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     Predecessor Series Incorporation Theories 
This iteration of April O'Neil is actually a Composite Character of
April O'Neil, Irma, and Casey Jones. Fridge Brilliance at it's finest. She looks more like Irma than April, uses a bat like Casey Jones, and rushes head first into things like Casey. She could be a fledgling reporter, or run her own website that documents the Turtles stunts and passes it off as CGI, to cover the April O'Neil part so she isn't just an In Name Only version of April.

Splinter will be Hamato Yoshi's mutated pet rat instead of Yoshi himself
The previous series used Splinter being Hamato Yoshi for a good deal of his character, so the alternative route will be taken so it won't retread too much of the same material.
  • Jossed. On his character entry, it says he's Hamato Yoshi, not his pet rat. Sadly, this means he's a grumpy old rat that appears to like television more than his own children.
  • Potentially Double Jossed! Splinter is implied to actually be action star Lou Jitsu (who is implied to be American), not Hamato Yoshi.
    • Double Joss, Jossed. Spliter is Hamato Yoshi, a Japanese man. Lou Jitsu is a stage name.

Unlike all other iterations, the brotherss are turtle mutants rather than mutant turtles.
Every confirmed mutant we see on-screen—Meat Sweats, Warren, etc—were humans who were mutated into humanoid animals by the ooze in the oozesquitos. In this iteration of TMNT, it's entirely possible that the Turtles actually started out as human children or infants before being mutated into turtles.
  • Jossed. "The Evil League of Mutants" confirms that the turtles are once again mutated from regular turtles.

If the Purple Dragons appear, they will be more like the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (2003) incarnation
A very large, diverse, and organized criminal group led by an incarnation Hun from the very start, and serve as early villains for the good guys.
  • Jossed. While they do appear in this series, they're instead a trio of high school teenagers called The Purple Dragons Tech Club led by a girl named Kendra.

Radical of the original Mirage Comics series will appear
She's never been adapted into any TV series before, thus showing how different this series is aiming to be from the previous ones.
  • And if we do get her, this could also mean the potential animated television debut of her arch-nemesis, Complete Carnage.

Very later on in the series, there will be a crossover with the 2012 TMNT
Both the 2003 and 2012 TMNT series have crossed over with the 1987 turtles. But since the latter is Nickelodeon's first TMNT adaptation and is still praised as one of the best reboots to date, it is possible this adaptation will have two crossovers. Or even if they just go with the one obligatory 1987 crossover, they may have a brief run-in with the 2012 turtles or at least have Mikey shout "Booyakasha" as an homage.
  • Jossed but the other series do get a nod. In "Pizza Pit" Donnie has pictures of the turtles from of their other incarnations pinned to a board with the words "Alternate Universe?" written on it but it's only there for a brief gag and never commented upon.

April will want to be a reporter
This aspect was absent in the previous series, so this series' April will aspire to be a reporter. She could work for her school's newspaper or something.

Slash will be a sea turtle this time around
Because these ninja turtles are all different species, the same could certainly apply to Slash. But unlike the main four who are all freshwater turtles, Slash should be a much larger marine turtle (possibly a leatherback, the biggest of them all). He'll earn his namesake by slashing at enemies with his flippers, which could also make for a good number of hand-related gags. His mutation would likely be the result of his watery home (either the ocean or an aquarium) being contaminated with mutagen.
  • I think that had the show continued, we would've seen Slash. Andy Suriano implied that there could be more mutant turtles out there since Lou Jitsu was only able to save four turtles...

Shredder will be an evil spirit from the past
Since Baron Draxum appears to be one of the main villains, one should wonder what will become of Oroku Saki. Given the mystical elements in this new series, it could be that the Shredder was an enemy defeated long ago and the other antagonists will eventually resurrect him from the dead to help them carry out their deeds, leading to his return later in the show as the Knight of Cerebus. Pretty much like The Lion Guard's case with Scar.

