"Donatello does machines!". Made even more hilarious by the fact that he's the only turtle without an official Love Interest. Though it's been implied that Irma does canonically have a bit of crush on Donatello in several episodes such as "Sky Turtles" and "Invasion Of The Turtle Snatchers", which means that he's really shy, or Oblivious to Love, unless he's actually Robosexual.
The title "Enter the Shredder" for some.
The end of the first act of "The Lost Queen Of Atlantis" has a freeze frame of Shredder taking a magic amulet off of April while she's being restrained, which from the angle of the shot looks like he's grabbing April's breast and maniacally laughing at the same time.
Adaptation Displacement: Several are surprised to learn that this isn't how the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles franchise actually started, with the series being loosely based on a comic book of the same name that came out three years earlier.
Shredder's teasing of April. Is he just trying to piss her off or does he have a genuine Villainous Crush on her? This is actually strongly implied in a few episodes.
And even others are theorizing that her constant chasing after men (or, more accurately, anything male) is her way of covering up actually being a closeted lesbian, which leads us to:
April and Irma's friendship seeming to be one-sided. Irma always mingles with April, and even refers to her as her best friend, however, April doesn't necessarily seem to ever return the sentiments. On top of that, because Irma seemingly clings to April seems to egg on the above-mentioned closet theory that perhaps Irma wants more than just friendship with April.
Audience-Coloring Adaptation: This series is far more influential to what the TMNT franchise would become than the original Frank Miller pastiche that inspired it. The popular image of the Turtles having different colored bandanas began with this series and their well-known love of pizza started here as well. Additionally, supporting villains like Krang, Bebop, and Rocksteady would go on to become well-recognized and popular characters who are considered very iconic and/or essential to the franchise.
Splinter looks extremely pissed in the opening scene of "Leonardo, Renaissance Turtle" for no apparent reason.
Michelangelo delivering a pizza to a pregnant woman in "Pizza by the Shred".
"Turtles fight with honor!"
Not completely, as Leo actually said it once or twice in the original Mirage comics. Still usually spoken with no context, both there and here.
In "The Four Musketurtles" there's a brief shot that includes a walking skeleton. There's no way it's somebody in a costume, since you can see through the ribs and pelvis, though it could also be an animation error, which this show was no stranger to both before and after this episode.
Although the show remains the most iconic version of the Turtles, the show tends to be divisive amongst the fanbase due to its Lighter and Softer tone. Especially amongst fans who prefer the comics and/or the later adaptations instead. Some (especially those who grew up with it) enjoy the show for what it is (a fun, lighthearted Saturday morning cartoon from the 1980s) and finds it to be a enjoyable watch even today in spite of, or even because of how fun and cheesy it is, while others dislike it for how overly lighthearted and goofy it is compared to the darker original comics and later adaptations (which tend to be Truer to the Text). Even the original co-creators have differing opinions on the cartoon, as Peter Laird is not fond of the show, while Kevin Eastman has expressed more fondness towards the show by contrast.
Were the "Red Sky seasons" (8, 9, and 10) any good? Some enjoy them for their darker tone and attempts to tell a more serious story compared to the previous seasons, while others hated it because of how dark it was, finding it to be a jarring and forced retool to cash in on the success of Batman: The Animated Series, on top of it replacing several reoccurring characters and villains with new less well received ones.
Depending on who you ask, Season 4 was either the funniest season or full of pointless Filler.
Many fans will tell you that the Turtles hate anchovies on their pizza. While several storybooks based on the cartoon have brought this up and Michelangelo did specifically say he wanted no anchovies in the first film when he phoned a delivery, the cartoon itself never said they hated them. Quite the opposite in fact; several episodes have mentioned that they did eat pizzas with anchovies.
Krang isn't an Utrom. It's true his appearance was inspired by the Utroms, but he is himself a disembodied brain from another dimension. The Utroms are brain-like creatures from another planet. Later incarnations just making Krang an Utrom outright likely contributes to this confusion, such as through a brief cameo in the 2003 cartoon, being a member of the species in the IDW comics, and the 2012 incarnation stating that the 1987 incarnation is an exiled member of the Kraang (albeit according to Word of God, he's from a different version of the 1987 series' timeline).
