History SoYouWantTo / WriteTheNextTMNT

Each turtle had a distinct weapon: [[EveryJapaneseSwordIsAKatana sword]], sai, bo, nunchucks. They're not the weapons that the American audience is used to, and they worked out very well. And you know what else? Each turtle suited the weapons assigned to them - the calm leader took the weapon with the most skill and heroic qualities attributed to it, the angry dude took the most savage stabbing weapons that required you to get close and personal, the party guy took the noisy, distracting weapons and the technical pacifist took the least lethal, longest range weapon.

* Leo (the {{Leader}}) is Phlegmatic: rational, observant, unemotional.
* Raph (the {{Lancer}}) is Choleric: dominant, easily angered, charismatic.
* Donnie (the SmartGuy) is Melancholic: creative, perfectionistic, easily depressed.

It's the secret that boosted ''Franchise/StarTrek'' to its position of prominence, and the secret behind the success of ''ComicBook/ElfQuest'' and ''Franchise/HarryPotter'' and probably the majority of the more [[TheSlidingScaleOfIdealismVersusCynicism idealistic]] works from the get-go. ''Passion'' and ''compassion'', as ''ComicBook/ElfQuest'' puts it: Make your characters care about what they're doing, and make them care about each other, and that'll make us care about ''them''.

Yet it did work, and it worked ''well''. And what with the original comic series, a Saturday Morning Cartoon series, a handful of arcade games and various console games, three live-action movies, a live-action television series (a la ''PowerRangers''), a cartoon series that sent them [[RecycledInSPACE into the future]], and now an anime-styled animated movie... you can't deny that there was ''something'' about this concept that caught public interest.

The turtles often crossed over with Stan Sakai's ''ComicBook/UsagiYojimbo'', a PettingZooPeople story set in FeudalJapan, where the titular ''rabbit bodyguard'' is a ronin (masterless) samurai.

Remember ''WesternAnimation/StreetSharks''? How about the ''[[VideoGame/Action52 Cheetahmen]]'' or ''WesternAnimation/ExtremeDinosaurs''? No? Consider yourself lucky. There's a reason Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles has [[WesternAnimation/TeenageMutantNinjaTurtles1987 three]] [[WesternAnimation/TeenageMutantNinjaTurtles2003 animated]] [[WesternAnimation/TeenageMutantNinjaTurtles2012 shows]], each with a devoted fanbase... whereas the best ''Street Sharks'' got was a parody of being a knock off of ''TMNT'' on ''WesternAnimation/RobotChicken''.
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A team of heroes who fight the bad guys yet ''hide from'' the innocent bystanders. Sound familiar? So far, this is just ''Franchise/{{X-Men}}'', although of course most of the X-Men at least ''looked'' human until they turned their powers on.

Remember ''WesternAnimation/StreetSharks''? How about the ''{{Cheetahmen}}'' or ''WesternAnimation/ExtremeDinosaurs''? No? Consider yourself lucky. There's a reason Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles has [[WesternAnimation/TeenageMutantNinjaTurtles1987 three]] [[WesternAnimation/TeenageMutantNinjaTurtles2003 animated]] [[WesternAnimation/TeenageMutantNinjaTurtles2012 shows]], each with a devoted fanbase... whereas the best ''Street Sharks'' got was a parody of being a knock off of ''TMNT'' on ''WesternAnimation/RobotChicken''.

The story began as a parody one-shot of contemporary SuperHero comics, especially ''{{Daredevil}}'', but quickly developed into a tough action series in a FantasyKitchenSink setting, without forgetting the characters and their relationships. Once the turtles entered their most familiar incarnation - the Saturday Morning Cartoon version - well, it was a light-hearted action comedy with laughable villains and excellent theme music.

A team of heroes who fight the bad guys yet ''hide from'' the innocent bystanders. Sound familiar? So far, this is just ''XMen'', although of course most of the X-Men at least ''looked'' human until they turned their powers on.

The turtles often crossed over with Stan Sakai's ''UsagiYojimbo'', a PettingZooPeople story set in FeudalJapan, where the titular ''rabbit bodyguard'' is a ronin (masterless) samurai.

Disney's ''WesternAnimation/{{Gargoyles}}'' borrowed liberally from the outcast heroes tropes established by the turtles.

To [[Tropers/MarkLungo this troper]], ''WesternAnimation/BikerMiceFromMars'' is actually ''better'' than its inspiration.