All the episodes will be standalone stories. No story arcs.
Due to this series having less focus on narrative, and more humor oriented.
  • That said, the show could still have some light internal continuity, similar to the 1987, with actions from one episode having some impact on another (i.e. Some of the villains loose access to their base in one and are acknowledged to have found a new one by their next appearance), rather than having Negative Continuity. I still think multipart episodes would be done at some point though, if only so that Nickelodeon can heavily advertise them as Specials.
    • On the contrary, there has been news released by people within the show's production concerning Character Development and the fact that this show is planned to act as a prequel.
    • A prequel to what, exactly?
      • Before they became the heroes we know them as.
  • Jossed. There are already some bigger stories being set up, such as the Foot Clan collecting pieces of Shredder's armor.

The mutant villains who made up H.A.V.O.C. in the 1987 series will be reimagined as Baron Draxum's followers
If Draxum is going to be a significant threat, it would make sense for him to have servants, devotees, and others he can have fight the heroes for him. As for ideas for how they could be potentially reimagined...

Null from the IDW comics will appear
She will be depicted as an associate of Baron Draxum who is the one who provides him with the mutagen he intends to use to mutate all of humanity. Given the focus on magical elements in this series, Null will be confirmed to be a demon to provide the Turtles with an opponent who is magical in nature.

A male character will be given a Gender Flip in this series
They've already shown that they're willing to be quite divergent from past incarnations, so it would actually wouldn't be much of a surprise.
  • The Shredder will be an adult Karai. Teen Saki will be her nephew.
    • It doesn't even have to be that. "Saki" is traditionally a feminine name in Japanese, so they could simply make Shredder be a woman with the same name.
    • Or maybe Saki’s already as elderly as Splinter, and served as Karai’s advisor, in a role similar to the 1987 Krang?
    • Alternatively, the currently nameless Foot Recruit could in fact be Oroku Saki—a fact that won't be revealed until just before she claims the Shredder's armor for herself.
  • Or they could Gender Flip Casey and Irma.
  • Maybe Leatherhead? She could even act as a mother-figure towards Mikey.
  • Or for a real surprise, how about Monkey Thief Dick from Ninja Turtles: The Next Mutation, only referred to here as "Monkey Thief"? She would have to keep the suit if "she" does return though, as it's an awesome suit.
    • You’re thinking of Silver, there was never any character in the entire TMNT franchise named "monkey Thief Dick".

  • Confirmed, with the Foot Recruit, whose name turns out to be Cassandra "Casey" Jones in the finale.

Vincent Van Growl, a generic enemy from one of the old video games, would come back and get a major reimagining
Instead of being a tiger painting that came to life, he would be a bipedal mutant snow leopard with an outfit that looks like a combination between a commando and a viking. He would have a polite, yet sardonic personality. Leonardo would have some heavy Hero-Worship for him, though he wouldn't get along very well with Donatello.

Slashuur, a character from the 2004 video game Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles 2: Battle Nexus, could make an appearance in the series
He could also be a reason for how the Utroms could make their debut in the show, being an inter-galactic bounty hunter being hunted down by the Utrom police.

Characters from the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles & Other Strangeness series could also make an appearance
Like say Lounge Lizard, Brain Drain, and/or Paul Clearwater?

If Mona Lisa appears, she will be Leonardo's love interest
In both the 1987 and 2012 TV series, she was a love interest for Raphael. If they changed it up a bit to make Leo her love interest, it would be a fitting match, considering that it was Leonardo Da Vinci (Leo's namesake) who created the original Mona Lisa painting.
  • Alternately Leo will cause an accident which results in Mona Lisas mutation, thus "Creating" her, but she will be much younger and be treated more as a daughter/little sister, potentially with a precocious crush crush on Raph as a call back

Baron Draxum is an Atlantean.
He's apparently been described as an alchemist from the "Hidden City", along with sharing the same pale blue color motif as the 2003 version of the city and denizens.

Meat Sweats will eventually mutate into Bebop
Because they're both pigs. It would be even funnier if Meat Sweats was given a mutated bull partner named Jerky Beef who eventually turns into Rocksteady, because, again, it makes sense.

Baron Draxum is somehow connected to the Kraang
Both their goals are to mutate humanity. Draxum could either be working for the Kraang or may even be an Utrom in disguise (akin to Shredder from the 2003 series).