Many people believe that this version of the Shredder is a downgrade from a more fearsome counterpart in the comics. In fact, it's the other way around: this Shredder, though certainly a source of comedy, is a far greater threat than his comics counterpart. The Shredder from the original comics ended up getting curb-stomped and killed by the Turtles in his first appearance, fought to a stalemate by Casey in his second, and decapitated and Killed Off for Real by Leonardo in his third. The animated Shredder is a Badass Normal ninja master who can hold his own against the Turtles despite being only human, possesses combat skills only rivaled by Master Splinter, and quite a few of his schemes are potentially deadly.
The idea that this show gave the Turtles their distinctive personalities (Leo being The Leader, Raph being the angry, cynical lancer, Don being The Smart GuyGadgeteer Genius and Mike being the fun guy) is also incorrect. The very first issue of the Mirage comics indicated Leo and Raph's personalities right away as they both narrate the first and second acts of the comic detailing their thought processes and Leo is clearly calling the shots and coming up with plans, establishing him as the team's unofficial leader. By the second issue, which also predates the series by three years, Don is established as the tech guy, as he is shown working on an integrated circuit with a soldering iron in the beginning and later he helps April take down the mousers using his knowledge in computer programming. At best the claim that Michelangelo's "party dude" persona being original to the show is true, but he was always the fun guy even in his solo micro-issue comic. Their characters are all fleshed out even more so in the one shot micro issues, all of which also came before the animated series was even conceived. In fact the idea that this animated series came up with Raphael's personality is laughable as he is characterized as muchmore of asarcastic wisecracker than a violent Wolverine Wannabe. In fact, even the show's producers tried to sue Eastman and Laird claiming they came up with the Turtles' personalities and some other elements (April's jumpsuit, the sewer lair of the heroes), all of which can be disproved by reading the original Mirage comics.
Complete Monster (Seasons 9 & 10): Lord Dregg is an alien warlord who, losing power after a rebellion, wants to conquer Earth and make it his new base of operations. Dregg comes to Earth and pretends to be a friendly alien who wants to improve the human race, making people see him as a hero. Despite this, the Turtles manage to thwart several of Dregg's destructive schemes, such as overloading a death ray Dregg was building to start destroying cities until the Earth bowed to him. Dregg's true intentions are later revealed when confronted by a more powerful warlord named Doomquest. Beaten, but not defeated, Dregg launches his main henchman HiTech into space in a shuttlecraft for failing him. Dregg tries to turn Leonardo into a walking nuclear bomb and having him blow up NYC; plans to teleport parts of the Sun to Earth if they do not accept his rule; and tries to suck the Earth into a wormhole and teleport it to a solar system he still controls. Dregg disposes of Mung and hires 5 powerful mercenaries to help defeat the Turtles, but uses a powerful exoskeleton to absorb the mercenaries, taking their powers and killing them in the process.
Designated Villain: Baxter Stockman's worst crime (before turning into a fly) was helping out Shredder, but the way the Turtles treat him you'd think he killed their mom or something.
Draco in Leather Pants: Shredder has quite a few fangirls. Doesn't help that he's sometimes more entertaining to watch than the good guys.
Bebop and Rocksteady, for being genuinely funny and entertaining with their antics.
The Rat King, due to being able to turn Splinter against the turtles with his powers.
Even fans who dislike the Red Sky seasons admit to liking one-shot villain Chronos.
Don Turtelli only shows up in three episodes during the third season, but he's generally liked for his cool design and the Tickle Torture scenes he takes part in also appeal to a certain crowd. He became particularly well-known thanks to a series of My Little Pony: Equestria Girls fancomics where he shows up to tickle the girls' feet, with some lines like "IT SMELL LIKE CHEESE!!" reaching Memetic Mutation levels on sites like 4chan.
Mona Lisa only appeared in one episode, but she has a huge fan base as a result.
