Mutant Ninja Turtles Gaiden
What happens when you mix the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles with Darker and Edgier? You get this gem of a fancomic.
Created in 2004 by an aspiring artist known in Deviant ART as Tigerfog, Mutant Ninja Turtles: Gaiden is an Alternate Universe doujinshi that takes place seventeen years after a pivotal event that happens in the comic's Prologue. The entire comic is hosted on Tigerfog's website.
The story begins when the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles were teenagers. Master Splinter recieves a package from an unknown sender, but leaves it hidden as he teaches Leonardo an old technique. As this happens, the ever-curious Michelangelo recruits Raphael so they could find out what Splinter received. They both find an old, broken katana and, from then on, certain characters begin to act unusually out-of-character. The conclusion of the Prologue leaves the four brothers psychologically traumatized.
Cut to seventeen years later, when the Ninja Turtles are adults. A mysterious fifth turtle shows up on the news, causing the older Raphael and Donatello to resurface once more in an attempt to recruit it. However, the fifth turtle, whom Raphael names Renoir, knows nothing about how he became a turtle. All he remembers are his memories as a human named Augustus Amherst. Despite this, Raphael takes Renoir under his wing, making Renoir his student and establishing the set-up of the main story.
This comic is a must see for any TMNT fan and is very well-recommended for people who enjoy a good plot and interesting character development.
To all future editors, please add tropes related to the characters to the Mutant Ninja Turtles Gaiden Character Sheet, not here in the main page.
- A Day in the Limelight
- Animesque: MNT Gaiden is drawn in a shounen manga art style.
- Anyone Can Die
- Artifact of Doom: A VERY nasty one.
- To be more specific, it is an Evil Weapon.
- Art Evolution: There's a considerable jump in the artists skill between the prologue and Chapter 1.
- Barehanded Blade Block: Donatello in the prologue.
- But Thou Must!: Leonardo being forced to allow Karai and her Foot ninjas to assassinate the Morinagas to prevent the Yamata-no-Orochi from being reality.
- Cerebus Syndrome: The whole point of the prologue. And chapter 17 could very well be a new one...
- Character Development
- Chivalrous Pervert: Renoir. He steals Shadow's panties, but according to Davianna, he would not kiss her before she turned 18 even if she *asked* him to.
- Comedic Sociopathy: The Bakabakashii comic is made of this.
- Corner of Woe: In the Bakabakashii (4KOMA) comic, Mona Lisa and 80s Mikey go through this.
- Curiosity Killed the Cast: This is the driving force behind the plot; the cast didn't die they were just left mentally scarred.
- Darker and Edgier: Tigerfog's MNT Gaiden universe is loosely based off the original TMNT comic book universe.
- Dysfunctional Family: The MNT after the events in the prologue...could ya really blame 'em.
- Eye Scream: Raphael, Renoir, and now Tony.
- Even Evil Has Standards: Subverted. The Foot Commander stopped one of his underlings from raping Davianna because it was beneath them... because the Foot Ninja should focus on the needs of the Clan over their own desires, not because of any inherent morality.
- Fatal Flaw: The MNT and possibly Renoir.
- Flash Back: The prologue takes place seventeen years before the main plot.
- Foreshadowing
- Gratuitous Japanese: Sound effects and action effects are represented by Japanese symbols, rather than English onomatopoeia. For example.
- Harmful to Minors: Kids are not exposed to violence here... they're SUBJECTED to it.
- Shadow almost drowned twice. First when she was a kid, then as a plan of the Foot Clan to lure and kill Michelangelo. And before that, she got a VERY ugly beating from a ninja she kicked in the groin.
- Her best friend Davianna was also kidnapped. She had to watch Shadow being punished, and then she was almost raped.
- Being the newest turtle, Renoir is in the line of fire. And that meant losing his eye and falling from a building, after a scrape with a ninja. Good thing he could heal...
- Maybe Augustus was transformed into Renoir, maybe not. Either case, there is no way this could have been pleasant to him...
- Carole Amherst was taken hostage by Donatello, of all turtles, when he was being chased by police, and ended up in hospital.
- Chapter 18 introduced (HUGE SPOILERS) a young, cloned turtle made by Donatello as a test to clone Splinter. His main uses for him? Guinea pig and punching bag.
- Honorary Uncle: The MNT are all uncles to Shadow.
- Information Wants to Be Free: A reporter is upset after receiving word that she needs to report the mysterious deaths done by Foot ninjas as emigrations abroad. She is pissed out and leaves in protest while the cameras are rolling, saying that the deaths are done because of a conspiracy.
- Mysterious Past: Davianna; possibly Renoir. If Renoir is Augusts Amherst then his past would be less mysterious.
- Nice Job Breaking It, Hero: Mike comforting and reassuring Donatello, unaware that Donatello wants said reassurance because he's doubtful about his crazy-ass plans.
- Not Himself
- Official Couple: April and Casey.
- Playing with Syringes: Donatello.
- Poor Communication Kills: The prologue revolves around this.
- The Reveal
- Sanity Slippage: Donatello.
- Science Is Bad
- Single-Issue Psychology
- Sliding Scale of Idealism Versus Cynicism: Holy crap. If your only experience with the Turtles is that goofy cartoon series you watched when you were six, with defanged baddies and wise-crackin' youngsters, you are not gonna be prepared for the level of violence and gore this piece dishes out. As for the statement this makes about the world, check out this page directly contrasting the idealism of a child with the psychotic actions we've just witnessed from one of the "heroes".
People like that are called heroes, right? And heroes, they don't do bad things, right?
- Time Skip: To a time where the turtles are in their mid-30s.
- This Is Your Brain on Evil: And how!
- True Companions
- Wham! Episode: Orignally Chapter 17, but was split into three chapters (17, 18, 19) due to its size. Now Chapter 18 is the aforementioned Wham! Episode.
- What Do You Mean It's Not for Kids?: This is NOT the TMNT you grew up with.
- Perhaps this is best exemplified by this page.
- You figured the prologue would've tipped you off.
- Wise Beyond Their Years: Renoir, Shadow, and Davianna have all displayed wisdom that average teenagers in a place like New York City in this day and age may not have.