Something will happen to Raph, likely a kidnapping/turtlenapping, that will force Leo to step up into his more traditional leadership role. Likely near the end of season one if not in the middle of it.
As noted on the main page, this Leo is Brilliant, but Lazy. He could very easily be a leader but he's more concerned with being a teenager in this continuity and coming off as cool to his brothers. Meanwhile, Raph seems to be the leader simply because he's the biggest, oldest, strongest and (as with most versions of Raph) very protective of his brothers (and April). This Raphael is likely a supportive force that Leo (and likely the other brothers and maybe even April) can lean against during hard times. If Raphael is somehow removed from the picture and needs saving, Leo will be forced to finally be what he's meant to be, The Leader, if he ever wants to see Raphael again. The reason I say this will happen mid-season or near the end is because many comedy driven cartoons in the New 10s have followed a similar pattern. They start off light-hearted and goofy but during the mid-season or a few episodes prior to the season finale they'll hit the audience with a Wham Episode which then proceeds to see the show go through a Cerebus Rollercoaster, still having silly episodes but overall going for a more serious tone.

Casey Jones is a reporter
April will be inspired to be a reporter after gaining a crush on him, to the chagrin of Donatello.

Warren Stone will have some involvement with April
Warren Stone - one of the new villains revealed - is a former news anchor who was mutated into a worm. If April (or Casey if the above entry is correct) looks into being a reporter, Stone may try to sabotage them. I feel he could be like the brain worms from the 2012 incarnation, able to crawl into characters' heads and control their minds.

Each Season will have a different title
Makes sense, as season 1 at a time before the Turtles become the defenders of New York. So to put it more simply, season 2 will be called Dawn of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles.
  • Jossed, Season 2 is still "Rise".

The Shredder will make a cameo at the end of the season
Albeit a silent one.
  • Jossed. It's far, far more than a Cameo.

The current villains are meant to foreshadow the future, more familiar villains
They will be acting as the Expy of sorts until the original TMNT rogues replace them later in the show.
  • Baron Draxum is an expy of The Shredder and/or Krang
  • Meat Sweats - Bebop
  • Hypno-potamus - Rocksteady
  • Warren Stone - Baxter Stockman

How The Shredder will associate with the Foot Ninjas
The Foot Ninjas this time around fight using paper and origami. Oroku Saki shows up after something happens to Baron Draxum (defeated in battle, killed off, the ninjas quit working for him) and gains his villain alias from them - The Paper Shredder, later just The Shredder.
  • Jossed. Shredder is a demonic suit of armor with no connection to Oroku Saki and is the true leader of The Foot.
    • Double jossed. He is Oroku Saki after making a Deal with the Devil to save his village in feudal Japan.

Draxum is gay.
Probably more Alternate Character Interpretation. But Draxum will probably get a major obsession with Raphael that is gonna look really, really, gay to everybody else.
  • Semi-Jossed. Draxum doesn't develop an obsession with Raphael and his connection to the Turtles is more Paternal than anything. However, His past connection to Lou Jitsu/Splinter is subject to interpretation.

Mayhem is related to Aku.
The portal powers and teeth basically make her look like some kind of Aku kitty.
Casey Jones is Repo Mantis’ son.
Repo and his mom were in a tight squeeze over his greed and got divorced. The divorcement would be a reason for his usual brash, aggressive behaviour.

One of the turtles or April or someone will call out Splinter not only putting much effort in their training but not exactly being much of a Father of the Year.
This would add some drama in the show and make Splinter realize his flaws and if it’s in the family it’d would put a strain between either just the two of them, three to one or all in general. Michelangelo would either be one of the only to still be close or the first one to forgive and understand.
  • Jossed, the Turtles and Splinter's relationship improved over time in the series without much drama, barring the reveal that he's also Lou Jitsu.

Splinter is just trying to live the last years of his life in peace.
It will turn out that Splinter was very reckless in his youth, and after an incident (possibly pertaining to the Shredder), realized that he didn't want to die, and is now trying to relax with what time he has left. Parallels with Leonardo's own potential could probably be drawn.
  • Somewhat jossed, due to Splinter and Shredder having not personally met.

