasn't been in many group fights and still has enough skills to survive her first fight with Shredder.
 * A villanous example: The Turtles may be skilled enough to fight him, but the Shredder is still a very credible threat.
 * Big Bad Duumvirate: Shredder and Krang. The Rat King joins them in season 2.
 * Breaking Old Trends: Whereas Leonardo and Raphael are usually the main Turtles in orevious adaptations, the series instead puts more focus on Mei Peih Chi from The Next Mutation and Michaelangelo.
 * Celebrity Voice Actor:
 * Michael Keaton as the Rat King.
 * Jeremy Renner as Casey Jones.
 * Martin Freeman as Agent Bishop
 * Miles Teller as Ace Duck
 * Composite Character:
 * Leatherhead is potrayed as a scientist like his 2003 counterpart but is Michaelangelo's best friend like his 2012 self.
 * Shredder's design combines elements of the 2003 show's Cyber-Shredder with his 2012 design, while also having red clothings like his Mirage Comics counterpart.
 * Krang's personality is generally in line with Krang One from Rise of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: The Movie, he retains his backstory as an exiled warlord and association with the Shredder from the 1980s cartoon. His obsession with destroying the Utroms also makes him similar to Chr'ell from the 2003 series.
 * The Turtle Van in this series features weapinry and equipment much more akin to the 2012 series' Shellraiser.
 * Karai in this version is one of the Foot Clan leaders from Japan and is an ally of the Turtles from the beginning with no relation to the Shredder, just like the Mirage version, but she is a mutant snake like her 2012 self.
 * Splinter's role as the Shredder's brainwashed soldier is based on that of Leo in the IDW comics' City Falls arc.
 * Bishop is a human goverment agent as sin 2003, but keeps the good intentions of his 2012 self.
 * Mei takes Leo's place in the "Silent Partner" and Return to New York arcs as the one who is left in a come by the Foot and is unsure about returning to the city to stop Shredder and his allies.
 * Dramatic Irony: During her first dinner with the Turtles, Mei lightheartedly mocks the Turtles "believing" in the Shredder. Whom the other four already faced, unknowbest to her.
 * Establishing Character Moments: The firdt episode sees Splinter leading a training season with the Turtles, which he ends by asking who wants to watch a movie, establishing this Splinter as a responsible sensei and a relaxed father to the team.
 * Foreshadowing: One of the names in April's phone is "Casey".
 * Funny Moments:
 * In episode 1, Diana / Mei exclaims she will search the city for her brothers even if it means spending her entire life looking for them in a dramatic speech.... before hearing them in a rooftop nearby.
 * The sheer contrast between the Turtles eating oizza and Mei eating her ramen. Like day and night.
 * When Nobody meets Diana, her reaction is not that of fear, but instead of scientific curiosity. As in, she invades her personal space and asks her a ,illion questions while scanning her.
 * Gratuitous Chinese: Mei generally talks English, but she does slip back to Chinese (her first language) when extremely emotional.
 * Heartwarming Moments:
 * A flashback narrated by Mei has her adoptive father training her. The moment is cute, and you can tell why Mei loved him so much.
 * The fact that, througth the series, the Turtles make an effort to accept Mei abd try to make her feel welcome. Is really nice to have the Turtles do their best to accept her as part of the family, instead of treating her poorly as one would expect from these type of stories.
 * While Raph still has his anger issues and can be a bit of a jerk at times, the moment he sees he made a mistake he geniunely tries to make up for it.
 * Following the footsteps of ROTTMNT, Splinter in this version is more than happy to spent time with the Turtles doing father-children activities such as watching movies instead of just training them.
 * During the season one finale, Mei saves Mikry from falling to his death while calling him "little brother".
 * Their relationship from the start is rather sweet. Mei never treats Mikey bad, loves to spent time with him, finds his antic geniuenely funny instead of annoying, and even trusts her own life on him. Mikey, on the other hand, is easily the most eager to accept Mei into the family.
 * When Mikey is consumed by self-doubt and how people see him as a goofball, Mei tells him he is not a goofball to her and that he has a lot of talent as a ninja.
 * Whenever Mikey suffers any sort of injury, Mei is the first one to go help him.
 * In one episode, when Mei asks Raph to be careful with her Tonfas, he realizes her father gave them, and empathically vows to take care of them.
 * After Splinter talks to Mei about his Master Yoshi's death and is left crying, Mei hugs in comfort his new adoptive father. This underlines the uniqueness of Splinter's relationship with Mei not only within the series, but across most TMNT incarnations. As either Hamato Yoshi or a mutated rat, Splinter ended up losing what he held dear the most forever, and he had to deal with that alone, for none he met lost as much or for that long. Here, however, has a daughter who knows exactly wjat he has gone througth.
