For a 4Kids cartoon, this show has its share of crap getting through, particularly in regards to violence.
- Return to New York features Leo averting Never Say "Die", a very rare occurrence in anything 4Kids was involved in, this show included. May other episodes, such as Prodigal Son, used every euphemism in the book (with "destroy" being the most common one):Leo: Have you guys forgotten how he forced us from our home, burned down April's building, nearly killed us all?
- Bishop getting impaled through the chest on a hook and leaking what appears to be silver blood certainly counts.
- Some of Bishop's lines towards Karai reek of Memetic Molester status, especially when he repeatedly calls her lovely while he's keeping her captive and attempting to kill her. One of such lines really clinches some unsettling implications of what he might have done to her.Bishop: I see you decided to stretch your legs, my dear! Perhaps I will too!
- Though it was an illusion, Splinter getting impaled on-screen.
- Don't forget how the turtles used the word "shell" as a curse word. More specifically, it is treated as a portmanteau of "shit" and "hell". Not to mention both Raphael's and Hun's repeated usage of "crud" which could be interpreted as "crap".
- In Fallen Angel Hun remarks on how much he enjoyed burning down the store that Casey's father owned, Casey's reply is "At least I had a father!" possibly implying that Hun is a bastard.
- Similarly, though never actually said, it's alluded to repeatedly that Hun and the Dragons killed Casey's father. In Dragons Rising Casey even has flashback of his father leaving to talk to the police with a baseball bat which seems to be the last time Casey saw him alive. That episode also ends with Casey visiting his father's grave, and tells his father that he fought for what was right. Seeing a grave indicating a character is dead is a very rare occurrence in anything 4Kids was involved in.
- What about several nightmare-inducing scenes of No Holds Barred Beatdowns delivered to Casey and Leo on separate occasions?
- Shredder actually being beheaded by Leo in an early episode was bad enough, but goes into Nightmare Fuel at the very end where he picks up his disembodied head and walks away. Sure, you find out later he's a brain-sized alien in a robot suit but at the time it's freaking terrifying.
- Same As It Never Was, the entire episode, it was grim and grittier, characters are heavily implied to have died, and the biggest Crap Passing moments? The Turtles of that dimension are killed, with their corpses completely on screen, Shredder dying via laser drill to the face, and Karai being bazooka'd, this episode is the least child friendly in the series, and makes you wonder how Insane In The Membrane got rejected, even with all the frightening imagery in that episode, Same As It Never Was evokes terrifying to absolutely insane effects.
- The reason SAITNW managed to air was because when the characters died, their lifeless bodies just stayed still. You didn't see their bodies decompose and it didn't have a single ounce of blood from any of the characters. Insane in the Membrane on the other hand, showed Stockman's body falling apart, there was even a part of his face that had no skin, depicting blood. And of course, one of the entries below says one of his fingers fell off.
- In the season three episode Bishop's Gambit, the turtles narrowly avoid being executed by Bishop's men thanks to Leatherhead sneaking up behind the mooks in full berserker mode. The screen cuts to black- and all we hear is screaming, Leatherhead's roar, guns clattering to the ground, and tearing sounds. Later in the episode, there's another, less blatant scene strongly hinting that Leatherhead ripped the EPF soldiers into pieces.
- There's a 50/50 chance Mikey's line about how "there's all sorts of crazy stuff on the internet!" from Back to the Sewer is this.
- When Casey proposes to April in The Engagement Ring, he uses a hockey analogy, and accidentally states that he wants to "play her for the rest of his life", before realising just what he said.
- In New World Order, the Tengu Shredder easily defeats Karai for bearing the Shredder mantle, and then uses his power to hold her in place, whist remarking; "Such a coarse young woman, I wonder if someone more well mannered lurks beneath that rough exterior?"- before proceeding to use his powers to strip Karai of her armour leaving only her form-fitting bodysuit left. Upon observing this, he then states; "Perhaps I should let you live after all. You would make a fine slave". For bonus Squicky points, the Tengu Shredder's face looks exactly like Ch'rell's human form (due to Ch'rell basing his own Oroku Saki persona on the original), meaning that Karai has someone who looks exactly like an undead version of her (adopted) father, lusting after her and planning to make her his personal slave.
- In the season 4 episode Insane in the Membrane Baxter Stockman finally clones a new body for himself only to discover that the process is imperfect after his body starts to rot and his fingers fall off on screen. Then later, April kicks him in the face, and the damage done is literally jaw-dropping. It didn't air in the US during its original run on 4KidsTV, but eventually did on Nicktoons. It's quite possible it avoided the radar entirely by accident in that case, perhaps assuming it had already been vetted by Fox.
- There was also going to be an episode planned out that had Hun being a conjoined twin, that was a bit too much for 4Kids, so the episode ended up being scrapped.
- In Tales of Leo, Mikey says, "It sucks being cold blooded!" Surprising to hear on a 4Kids cartoon.
- Fast Forward managed to pull one off. In Bad Blood, Mikey's evil clone outright says "That book sucked eggs!". Also, the Dark Turtles are shown entering a bar and offer to buy everyone drinks. Granted, there was no evidence that the drinks were alcoholic, and alcohol may have even been outlawed in the TMNT 2003 universe in the Fast Forward era, but still.
- In the first episode, when the turtles go up to the surface, a couple walks out of a building laughing and they're walking rather wobbly, implying that they're drunk.
- In Playtime's Over, Constable Biggles says "Well I'll be boffed!" in response to seeing a Phantom ship. Boffed can be used as slang for sex, which makes this effectively a hidden Precision F-Strike.
- Zixxth Sense has Raphael threatening Zixx, "I'm gonna kick yer miserable keister from here to Uranus!" Probably unintentional, but...
- In Fallen Angel, Angel gives the Turtles clothes to wear in order for them to sneak into the Purple Dragons' hideout. While Leo and Raph were fighting two Purple Dragon members in the ring, Leo has trouble moving around due to his clothes and wonders why humans even wear clothes since he and his brothers wear nothing but ninja accessories and armor. It's easy to forget about, considering that their shells make it appear like they're wearing clothing, but in reality they're all technically naked. And then, Raph's line all but blatantly says he's actually seen a human naked before (though his use of the word "skivvies," which is slang for underwear, implies he was spared from the worst of it).Leo: Geez, I can barely move in this stuff. What is the deal with humans and clothes?Raph: Ya ever seen a human in his skivvies? Trust me, it ain't a pretty sight.
- In Tale of Master Yoshi, we actually see Tang Shen and Mashimi's dead bodies.