Part of Leonardo's character arc will be realizing that the role he's trying to put himself into is functionally redundant.
Michelangelo already has the comic relief angle down, and Leonardo's snark isn't necessarily useful. Realizing this will be one of the instigators for Leonardo becoming leader.
  • This may arise from everyone gradually realizing that he's a much better strategist than Raphael.

Raphael will become this series version of Tokka
Think about it! Raph is a snapping turtle! If Raph is injected with another dose of mutagen he could potentially become a version of Tokka and if so, could lose his intelligence. He could become a mindless savage or if he keeps his intelligence could prefer being a Super Mutant and turn on his brother's for more power to get rid of his insecurity. There are so many ways this could go, many of them badly and heartwrenching.

Splinter is suffering from depression and is his lazy personality is the product of escapism.
Word of God states he's Hamato Yoshi mutated into a rat after all, which means that he was likely betrayed by Oroku Saki and barely escaped with his life. This could be the cause of his emotional distance from the Turtles.
  • Semi-confirmed. While the circumstances of his mutation and depression are different, He's very clearly torn up over the loss of his humanity and the fact that becoming Splinter robbed him of being Lou Jitsu.

The Underground Monsters from the 2003 series will return as unwilling members of Draxum's secret civilization
Pretty straightforward.

Draxum controls only a tiny portion of the Foot and is subordinate to the Shredder
My thinking is that he was formerly a much higher ranking member until he became ousted, mutated in disgrace, and banished, taking only a contingent of those loyalest to him. Shredder will be in his usual place, as head of the entire organization.
  • Jossed: Draxum only recently allied with The Foot and was fast tracked into a leader position to trick him into donning the Shredder Armor and having his power absorbed by it.

The characterizations of the Turtles will diverge more drastically in later episodes
And a Lampshade will be hung when someone criticizes Mikey for remaining the same fun-loving goofball while his brothers have more or less all grown up.

Splinter does not yet know about April
That's why the turtles didn't want to tell him about her in Mystic Mayhem. They don't want Splinter to know they are secretly friends with a human. When Splinter eventually finds out, they will explain the story of how they met April via flashback - every other incarnation started with April meeting the turtles for the first time but this started with her already knowing them.
  • Jossed. Splinter mentions her in The Fast and the Furriest.

There will be a Whole Episode Flashback revealing how the Turtles met April.
And it will be a 22 minutes long.

Baron Draxum, contrary to the marketing, actually has no connection to the Foot Clan at all.
Due to the episodes having little to do with Baron Draxum at all, and "The Longest Fight" ending with a hint that the Foot Brute and Foot Lieutenant are assembling something.
  • Sort of Jossed. He winds up allying with them, but the marketing's implication that he was their leader isn't quite accurate.

Casey this time around will be an Adaptational Wimp
This series depicts the turtles before they became the crime fighters we know them as, straying away from the stories told time and time again. Like the turtles, Casey will also start out differently but will likely change overtime in terms of Character Development.

Oroku Saki controls the Foot Clan from Japan
And he will wear the Kuro Yoroi once it's collected, becoming the Shredder reborn.

The Hidden City was created by Kraang/Utroms centuries ago, at a time when they were living on our planet
They couldn't resist adding Shredder in some form. I'm betting they can't resist using Krang either. Draxum's mutagen was refined or derived from their own formula; he found the recipe or something.

Hamato Yoshi will appear... as Splinter's ancestor
As in the IDW comics, Yoshi will have lived centuries ago, during which time he had some involvement in defeating or banishing the Shredder. In a twist, he'll get a dose of Adaptational Villainy, being obsessed with destroying Shredder, possibly being motivated by an almost irrational vengeance desire for vengeance against his old enemy.
  • Both Jossed, and Meta-Confirmed. Splinter is Hamato Yoshi, Lou Jitsu being his stage name. However, one of his ancestors spirits is voiced by the same VA as the 2012 incarnation of the character.