 * The relationship between Mei snd her late father is touching. He never cared that she was adopted or a mutant. As far as he was concerned, Mei was his daughter.
 * The season one finale has Mei exclaiming the iconic phrase "I love being a turtle" while fighting alongside her new family. To contextualize, the TMNT are always refered by everybody as "the turtles". This is Mei exclaiming that she loves being a part of her new family.
 * By season 2, Mei feels comfartable enough with Splinter that she nonchatantly calls him dad.
 * It's Personal: Mei develops a personal grudge towards the Rat King after he brainwashes Splinter.
 * Jerk With a Heart of Gold: As usual, Raphael takes this one. Througth there's a bit more enphasis on the "Heart of Gold" part than the "Jerk" part.
 * Mythology Gag:
 * Mei is depicted as being from a different type of turtle than the rest, similar to how each Turtle came from a different species in Rise of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles.
 * Donnie's survailance equipment is similar to the one in the Michael Bay films
 * The first episode is titled "East Meets West", the same title as the fifth-part pilot for Ninja Turtles: The Next Mutation. Mei at one point wears a hoodie similar to the one she wore during the pilot. The opening narration also features the line "four green turtles. Changed to mutants by an ooze", the first lyrics from the show's theme song.
 * Mei in this version uses tonfas as weapons, a nod to Mikey using them in her debut series. She also has a white bandana, just like April when she was mutated into a Turtle in the Archie comics.
 * Mei learned English from her father translating shows in English to her. In Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (1987), the Turtles learned from the outside world througth TV.
 * Mei's arrival on New York is similar to a deleted scene from the 1990 film.
 * The Turtles' first scene has them facing off against the Purple Dragons. This is lifted straight from the Mirage comics.
 * Before starting a battle, Leonardo shouts "Turtles! Fight with honor!", his catchphrase from the 1987 series.
 * April says she met the Turtles after they saved her from a group of Mousers, much like in the Mirage comics and the 2003 series.
 * Donnie in this version creates his inventions by combining Utrom technology with trash. One of these is a portal gun with a cow head for shotgun, in reference to Cudley from the Archie comics.
 * The way Mickey introduces the Turtles to Mei is similar to when he untroduced the team to Casey in Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Out of the Shadows. Additionally, each introduction features a line from the previous four animated shows: He refers to Leo as "the leader in blue", a line from the 2012 theme song; for Raph he says "you can always count on him to throw first punch", whoch iskifted from the 2003 theme; Mikey also says Donnie "rocks machines", which is how the Rise theme described him; and he refers to himself as "the party dude", a nod tp the 1980s theme.
 * The sewer lair features an arcade, much like in Rise of the Tednage Mutant Ninja Turtles, as well as a sign saying "Sewer, Sweet Sewer", much like in the 2003 show.
 * One of the games in the arcade is Soda Jerks, a videogame featured in the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Saturday Morning Adventures comics, while another one resembles Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Tournament Fighters.
 * The battle cry Diana comes up with? Turtle Power!
 * Before attacking Mei, Shredder proclaims "she's not living this place... alive", a nod to C'hrell's catchphrase in the 2003 series. He also says "prepare to find out why they call me the Shredder", a line from the 2012 series' episode "Enemy of My Enemy".
 * While talking to Karai for the first time, Mei asks if she is related to the Shredder. She isn't... this time.
 * Mei and Karai face Baxter Stockman in a construction site, which serves as an homage to Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles IV: Turtles in Time.
 * While fighting the Shredder, Michaelangelo shouts "Cowabunga Shredhead", the title of an episode of the 1987 series.
 * Instead of mutating into a fly, Baxter Stockman wears a fly-like suit of armor, similar to an early opening for Rise of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: The Movie.
 * Raphael often uses his sai to eat pizza slices, similar to the intro for the 1980s show. He also exclaims at one point "Give me a break", which he used to say in the intro for that show.
 * The turtles' lair is below Laird district at the East side of NYC, a nod to TMNT creators Peter Laird and Kevin Eastman.
 * April in this version is shown to have a degree in science; in the original Mirage comics, April was Stockman's lab assistant.
 * One of Donnie's books is titled "The Legend of Yaotl".
 * During a fight with the Foot Clan, Mikey spins Donnie while he is on the ground in a similar manner to the fight in April's department in the 1990 film.
 * One episode sees Krang disgusing himself as the Shredder to set up a trap for the Turtles, as a nod to C'hrell from the 2003 series.
 * During the series' first fight, Shredder briefly attempts to kill Leonardo in a manner reminiscent of how he almost killed him in the 1990 film.
 * The Rat King's appearance is reminiscent of his 2012 self.
 * At one point, Splinter talks to Mei in a manner reminiscent of when he talked to Raph in the 1990 film.
 * Mei's turtle tot design is inspired by the Turtles' infabt selves in the 2003 series.
