Dawn of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles is an American animated series designed as another new take on the TMNT franchise, with a few major changes as well as both returning characters from all over the franchise and new faces too. The series has forty episodes per season.
Synopsis[]
Four young turtles have been raised by a wise rat known as Master Splinter as they choose to reveal themselves as they defend New York from a plethora of threats and menaces while making a sizable group of friends and allies, soon starting to uncover secrets like what the Foot Clan is and the source of the mutagen.
Characters[]
Main[]
- Leonardo "Leo" (voiced by Zeno Robinson) - the focused and brave but sometimes insecure leader of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles who was trained to lead his brothers in combat as he often tries to make sure that his brothers are doing right and are capable of defending New York. He fights using both two katanas as well as shuriken, although he can easily learn on the fly in combat.
- Raphael "Raph" (voiced by Aleks Le) - an aggressive and fight loving but sometimes overprotective turtle who likes disobeying orders but has a heart of gold, hating it whenever he sees any of his friends in danger and is fully willing to fight alongside his brothers in combat. He fights using both two Sais for aggressive close combat but also a Kusarigama occasionally to bring enemies to him.
- Michaelangelo "Mikey" (voiced by A.J. Beckles) - a goofy and silly turtle who absolutely loves telling jokes and making everyone just smile and laugh, being considered to be the heart of his team as he absolutely loves talking and socializing, being the polar opposite of Donnie, with his compassion being a powerful weapon. He fights using both a pair of nunchucks as well as a bow and arrow occasionally for ranged fighting.
- Donatello "Donnie" (voiced by Jack Quaid) - an antisocial yet intelligent turtle who serves as the team's inventor, usually shoving his head in electronics to get away from other people, with initially his brothers and Splinter being the only real ones he wants to talk to, but he begins to open up to others. He fights using both a bo-staff and a plethora of gadgets he creates himself.
Supporting[]
- Hamato Yoshi/Splinter (voiced by Daisuke Tsuji) - a former member of the Foot Clan thirty years ago who fled from Japan to New York City, where he fell into mutagen after saving a group of turtles from getting hit from a truck. He now serves as the mentor to the Turtles, seeing them as his sons as he can be wise and nurturing but can also be strict and overprotective when needed.
- April O'Neil (voiced by Cristina Vee) - a geeky and nerdy scientist who used to work for TCRI as she uncovers the Turtles and becomes friends with them, being allowed to live with them at the Lair, being quite a useful ally when the time comes, with her intellect not being on the same level as Donnie's but makes her quite useful in certain situations when she might need to be helpful.
- Cassandra "Casey" Jones (voiced by Marisha Ray) - a combative, aggressive and insane yet shockingly friendly mechanic who moonlights as a masked vigilante as she absolutely loathes authority and befriends the Turtles and April, having a friendly rivalry with Raph. She fights using sports equipment and is known for never backing down from a fight, even when they are not in her favor at all.
- Angel Bridges/Nobody (voiced by Erica Lindbeck) - an aggressive and brash preteen who Casey watched over during her youth as she starts the series having joined the Purple Dragons gang, with Casey soon convincing her to abandon the Purple Dragons. Now she serves as a sidekick to Casey by the nickname of Nobody and can sometimes playfully mess with the Turtles as well, starting to see them as friends.
- Agent John Bishop (voiced by Matthew Mercer) - a no-nonsense yet focused and disciplined special agent of the U.S. government, and head of the Earth Protection Force who initially viewed the Turtles as a threat, until they proved themselves by handling one of Krang's schemes, for which Bishop soon becomes an ally for them. It is revealed that he was born during the Civil War and was experimented on by a time displaced Krang, growing a hatred of aliens.
- Mako Shirabe (voiced by Kaiji Tang) - a shark mutant who initially started as a samurai for the Foot Clan, having sworn allegiance to the Foot to "pay off a blood debt" as when Mikey showed kindness to him, Mako began to doubt his allegiances and quits the Foot, becoming a wandering vigilante and occasionally aids the Turtles in fighting threats.
- Azokk (voiced by Alex Rochon) - a peaceful and well-meaning member of the Triceratons, a race of militaristic humanoid Triceratops-like aliens, who seeks to bring about peace between his people and other planets, soon learning of Earth, and befriending the Turtles, becoming their ally against threats, having been exiled from the Triceratons for being weak and considered a runt of the litter, battling using cybernetics and not the brute strength that the Triceratons naturally have.