Baron Draxum will become this show's version of Krang
During a climatic battle, the Baron will be exposed to a flawed sample of his own ooze and be mutated into a brain with tentacles. Bonus points if it's revealed that his full name is Baron Krang Draxum and he's exclusively called by his first name after that.
  • Jossed.

Lou Jitsu is just a stage name.
His real name would, perhaps unsurprisingly, be Hamato Yoshi.
  • Confirmed

Jase and Jeremy will turn on Kendra.
For the way she treats them.

The Turtles will eventually go back to using their traditional weapons.
The mystical weapons (and Donnie's tech bo-staff) will either be lost, stolen, or outright destroyed, forcing the Turtles to use their old weapons. They'll be shown initially struggling to wield them effectively due to being out of practice from not using them for so long, as well as not having any special abilities to fall back on.

Big Mama's masked enforcer is either Venus De Milo, Jennika or a Composite Character / Expy
Just by looking at the final minute of "Many Unhappy Returns", one of Big Mama's servants sends Shredder back to his dimension, or so it seemed. Whoever they were was masked, but had a slender, feminine build and their torso and left shoulder pad looked like turtle shells.

The series will later go through a Time Skip
In the future, the characters become much closer to their predecessors. One in particular is Baxter Stockboy - now older, he nicknames himself 'Stockman' and is subsequently mutated into a fly.

What the upcoming movie will touch upon
It will focus more on how the main characters have developed, Leo in particular will struggle with maintaining his newly-appointed leadership. With Shredder defeated, Krang will take over as the next Big Bad, plotting to mutate the city in his own twisted image. The following mutations could incorporate other characters such as Bebop, Rocksteady, Slash, Leatherhead, and alluding to the above theory, Baxter Stockman. And it will be a big crossover with the Turtles from other incarnations - starting with the 2012 Turtles because of it being Nick's first rebranding of the franchise. Plus, 2012 Leo could definitely help his Rise counterpart find his ground.
  • Following with this, the Foot Lieutenant and Foot Brute will become Bebop and Rocksteady. Their fate in the finale remains unknown, so it would be great for them to reappear with a new purpose. Also their body types are fairly similar to the 2012 Bebop and Rocksteady. Or they could mutate into different creatures.

The Rise Turtles will appear in a Crossover Episode in Samurai Rabbit: The Usagi Chronicles
They didn't get a chance to crossover with Usagi Yojimbo in their own series, but they could get a chance to appear in Yuichi Usagi's series! Yuichi is a brash teenager unlike his ancestor, so he could have a more fun dynamic with the Rise!Turtles. Plus the series focuses on hunting yokai, which these turtle boys are all too familiar with.

     ROTTMNT Specific Character Theories 

Raph has Dissociative Identity Disorder.

“Man Vs Sewer” gives us the information that Raph can’t stand to be by himself for long periods of time, and that the result is violent and frightening as he turns into Savage Raph. This user on tumblr goes into detail about it, but the main idea is that Raph displays several symptoms of DID, even when it’s Played for Laughs:

  • Most cases of DID are brought about by trauma, and while none of the turtles discuss any childhood trauma that Raph may have had, Raph starts displaying paranoia of a very specific thing during the episode; sewer monsters. A delusional Raph starts perceiving that both the Sando Brothers and his own siblings are sewer monsters, an incredibly odd and almost out of place thing for him to be fearful of, especially since Raph and his brothers have lived in the sewers their whole lives.
  • The nature of Savage Raph in general is quite odd. He acts completely separate of regular Raph, and is his polar opposite; He’s a vicious, semi verbal cannibal who can’t recognize his own siblings, in sharp contrast to the Bruiser with a Soft Center Raph who loves them to a fault. Yet, he still has his positive qualities: Savage Raph was able to quickly make a fire, scare away “enemies” to protect himself, and gather “food” (in the form of the Sando Brothers). Theoretically, Savage Raph could take good care of himself if his brothers leave him alone. The problem is that Raph and Savage Raph seem completely unaware of each other’s existence, which becomes problematic when Savage Raph can’t differentiate friend from foe.
  • Raph and Savage Raph also talk very differently from one another; whereas Raph talks normally and occasionally talks in the third person (usually just to be dramatic or to hype himself up), Savage Raph only talks in the third person and in short, terse sentences, as well as in a gruffer voice than Raph usually speaks in.
  • The fact that Leo, Mikey and Donnie are relatively calm up until they see how violent Raph has become implies that he’s had this issue for a while. Perhaps something happened in his early childhood involving sewer monsters that forced Raph to develop Savage Raph to protect himself? And that his siblings were too young to understand that it isn’t normal?
  • The "Mind Raph" that appears later in season 2 could be another alter, given that he's presented as a separate entity in, well, Raph's mind who can give advice that regular Raph couldn't think of at the time. Some people with DID can communicate with their alters, after all. As for why Leo can also talk to Mind Raph, maybe that ninja mind meld from season 1 never quite wore off?