 * According to Mei, she wore human wardrobes whenever she wanted to leave her home as a child. This is a call-back to the Turtles wearing trenchcoats in the 1980s series and wearing similar wardrobe as children in the 2003 series' episode "The Lesson".
 * The opening door the Turtle Van exits the sewers from a wall with a graffiti that says "Go Green Machine", a catchphrase from the 1980s series. Another graffiti with the name "Carter" can also be spotted,
 * The flashbacks are shown in a yellow colorization, reminiscent of the 2003 series.
 * Diana meets Nobody as she attacks some crooks in an alley, which is how Casey and Raphael usually meet. Nobody later asks Mei if she is from outer space, an obvious nod to the infamous leaked script for the 2014 film that potrayed Splinter and the Turtles as aliens. When Mei chooses to trust her, Nobody asks if she can sense when somebidy is telling the truth, to which Nobody says "No. This is just me trusting my gut", the dialogue being reminiscent of one between Splinter and Leonardo during the third episode of the 2003 series.
 * A meta example: Jeremy Renner voices Casy Jones. This isn't the first time Casey is voiced by an Avenger.
 * The season 3 finale has Mei saving Splinter from captivity in a spiritual realm, just as in The Next Mutation.
 * Nightmare Fuel:
 * The Shredder full stop. His ruthless personality and horrifyimg design almost makes him look like a horror movie villain.
 * His first scene is pretty damn terrifying. He is caught entering a building. A guard orders him to put his hands up. He merely responds "Alright", followed by a shot of his gauntlet. We then cut to black, with only the sound of his blades activating being the only audible thing. This gets even worse when you realize we never find out if the guard died or not. If he didn't, then what happened to him?
 * The first battle has the Shredder and Leonardo fighting each other with the same skill, but Shredder eventually gets the upperhand and almost beheads Leonardo had not Mei intervened, making clear to audiences that these Turtles may be more at Shredder's level, but he is still someome you don't wanna as your enemy.
 * What follows is the Shredder attacking Mei. The whole scene feels like something out of a slasher film. And, while her skills allow Mei to survive, that is by an inch. One wrong move, and she is Turtle soup.
 * Mei finding out the Shredder exists can be considered one. Imagine hearing from your dad about a boogeyman few have survived fighting against. Now imagine discovering that boogeyman is real and not only is as dangerous as you've heard, but has been targeting your family for years. And now, just for being a part of the family, will also target you.
 * There's also a strong difference between him and most Shredders when he fights: He dosen't sounded determimed to kill his opponents, but glee at the chance of doing so.
 * This version explains with more details how Mei was seprated from the Turtles: She wandered off and fell into the sewers' water. Splinter spent days searching for her and didn't found her. An all too real fear for any parent.
 * Apparentky, mutations by themselves are harmless. The results? Not so much. One of the mutants Krang created went from a redbird to what can be described as if H.R. Lovecraft made Jurassic Park.
 * Rahzar. The Secret of the Ooze claimed that a being as powerful as him was less dangerous with the mind of a baby. This show proves that wrong, and points out that such power controlled by someone with zero emotional or psychological intelligence can result dangerous thanks to a temper tantrum (just ask the Hulk). Add in some animal instincts, and we got a very terrifying mutant.
 * Leatherhead's Unstoppable Rages are still terrifying. His anger issues mean he can change from a mellow fellow to an unstoppable death machine unable to tell friend from foe and who, unless calmed down, might kill you.
 * This version of the Rat King is... not pretty to look at. Even the 2012 version had enough human-like appearamce (and time onscreen before being disfigured) that could tell you he is human. This version looks like a zombie. And then there is his voice, which comes from the same man who played one of the most scary superheroes of all time...
 * The revelation that his control in this version is by taking his victims' souls captive in the spirit realm while their bodies become part of a hive mind while retaining their skills makes him even worse.
 * The entire final scene for season 1 is enough to elicit a Mass "Oh Crap" for TMNT fans: The Shredder, the Turtles' archenemy, and Krang, the TMNT's most technologically-advanced foe, join forces with the Rat King, the one villain that can easily harm the Turtles where it hurts...
 * Splinter under the Rat King's control. We've seen this a thousand times before. However, the fact that Splinter literally isn't inside there while his bodies still has his skills makes it far more terrifying, because the Turtles can't get him to snap out of it.
 * Reffited for the Sequel: The udea of govermwnt agents chasing the Turtles was conceoved for Season 2 of The Next Mutation, but the show was ultimately cancelled. This series ends up somewhat using the idea.
 * Rescued From the Scrappy Heap:
 * Mei / Venus was easily one of the most controversial TMNT characters ever, with many feeling she was nothing more than a poor Replacement Scrappy for April. This series won a few fans over by recpntextualizing her as an Adorkable badass girl who just wants to fit in with her newly-discovered brothers, as well as by adfing further depth to her character by showing her grieving for her adopted father's passing and how the Turtles are everything she has left.