Antagonists[]
- Oroku Saki/The Shredder (voiced by Noshir Dalal) - the cold and terrifying leader of the Foot Clan who recently arrived in New York to take it over as he is a terrifyingly efficient martial artist with no real weaknesses, which makes him terrifying when the Turtles have to face him. He has no tolerance for failure and is willing to hurt his own subordinates, being considered to be a man without a heart.
- Oroku Karai/Alopex (voiced by Judy Alice Lee) - the Shredder's mission focused yet shockingly prideful and boastful daughter who leads numerous operations of the Foot Clan as she begins to clash with the Turtles, finding them to be annoying for ruining her father's schemes, fighting using a naginata and is great at both stealth and flat out combat. She is loyal to her father, believing that his rule will be what New York deserves, refusing to betray her father, to the point that later during season 1, she willingly mutates herself into a fox mutant under the nickname of Alopex to prove herself to her father.
- Baxter Stockman (voiced by Gabe Kunda) - an egotistical and cocky multibillionaire who is the CEO of the robotics company known as StockGen as he secretly works under the Shredder, using his tech to help bolster the Foot's forces, secretly planning on betraying the Shredder. Although his plans for betrayal are quickly found out by Karai who begins cutting off parts of Baxter's body when he disobeys the Foot, with Baxter soon becoming far more of a horrifying mess of machinery than a human, although this does mean that he can face the Turtles in combat.
- Tiger Claw (voiced by Isaac C. Singleton Jr.) - a brutal and mission focused tiger mutant who serves the Shredder as one of his many enforcers, being a master of many martial arts and soon becomes a dangerous threat to the Turtles, fighting with only his bare hands and sees the Turtles as the only fight that is worth his attention.
- Chromedome - an emotionless and silent android created by Baxter Stockman which has the combat prowess of all the Turtles as well as Shredder and Tiger Claw as it is often sent out on missions for the Foot Clan to hunt after and destroy the Turtles, being quite a dangerous and terrifying adaptive threat that the Turtles need to adapt to in order to beat.
- Krang/Eric Stacks (voiced by Troy Baker) - a scientist who used to work for the pacifistic Utrom race until he believed that the Utroms should use their gift of the Ooze as a weapon to enslave planets, fleeing to Earth and forming TCRI under the pseudonym of Eric Stacks. He serves as a calculating and dangerous threat to the Turtles, wanting to study them and potentially bring them to his side.
- Seymour Gutz/Mutagen Man (voiced by Alejandro Saab) - a charismatic yet sinister scientist working for TCRI who was April's direct boss when she was working at TCRI as he learns of the Turtles and is mutated by his own employer into becoming a horrifying nexus of mutagen, being a terrifying and horrific threat for the Turtles to face.
- Slash (voiced by Sam Riegel) - a genetic clone of all four of the Turtles mixed into one body who is a brutal and mindless monster that serves as a "lap dog" for Krang and TCRI, only living to make his master happy as he begins to clash with the Turtles and other threats to Krang on many occasions, being shockingly efficient.
- Arnold Jones/The Hun (voiced by Jason Marnocha) - Casey's cold and violent father who leads the gang known as the Purple Dragons as he offers his services to anyone who pays him, doing jobs for factions like the Foot Clan or TCRI. He sees Casey as a weakling for refusing to join his side and soon learns of the Turtles, which he can sometimes easily face in combat.
- Genealdo Zeck and Maxence Sterankos/Bebop and Rocksteady (voiced by Daveed Diggs and Samoa Joe) - two enforcers for the Purple Dragons who at the start of the series mutated into a warthog and a rhino as Bebop is intelligent and cocky at times while Rocksteady is an idiotic wall of muscles, with the duo often sent on missions for the Hun, sometimes being dangerous and sometimes being a joke.
- Grand General Mozar (voiced by Ben Starr) - an aggressive and ruthless high-ranking general of the Triceraton Empire who is sent by his masters to hunt after Azokk, soon discovering Earth and deems it as a perfect place to conquer for the Triceraton Empire. He battles with his own brute strength, not caring about technology as he becomes a dangerous threat to the Turtles and gains a rivalry with Krang as well, seeing the Utrom conqueror as a threat to Triceraton rule.
- The Rat King (voiced by Michael Emerson) - an enigmatic and mysterious ancient God of Rats who sees himself as an emissary of order and control, being capable of enslaving minds as he takes the form of a man wrapped in bandages and is considered to be quite terrifying and horrifying to the Turtles, with his presence haunting the Turtles.
- Hypnopotamus (voiced by John DiMaggio) - a former professional hypnotist and thief who mutated into a giant hippopotamus as he now chooses to use his hypnotic prowess and strength as a hippo to commit even greater crimes, being a somewhat recurring and annoying threat that the Turtles face sometimes.