Mondo Gecko. Only appeared in around two episodes (though he had a slightly bigger role in the Archie comic books) but he has a ton of fan-art, and quite a few fangirls.
Shredder's mother Miyoko, and to a lesser extent his little brother Kazuo.
Irma is not the most prominent of the human supporting characters in the show, but her Adorkable looks and personality makes her one of the most popular amongst fans, with many desiring to see her appear again in future incarnations. It helps that she is the only Channel 6 worker besides April to not be a Jerkass.
Mutagen Man is apparently this to the 2012 show's writers according to this article, stating that they want to utilize him in some way.
"Cowabunga Pizza Turtles" from fans of the Mirage and 2003 versions, affectionately or not.
"Clonatello" or "Duplicatello" for Donatello's Evil Twin duplicate he creates in "Donatello's Duplicate".
The show's Shredder is sometimes referred to as "Uncle Phil", thanks to voice actor James Avery's most famous role.
Mystic for Demonicus as his name was only given in production material.
Fanon Discontinuity: For some, Seasons 8-10, the "Red Sky" seasons. (Possibly Canon Discontinuity, since Turtles Forever chose to ignore those seasons completely, though it could simply take place before them. The film was also meant to highlight the differences between the ''2003'' series and this one, so including the more serious seasons would largely defeat the purpose). Some are more forgiving of Season 8, though.
First Installment Wins: As far as adaptations go anyway. Although some of the later adaptations are regarded as being superior quality wise, the 1987 series remains the most iconic and popular adaptation of the Turtles overall, as well as the most influential besides the original Mirage comics.
Season 3, arguably, when compared to the somewhat lackluster Season 2. It wasn't consistently good, but it contains the most fan favorites.
Season 7, the last "normal" season, is considered to be the best among a number of fans due to some surprisingly well-written and enjoyable episodes. "Night of The Dark Turtle" and "Legend of Koji" are believed to be the best episodes in the entire series.
Season 8 brought the Cerebus Syndrome, with a number of fans appreciating the Shredder becoming a more believable threat and the show striking good balance between the previous seasons' lighthearted tone and that of the more serious comic book.
"Enter The Fly!" has Baxter and Shredder plotting evil on top of the Twin Towers. Yikes.
"The Big Blow-Out" has the Technodrome attacking those same towers. Again, yikes.
"Get Shredder!" has the Channel 6 building being blown up by a bomb, which became much harsher after the Oklahoma City bombing. Surprisingly enough, the episode was never banned from airing unlike episodes of other shows which featured similar scenes (e.g. "New Partners on the Block" in Bonkers).
The plight of the Neutrinos, whose only 'crime' in Dimension X is to be young and not want to take part in the endless war of the adults around them, grows more poignant for the generation who came of age post-9/11 and the seemingly unending war in the Middle East. Could also count as Values Resonance.
One of the first episodes featured an entire building flooding out and spilling a massive amount of water in the city when said building explodes from the pressure. Though copious on its own merits already, it can hit way too close to home for those involved in the aftermath of Hurricane Sandy, especially since the setting for the cartoon is New York City.
Shredder at one point comes up with a plan to use armored bulldozers to terrorize the city. Krang laughs it off as a stupid plan. The eventual real-life rampage of Marvin Heemeyer in 2004 would prove it to be a dangerously effective idea.
In the pilot, when introducing each turtle and their preferred weapons, Splinter describes Raphael's specialty as "No sword on Earth can withstand his sai". Come 2007, we see this is true even for Leonardo's katanas, as an enraged Raph breaks them in their big fight, leaving him unarmed and vulnerable for the antagonists to capture him.
April's trademark yellow overalls become kind of amusing sight after you've seen Kill Bill.
Lotus Blossom, a character who plays a role similar to Karai in later incarnations of the franchise, was introduced in the cartoon a few years before Karai debuted in the comics.
An early episode has a toy company employee presenting "Trans-Farmers" which are toy robots that transform into farm equipment. Sometime in the mid-90s when Playmates was desperate for new ideas to keep selling the toys to kids, not only did they do various transforming versions of characters (mutating varieties as well as vehicles), but there were also farming turtles with tractors. We wish we were making that last one up.