 * Ace Duck is the one character all TMNT fans hate, deeming him as superflous and his personality being uninteresting. This version wound up changing those opinions, with many liking him for being a Jerk Woth a Beart of Gold and an Awesome Ego and how this version feels less useless by being an expert pilot who dosen't serve as the Turtles' personal pilot, instead simply using a jet as his main mode of transportation.
 * Role Reprise:
 * From Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles:
 * Greg Cipes as Michaelangelo
 * Phil LaMarr as Baxter Stockman
 * From Rise of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles:
 * Eric Bauza as Splinter
 * Jim Pirri as Krang
 * Hun Lee as Shredder
 * Running Gag: Karai shedding off her skin, which leads to some hilarious prob,rms regarding both skins.
 * Sequel Hook: The first season ends with the Rat King proposing to Shredder and Krang an alliance.
 * Shout-Out:
 * Mei meeting the Turtles plays similarly to Della Duck reuniting with her family in DuckTales (2017).
 * The scene where the Technodrome raises from the ocean near the end of season 1 is reminiscent of the arrival of the mothership in Independence Day.
 * Mei saving Mikey is reminiscent of when Miles Morales saved Gwen Stacy in Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse.
 * The way Keatherhead mindlessly fights the Foot-Bots while escaping from the Foot Clan is an homage to the television special Werewolf by Night.
 * Surprisingly Realistic Outcome:
 * The TMNT may be ninjas, but they are still 4 giant turtles that go around New York City every night in an era promenient in both security technology and social media. As a result, many sightings of the group have made their way online, resulting in the team becoming an Urban Legend.
 * A promenient aspect of the series is Mei having issues while adapting to live with the Turtles. Seeing how they grew up not just in differemt cultures but with different lifestyles, this was to be expected.
 * More specifically, Mei struggles with sleeping with the sound of the subway, while the other turtles not. She has moved there a few days ago and has been sleeping under different circumstances than the Turtles, who have been slepping that way since childhood.
 * One episode has Diana worried over Leo and Raph fighting. At first, it seems it have a "families always fight" message. But as it turns out, she already knew this, for she and her father often had argumebts between each other. In real life, even the most perfect families are likely to have arguments. What worried Mei was the frequency of the arguments, which is morre worrying in real life too.
 * Tearjerker:
 * After Raphael commends Diana on her fighting skills with her tonfas, she reveals her father trained her. The scene then changes to a flashback of the two lovingly training together. When the scene returns to the present. Mei is left in tears.
 * The ending of season 2. Mei is in coma. Splinter is controlled by the Rat King. And Shredder's allies are at their maximum power. The whole thing is just depressing.
 * Tempting Fate: Mei mentions at the start of episode 1 that she used to have nightmares of the Shredder coming to kill her that she dismisses as ridiculous.
 * Truer to Text:
 * The series itself is this compared to the one it draws its main concept from, The Next Mutation, with the turtles having more acvurate and traditional personalities, as well as being more rooted in characters and lore from previous media. To draw a comparation, The Next Mutation neglected to feature preexisting characters outside the Turtles, Splinter, and Shredder. This show, on the other hand, goes as far as including elements from even the IDW comics and even characters who are rarely adapted, if ever. Seasons 2 and 3 take it to the next level by adapting arcs from the Mirage and IDW comics.
 * This version of Karai is depicted as an anti-heroic leader of a faction of the Foot Clan with no relation to the Shredder, which is more akin to her original potrayal.
 * The Foot Clan as a whole is potrayed more accuretly to the comics than even the 2003 version, with Shredder being the renegate head of the Foot's New York branch and Karai being one of the Foot's heads as part of the "Council of Five" in Japan.
 * And, ironically, Mei's pitrayal is a case of tjis compared to her IDW counterpart, sticking to what was established in The Next Mutation instead of turning her into a mutant frog turned into a Turtle via Frankenstein-esque experiments as in the IDW comics.
 * Vitrolic Best Buds: Raphael's relationship with Leonardo. They bicker and argue many times but, in the end, they truly care for each other.
 * Unexpected Character:
 * The mere idea of another series starring a version of Venus de Milo, one of the most infamous TMNT characters ever, sounds really unexpected.
 * Fans were surprised to see Keno from The Secret of the Ooze appearing in the trailer as the turtles' frecuent pizza delivery boy, seeing as how he never appeared in another TMNT mefia following his debut.
 * Surprising everybody, not only does Angel from the 2003 series debutes in season 2, but she does it taking cues from her IDW incarnation. That's right, fans, Nobody is back on TV.
 * Urban Legend: According to Mei, the Shredder and the Foot are generally deemed a myth througth China.... because few fought him and lived to tell it.