Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (film)

Films based on the comic by Kevin Eastman and Peter Laird. Four have been made so far with a fifth one in the works. Unlike the previous three however, it is not a sequel of the same movie series, but rather a complete Continuity Reboot.

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (1990)

"Dudes and dudettes, major league butt-kicking is back in town!"
—Michelangelo

The Shredder is building an army. With his Foot Clan, a group of misguided teenagers trained in the art of ninjitsu, he is responsible for a crime wave the likes of which New York City has never seen. The worst thing is that they're ninjas. How do you catch someone so quick? So silent?

Enter four reptilian hominids: Leonardo, Donatello, Michelangelo, and Raphael, given a humanoid shape through a dip in a broken canister full of mutagen. Trained by a similarly mutated rat named Splinter in the art of ninjitsu as well, along with moral support in investigative reporter April O'Neil and extra muscle in street vigilante Casey Jones, these Ninja Turtles must save the Big Apple from the clutches of the Foot.

Financially the most successful of the movies made thus far, the first was mostly an adaptation of Eastman and Laird's original comic, although it did take some elements from the popular '80s cartoon, such as the turtles' love of pizza and their differently colored headbands, and April's job as an investigative reporter. The costumes provided for the eponymous heroes, as well as puppetry for Splinter and the turtles as young mutants, were provided by Jim Henson.

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles II: The Secret Of The Ooze (1991)

"Ten flips now...and remember... go ninja go ninja go!"
—Splinter

The Foot Clan is back, and back at the helm is Shredder, thought dead by practically everyone. Scarred from his dive into a trash compactor, he is out for revenge. Their numbers may be diminished, but they have something to even the odds. Taking a sample of the waste that birthed the Ninja Turtles from the TGRI laboratory, the Foot has two deadly enforcers in the form of Tokka and Rahzar, a mutated snapping turtle and wolf.

Can the Turtles finally stop the Foot once and for all, or will Tokka and Rahzar's strength be too much?

While it was still a money maker, it garnered some criticism from fans of the first film for toning down the violence and adult themes, and although Jim Henson's Creature Shop still worked on the movie, the costumes and animatronics were considered a little inferior, supposedly toning down the gritty detail to avoid scaring children (they still looked just fine, though). Generally considered more like the goofy cartoon than like the edgy comic, the best example of this being Shredder, who went from being a badass to still a bit of a badass but a little more bumbling. Despite these criticisms, it is still considered a Guilty Pleasure.

This movie was also notable for the one-time character Keno—played by Ernie Reyes, Jr.--a martial artist/pizza delivery boy who provided some assistance for the turtles after they saved his hide from a group of muggers. He disappeared from the rest of the movies. Tokka and Rahzar were original characters made for the movie as well, but this would not be the last we would see of them. The mutant duo would appear later in an episode of the original cartoon, the video games Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Turtles in Time and The Manhattan Project, as well as the Intercontinuity Crossover movie Turtles Forever.

Infamous for the appearance of rapper Vanilla Ice, who (in the context of the movie; it was presumably written ahead of time) came up with a rap almost instantaneously when the fight between the turtles and Tokka and Rahzar wound up at his gig at a club.

Also the only Ninja Turtles movie made thus far to not feature Casey Jones. At all.

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles III (1993)

"Hey, you were expecting maybe, uhh, The Addams Family?"
—Donatello

When an antique scepter sends April to 1603 Japan, it's up to the turtles to retrieve her and travel back to present day New York before the scepter's powers are gone for good. As they search for the scepter in that time period, they have to contend with an evil British weapons-trader named Walker.

Oh, and since both scepters exchange the people holding them between the two time periods, Hilarity Ensues as the misplaced individuals attempt to cope with their strange new surroundings.

Mercilessly panned by both critics and fans alike, the movie featured an outrageous plot, an uninspired villain, fewer fight scenes (although to be fair the fights that are in the movie are longer and more elaborate), and costumes/animatronics that looked unbelievably cheap due to the absence of Jim Henson's Creature Shop.

TMNT (2007)

"I must've hit my head pretty hard. I'm seeing giant turtles."
—Max Winters

The first Ninja Turtles movie to be done in complete CGI.

After training for years in Central America at the request of Splinter, Leo returns home to New York and reunites with his brothers.

Meanwhile, super wealthy mogul Max Winters has gained possession of four stone statues, one of which was retrieved by his client April. We learn that Winters is a warlord made immortal thousands of years ago upon contact with a rift in dimensions, and that those statues are his generals, who were transformed into living stone. Winters also has hired guns in a reformed Foot Clan led by the mysterious Karai. As all of this is happening, monsters are starting to appear all over the city.