And speaking about Robots that turn into farm equipment Thunderhoof says hi.
Raphael's Love Interest in this show is Mona Lisa, who is voiced by Pat Musick. Fast forward 25 years, and Rob is now playing Donatello. But the real kicker is that Donnie's Love Interest, April, is voiced by Pat Musick's daughter, Mae Whitman!
Going even further with Donatello, the episode "Night of the Dark Turtle", has him don a costume similar to that of Batman. And look what happened.
Leonardo means "bold as a lion". Cam Clarke, who voices Leonardo in this cartoon, would go on to voice Simba in the Kingdom Hearts games.
In the episode "Raphael, Turtle of a Thousand Faces", shortly after April showed off a ninja flip and battle stance, Raphael jokingly asks where she learned those ninja moves from, with her replying "After you've been in enough of these episodes, you're bound to have some rub off on you.". Fast forward to Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Shredder's Revenge, in which her ninja-style prowess is considerably more impressive.
The show aired on the British and Irish feed of Nickelodeon in the 90s. Sixteen years later, on 2009 Viacom would obtain the rights to the franchise when Nickelodeon bought it. (the deal didn't include this cartoon until 2023 when Nickelodeon purchased the rights to the 87 show from Fred Wolf Films).
Jim Cummings sometimes subbed as Shredder's voice for this series. Years later, This TMNT-themed ''Skyrim'' mod would put Shredder inside Silus' house in Dawnstar. Jim Cummings voices several of Skyrim's elderly male characters using his Shredder voice, one of which is Skald the Elder - Dawnstar's Jarl.
Ho Yay: You have to admit, the way Shredder and Krang would bicker throughout the series made them look like an old married couple. May also count as No Yay.
James Avery himself even lampshaded this in his Under the Shell interview, saying he and Pat Fraley treated the interaction between Shredder and Krang like they really were an old married couple. When asked what Shredder was up to recently, James responds, in-character as Shredder, "Krang and I are divorced now, I haven't seen him in many years. I kinda miss him, but not really, he was always such a nag."
Bebop and Rocksteady very rarely leave each other's side. If Rocksteady didn't have his gigantic crush on April there would be a lot more Ho Yay going on from the fans' point of view.
Baxter Stockman and his gender-neutral (but still male-sounding) alien computer, Zee. Watch an episode with them in it and see for yourself.
Sometimes happens to the Turtles themselves.
Les Yay: Some fans see this with April and Irma, some even like to insist that Irma wants more than just friendship from April; and Irma always clinging to, or sometimes being protective of April kind of eggs this on.
Hollywood Pudgy: From time to time, Irma will mention being on a diet, and although her size is mostly obscured by a baggy turtleneck sweater, on the few occasions she wears something else, it's clear that she certainly isn't even fat at all.
Jerkass Woobie: Baxter Stockman. Starting out he was just trying to legally make money off his inventions and the Shredder offered him work, but then tried to murder him to keep him from saying anything about his plans, and after being rescued by the Turtles he's left tied to a telephone pull. In Season 2, he's shanghaied by Shredder into helping him again and the abuse he takes eventually turns him into a full blown villain and he's turned a mutant fly. Later he tries to make himself human again and the Turtles stop him for no good reason by kicking him into a dimensional portal where he's apparently eaten by a spider monster. He's one of the least evil villains on the show but the only one with a (heavily implied) canon death.
Irma. A good portion of the fanbase thinks she's cute as a button.
The Turtles' five-year-old incarnations when they're deaged in the episodes "Back to the Egg" (Michelangelo and Leonardo) and "Adventures in Turtle-Sitting" (Raphael, Donatello, and Leonardo again)
During the early seasons, they weren't in the territory of Family-Friendly Firearms yet (being in syndication instead of a network), but it seems that somewhere along the line communications got muddled, and as a result, you'd hear a line like "the bullets aren't stopping them", while the guns being fired are shooting lasers!