Remember ''StreetSharks''? How about the ''Cheetahmen'' or ''ExtremeDinosaurs''? No? Consider yourself lucky. There's a reason Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles has [[TeenageMutantNinjaTurtles1987 three]] [[TeenageMutantNinjaTurtles2003 animated]] [[WesternAnimation/TeenageMutantNinjaTurtles2012 shows]], each with a devoted fanbase... whereas the best Street Sharks got was a parody of being a knock off of TMNT on ''RobotChicken''.

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Remember ''StreetSharks''? How about the ''Cheetahmen'' or ''ExtremeDinosaurs''? No? Consider yourself lucky. There's a reason Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles has [[TeenageMutantNinjaTurtles1987 three]] [[TeenageMutantNinjaTurtles2003 animated]] [[TeenageMutantNinjaTurtles2012 shows]], each with a devoted fanbase... whereas the best Street Sharks got was a parody of being a knock off of TMNT on ''RobotChicken''.

Remember ''StreetSharks''? How about the ''Cheetahmen''? No? [[SoBadItsHorrible Consider yourself lucky]].

After all this time of staying in hiding so that people wouldn't freak out... it could be that society is a bit more understanding than the heroes gave them credit for. Hey, it worked for [[BuffyTheVampireSlayer Buffy]]: The students even gave her an award for saving their hides ("We don't exactly know what you've been doing, but we know we owe you one. Thanks").

This page, then, is here to discuss the elements that made ''TeenageMutantNinjaTurtles'' into the worldwide success that it became, and to help you see how you might use these elements to craft your own series.

It's the secret that boosted ''Franchise/StarTrek'' to its position of prominence, and the secret behind the success of ''ElfQuest'' and ''HarryPotter'' and probably the majority of the more [[TheSlidingScaleOfIdealismVersusCynicism idealistic]] works from the get-go. ''Passion'' and ''compassion'', as ''ElfQuest'' puts it: Make your characters care about what they're doing, and make them care about each other, and that'll make us care about ''them''.

It's the secret that boosted ''StarTrek'' to its position of prominence, and the secret behind the success of ''ElfQuest'' and ''HarryPotter'' and probably the majority of the more [[TheSlidingScaleOfIdealismVersusCynicism idealistic]] works from the get-go. ''Passion'' and ''compassion'', as ''ElfQuest'' puts it: Make your characters care about what they're doing, and make them care about each other, and that'll make us care about ''them''.

To [[MarkLungo this troper]], ''BikerMiceFromMars'' is actually ''better'' than its inspiration.

Also noteworthy: ''SwatKats'', which ramped up the violence while slightly decreasing the humor level.

Colors worked well: blue for the calm leader, red for the hot-tempered Lancer, purple for the inventor, orange for the party dude.

* Leo (the Leader) is Phlegmatic: rational, observant, unemotional.
* Raph (the Lancer) is Choleric: dominant, easily angered, charismatic.

Colors worked well: blue for the calm leader, red for the hot-tempered Lancer, purple for the inventor, orange for the party dude.

You might not want to go the AbsurdlySpaciousSewer route, but if your heroes are pariahs, you're going to want a place where they can hide. The inside of their hideout should give us a good feel for the personality of these heroes as a group: Notice the homey atmosphere, the sofa and TV, the refrigerator full of pizza... and a training room they made use of every few episodes. Not to mention: bunk beds.

Each turtle had a distinct weapon: [[EveryJapaneseSwordIsAKatana sword]], sai, bo, nunchucks. They're not the weapons that the American audience is used to, and they worked out very well. If you're going to go the same route, choose distinctive weapons that are simple yet outside the mainstream. And be aware that ExecutiveMeddling might RetCon the weapons into useless costume artifacts that, if they get pulled out at all, are never used for combat, unless it's against robots... or the odd chance for the villain to disarm the hero.

Disney's ''{{Gargoyles}}'' borrowed liberally from the outcast heroes tropes established by the turtles.

Then there's Splinter (the Mentor) and Casey Jones (erm... not sure), plus a few of April's co-workers who show up now and then.

As much as Raph and Leo ended up fighting with each other over this or that, and even given the few times that Raph stormed out, this team was always a ''team''. They're ''brothers'', and fellow warriors, and they'll stop at nothing to help each other, to save each other.

The turtles are an active lot. Outdoors, at least in some incarnations, they used RoofHopping. In fights, they used all manner of acrobatics - especially after the ExecutiveMeddling axed their weapons - and some creative use of whatever was at hand (see Mikey in the first movie, using pepperoni for nunchucks... and he or another turtle using a yo-yo as a weapon). When the turtles charged the baddies and the theme music started up, you knew you were in for a fun ride.