The turtles must overcome their personal differences and become a whole once again to get to the bottom of things and quite possibly save the world.

Tropes used in Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (film) include:
  • Absurdly Spacious Sewer: Averted; the Turtles are clearly using storm drains to travel and their home is located in an abandoned control station (in the sequel they move into what appears to be an old pneumatic transit station). The sewer pipes are separated from the canals, and while real storm drains aren't quite that large, the New York system is large enough for a man to stand in.
  • Acting for Two: In the third film, Elias Koteas plays both Casey Jones and one of Walker's henchmen, Whit (who is implied to be Casey's ancestor). April notices the similarity.
  • Action Girl: April, in the fourth film.
  • Actor Allusion: Splinter is a very lax, laid back master of the fighting arts in the fourth film, much like one of Mako's other main animation role.
  • An Aesop: The first movie has one about fatherhood and family, with the good example (Splinter and the Turtles), the abusive/dysfunctional example (Shredder and the Foot) and the one stuck in the middle (Charles and Danny Pennington). Both Splinter and Shredder identify themselves as fathers, and, of course, Charles is Danny's father.
  • Anachronism Stew: In the fourth film. The four ancient Aztec generals from 1000 BC had SPANISH names. The Spanish language did not even exist back then. And the Spanish language did not arrive to Mexico until after 1492 AD. Also possible example of Spexico.
  • Art Shift: Splinter's flashbacks are shot differently from the rest of the film with a grainier, almost Film Noir look to them.
  • Badass Family:
    • The Turtles and Splinter, of course.
    • Winters/Yaotl and The Stone Generals.
  • Badass Normal: The Shredder, Casey Jones and by the time of the 2007 film, April O'Neil and Karai. The Turtles and Splinter kinda count, if you consider that, outside of being mutants, they have no other special or enhanced properties.
  • Battle Trophy: In TMNT, Splinter has a trophy shelf displaying various keepsakes from previous films.
  • Bash Brothers: All four of the Turtles, it's even Lampshaded in the battle of April's apartment that they're not used to fighting with a man down.
  • Battle Couple: April and Casey by the fourth film.
  • Belligerent Sexual Tension: Casey and April. So much so that Donatello lampshades it at one point.

Donatello: Gosh. It's kinda like Moonlighting, isn't it?

Casey Jones: So long, freak, I've got work to do!
Raphael: Freak!? FREAK!?