Shreeka, a minor villain, lost her power ring after a fight with the Turtles. What follows is her giving a hilariously hammy reaction.
Nausea Fuel: The Turtles' ...''interesting'..' tastes in pizza.
Never Live It Down: April has a reputation of being The Load, who is constantly getting kidnapped by the villains and forcing the Turtles to waste time rescuing her. While her reputation as a Damsel in Distress isn't an undeserved one, most of her kidnappings happen as the direct result of her investigating a story and discovering the villains' plan, with occasions where she's randomly taken hostage being the exception rather than the rule. In turn, her getting kidnapped is often how the Turtles discover there's even a threat in the first place.
Older Than They Think: When most people think of a morally ambiguous ninja girl with a tempestuous and sometimes romantic relationship with Leonardo, Karai always comes to mind and not Lotus Blossom from this show. Lotus, in fact, predates Karai, having been introduced in 1989 whereas Karai only came about in 1992.
Dregg wasn't really a bad villain by his own terms, but the mere fact that he wasn't Shredder ensured he never became popular. It didn't help that Shredder had become genuinely threatening again during his last season before being replaced by Dregg. Not even being voiced by Tony Jay could save Dregg from the Scrappy Heap.
Carter, considering he sort of replaced April in Season 9 (though she would take the role back in Season 10).
Rooting for the Empire: As Shredder, Krang, Bebop and Rocksteady have what many fans agree as the funniest scenes in the show it can hard not to root for them. Shredder in particular since he never catches a break even when he wins.
Zach and Howie. However, Zach did have his share of valuable moments like when he saved April's life in "Bebop And Rocksteady Conquer The Universe" and the Turtles' lives in "Night Of The Rogues", which both earned him a good amount of fans.
Carter has a few fans, but most of them agree that he doesn't really belong on a show like TMNT.
Burne and Vernon aren't well liked either. Especially for being huge selfish jerks and constantly bad mouthing the Turtles, even when they saved their lives. Though they were intended as ineffectual antagonists, so it would be more weird if people actively liked them. Considering they're both chew toys as well, Vernon especially, it's more of a case of Intended Audience Reaction.
Seasonal Rot: Some fans agree that this happened during Season 8, when the sky was permanently red and the show took on a Darker and Edgier tone.
Having said that, Season 8 isn't entirely without its fans; a few consider it to have struck a good balance between the show's original tone and that of the comic book. In addition, Shredder became a serious threat again for the first time since the very beginning of the show. However, fewer people are willing to defend Seasons 9 and 10, when Lord Dregg replaced Shredder and Krang. Though the 3-part "Return of Shredder and Krang" arc in the middle of Season 10 does have its fans, with many feeling that it served as a better finale to the show than the actual series finale.
A good chunk of Season 4 (and some of Five) is considered this by some fans (though following seasons improved), due to Flanderization and Villain Decay, extremely goofy/borderline nonsensical plots, bad/inconsistent animation, weak one-shot bad guys, and lack of action scenes. Proof that exaggeration isn't always a good thing.
The "vacation in Europe side-season", despite the advantage of a different setting each episode, was hampered by mediocre animation and scripts, as well as replacement voice actors for Raphael, Donatello, Bebop, and Shredder in various episodes.
Self-Fanservice: Fanart of April will often make her bust much bigger than it is in the show. Some people will even make the jumpsuit more skin tight.
So Bad, It's Good: Even the worst episodes are strangely enjoyable. This is probably the show's greatest strength.
Season 2 is widely considered this: not as good as the short first season preceding it or the long third season following it, but perfectly watchable regardless. The "Eye of Sarnath" Story Arc and "Enter The Fly' are considered its highlights.
How a lot of fans feel about Season 5. It has some of the series' best ("My Brother, the Bad Guy") but it also has some of the series' worst ("Donatello's Badd Time" and "Zack and the Alien Invaders")
Several episodes would introduce memorable new villains and then push them into the background as a third henchman to Shredder and Krang.
As iconic and disturbing as Baxter's fly transformation is, "Enter: The Fly" is more focused on the villains poisoning April with a rare flower, with Baxter falling into the trap intended for the turtles at the end.