Donnie has autism.

This user specifies how Donnie demonstrates a few different symptoms of autism:

  • He talks in a calm, even and unintentionally sarcastic tone that causes him to be misunderstood by others. He is often a perpetrator of being Innocently Insensitive but doesn’t seem self aware enough to understand it (given his interactions with April have him unintentionally insult her.
  • He tends to take phrases and jokes other people say a bit literally or analyze them too deeply, such as a bunch of jokes by his siblings and April.
  • He constantly wears his head gear and false shell even when he doesn’t need it, which can be his comfort items. The jacket he gets in “The Purple Jacket” could also be a temporary comfort item, since he found it so comfortable to him that he slept with it as his blanket.
  • His special interests could be his inventing, and playing video games to a certain extent, given that he’s virtually uninterested in anything his brothers are interested in unless it’s a hobby he shares with them.
  • Another common trait of autism is difficulty in controlling ones’ volume, and Donnie has shown to accidentally get too loud on a few occasions; one example being when he was rapping in “Mystic Library” and got so into it that he was taken away, and also in “End Game”, when he was meditating and humming loud enough to annoy his siblings.
    • Semi-confirmed by Word of God. One of the show creators on Twitter confirmed that Donnie is at least somewhere on the spectrum.

The Foot Clan seen are not new characters

It will turn out that Canon Character All Along will be in effect.

  • The foot recruit turn out to be Karai.
    • Jossed. She is Cassandra "Casey" Jones
  • As for the Brute and Lieutenant. Assuming something happens to the Shredder, like being slain, the two will have different ideas. The Brute turns out to be his older brother, named Nagi, and think they should resurrect the Shredder properly. The younger brother decides that he, Oroku Saki, will be the Shredder.

The Yokai Council are the Utrom High Council.
Due to the fact that they're three giant talking heads, and the series finale showed that the Crying Titan had a pilot...

Big Mama's real name is actually "Big Mama"
She's a yokai, so there's no reason she would have a normal human name. Her parents were just very forward thinking.

     Netflix Movie Theories 
Guesses on who the "mysterious stranger from the future" is

  • Slash. Word of God DID hint that there were more turtles that Lou Jitsu didn't save..

  • Renet. She's appeared in almost every TMNT universe, and as a Timestress/Time Master, it would make sense for her to make an appearance to aid the Turtles once again.

  • One of the Turtles.

  • April

  • Cassandra's son from the future.

The Turtles and Splinter will meet April's parents.
The latter had interest in meeting them.

There will be a flashback showing how April met the Turtles.

     Potential Season 3 

Possible Adventures
With there being speculations for Season 3, there can be some possibilities of what adventures the TMNT will have in Season 3.

Krang-2 will be the Big Bad of Season 3
Well, since Krang-1 is currently imprisoned in another dimension, and Krang-3 was presumably killed, it is likely that Krang-2 will be the Big Bad of Season 3.

Possible Future Antagonists of Season 3
It’s speculations for Season 3, there are some possibilities of what villains that could appear in the series.

  • Agent Bishop
  • The Government / Earth Protection Force
  • Rahzar and Tokka
  • Tiger Claw
  • Hun
  • Triceratons

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