Mona Lisa. She was intended to serve as Raphael’s love interest, but she exists for one episode. She’s never brought up again after her only episode, which brings up the question of what happened to her.
Howie, despite being The Scrappy, had some cute scenes with Irma, and the idea of her having a steady boyfriend is admittely interesting. Too bad everything else about him was so annoying.
Lotus Blossom. Her second and final appearance is considered Fanon Discontinuity due to being such a disappointing farewell to her.
"Night Of The Living Rogues". Fed up with Bebop and Rocksteady's incompetence, Shredder gathers a large group of the Turtle's previous enemies to defeat them once and for all. The Turtles are completely helpless against the assembled baddies. So will this cause the the Turtles to call on all of their allies, like The Mutant Frogs, Usagi, Mondo Gecko and Mona Lisa leading to a huge brawl between the groups? Nnnnnope. Instead, the Turtles just call on Casey Jones and Zach the "fifth turtle" for back up, and the villains run away at the end when it's pointed out that they're outnumbered. Keep in mind that one of those people is a kid, and the other two are April and Irma.
The subplot of "Krangenstein Lives!!" Shredder loses his memory. Pretty interesting right? You'd think they'd go for something different but... he's still evil, he just can't remember his name. There are so many different ways that could have gone.
The seventh season had an episode called "Dirk Savage: Mutant Hunter", where an eccentric billionaire who is secretly a mutant slug plotting to take over the city named A. J. Howard hires bounty hunter Dirk Savage to capture all the mutants in New York. Considering the episode's focus on mutants and the large number of mutants the show had, you'd expect fan favorites like Mona Lisa or Muckman to return, but this was not the case. While Mondo Gecko and the Punk Frogs Napoleon Bonafrog and Genghis Frog returned in this episode, the only other mutants that appear in the episode are Tokka and Rahzar from the second movie and a bunch of unnamed mutants created solely for this episode. It's still a good episode, just an example of how good things could have been better.
Fans who dislike Bebop and Rocksteady often wish Baxter stayed The Dragon to Shredder in Season 2.
"Attack of The 50-Foot Irma!": The "Giant Shredder" plotline is dropped near-instantly despite how cool it would have been for the Turtles to fight him.
Baxter's half-fly form. D'awww. Strange, considering he was an apparently middle aged man beforehand.
Some actually find his human self to be adorable, strangely enough.
The Shredder as a fly. His voice is freaking adorable.
Krang, sometimes.
Even Rocksteady has his moments, especially every time he's intimidated by Krang or Shredder, he puts on a nervous meek face and lowers his ears.
Pizza Monsters in "The Case of the Killer Pizzas", when they first hatched and still small. Sure they're dangerously hot little critters with a destructive streak, yet somehow oddly adorable when still babies. When they're grown, however...
Unintentionally Sympathetic: Baxter Stockman seemed to be more concerned with becoming human again than being genuinely evil. This is also helped by his first appearance where he was a well-meaning, yet misguided scientist who suffered Misplaced Retribution thanks to Shredder.
Villain Decay: Shredder and his cohorts. A case of Tropes Are Not Bad, as they became a lot more funny and unique. And reversed in the "Red Sky" seasons which saw Shredder become much more competent and dangerous.
The Italian dub often went seriously off the rails to adapt certain jokes and scenes. Fourth wall breaks happen more often than in the original version (to the point that "I will get you next episode!" is basically Shredder's catchphrase in the dub), references to celebrities, movies and other shows are inserted where there were none in the original, Michelangelo haves a penchant to do parody versions of famous songs and puts on a Naples accent when speaking about pizza...
The cast of the Brazilian dub says the studio was outright discarding the scripts feeling the jokes were either not that good or unfit for translation, allowing them to improvise. The results had many references to local culture and sillier lines, and given everyone recorded together, even had the unexpected issue where one dubber would listen to the improvised line and think of a response on the fly while trying not to laugh.
, even though it was released as Teenage Mutant Hero Turtles.