    • Leonardo during Shredder's Kick the Dog moment at the end of the first film.
  • Beware of the Nice Ones: Michaelangelo is pretty laid back even when Leo and Raph are at each others throats. Yet during the rooftop fight with Shredder, he attacks with a rage near similar to Raphael. No jokes, no laughs, just an angry teenage turtle swinging at Shredder with all he has in his chucks.
  • Big Damn Heroes: Raph does this for April and Casey does it for the turtles later.
  • Big Damn Kiss: April and Casey at the end.
  • Non Sequitur Scene: In TMNT, Splinter is singing a weird song with popping noises as he walks into the room.
  • Big No: In the first film when it appears The Shredder is going to kill Leo.
    • Raph gets one in the fourth film when he returns too late to stop the Stone Generals from taking Leo.
  • Bloodless Carnage: With the exception of the first movie all the fight scenes are bloodless, we see blood on the dead bodies of Master Yoshi and his lover Tang Shen, and Shredder bleeds from some of the wounds inflicted by Splinter in the flashback and Leonardo in the final fight.
  • Broad Strokes: The events of the first three movies, as applied to the fourth. It was basically confirmed by Word of God that, they did happen, just not in exactly the same way.
  • California Doubling: In Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles III, though the film takes place in New York and Ancient Japan, many scenes are actually filmed in China's Hong Kong and in Astoria, Oregon. Back in the previous two movies before the third one, many scenes were shot in both New York and North Carolina, though both films take place in much of New York, anyway.
  • The Cameo: In the first movie, the Turtles' actors appear unmasked (David Forman - Leonardo costume - is a gang member in the warehouse when Casey Jones defeats Tatsu, Josh Pais - Raphael - is a passenger in a taxicab, Leif Tilden - Donatello - plays the Foot Messenger that meets April in the subway station, and Michelan Sisti - Michelangelo - plays the pizza delivery man)
    • But then, Leif Tilden doesn't really appear unmasked...
  • Canon Foreigner: Lots: Tokka and Rahzar, Max Winters, Tatsu, Charles and Danny Pennington, Keno, everyone introduced in the third film...
  • Canon Immigrant: Several characters, such as Tokka and Rahzar, made their way into other TMNT continuities. However, Charles Pennington, April's boss from the first movie, stands out as the only film character to make it to the Mirage comics.
  • Catchphrase Spouting Duo: Donatello and Michelangelo in the first movie.
  • Chuck Cunningham Syndrome:
    • Tatsu, who is completely absent from the fourth movie.
    • Chief Sterns.
    • For whatever reason Casey is absent in the second film. Dialogue and deleted materials from the third suggest that he moved away from New York for awhile and only recently returned.
  • Combat Pragmatist: Casey Jones.
  • The Comically Serious: Splinter, who finally learns how to crack wise at the end of the first movie. Fittingly, he becomes so delighted at this that he quips: "I made a funny! Ha ha ha ha!"
  • Composite Character: Oroku Saki and Oroku Nagi. (In the film, Saki, instead of Nagi, is the one who's Hamato Yoshi's rival and in love with Tang Shen.)
    • Could also be said about the turtles themselves. Aside from Raph, the turtles weren't very well-developed in the comics. While true to the comic, the movie applies some of the characterization from the cartoon (such as Mikey's immaturity and love of pizza) to make the turtles more unique. It worked out so well that the following adaptation did the same thing.
  • Conservation of Ninjitsu: Averted, early on Raph is completely overwhelmed by a horde of Foot ninjas that beat him almost to death and later the other three are forced to retreat after being outnumbered as well. Played straight later where the Turtles defeat an entire army of ninjas but then have trouble against The Shredder alone.
  • Continuity Nod:
    • Splinter's trophy room in TMNT contains a whole collection of references to the previous films. Shredder's helmet and staff, a Foot Ninja mask (based on those worn in the previous films, as opposed to the more modern members led by Karai) the T.G.R.I. canister, the Time Scepter, Walker's hat, Lord Norinaga's helmet and the armour of the Honour Guards whom the Turtles took the places of in the third film.
  • Crowd Football: In the second film, the Turtles try their best to keep a canister of mutagen from falling into Foot hands.
  • Curb Stomp Battle: Shredder completely dominates the turtles at the end of the first movie... Then Splinter shows up and takes out Shredder with a flick of the wrist.
    • Shredder vs. Leonardo wasn't necessarily a complete curb-stomp, though. While the Shredder was able to fight off Don, Raph, and Mikey with ease, Leo was able to hold his own against the Shredder and was able to actually WOUND the Shredder in a few places before he was finally fought off.
  • Da Chief: Chief Sterns
  • Dance Battler: All of the Turtles in addition to using real martial arts incorporate moves inspired by modern breakdancing.
  • Dark Action Girl: Karai.
  • Darker and Edgier: The first movie when compared to the '80s cartoon. Justified as it was inspired more by the original Volume I comics by Mirage. The second and third movies Invert This, with the fourth film striking a satisfying balance between the two.
  • Deadpan Snarker: Splinter without a doubt.
  • Dedication: Ninja Turtles II was dedicated to Jim Henson, and TMNT was dedicated to Mako, who voiced Master Splinter.
  • Designated Girl Fight: The Oner in the fourth movie shows Karai taking on April amidst the chaos.
  • Disappears Into Light: Max Winters, in the fourth movie.
  • Disney Villain Death: Shredder and Walker in the first and third movies respectively, which The Angry Video Game Nerd—in his special review of the third—noted was a trope featured in other movies "TOO MANY FUCKING TIMES!"
  • Double Take: From "The Secret of the Ooze": Not just a double take, but a triple take when Keno first sees the Turtles in the background.
  • The Dragon: Tatsu, in the first two movies.
    • Appropriately enough, Tatsu is one of the Japanese words for "dragon."
  • Dropped the Docks on Him: Super-Shredder in the second movie, who re-emerged from the waters after drinking the entire canister of ooze in his possession in a desperate attempt to kill the turtles once and for all. His strength increased but his intelligence diminished severely—focused only on his targets, he causes the docks to collapse on him by recklessly hitting their foundations while the turtles just barely escape the destruction.
  • Dumb Muscle: Tokka and Rahzar. When he was kidnapped and forced by Shredder to mutate the two animals, TGRI Professor Jordan Perry altered the mutagen a little so that their intelligence would not increase. As such, when Shredder demands they call him "master," they misinterpret the word as "mama" and hug the bejesus out of him.
  • Evil Sounds Deep: The Shredder in the first two films and then General Aguila for the fourth.
  • The Fagin: Shredder from the first movie essentially ran the Foot Clan this way. The Foot Clan was made up of teenage orphans and runaways who instigated a massive New York crime wave.
  • Family-Unfriendly Violence: The first movie is pretty loaded with this, as it's more of an adaptation of the comic rather than the cartoon. In particular are the scenes where Raphael is mercilessly beaten to near-death, the entire fight in April's apartment (where a Foot ninja accidentally hits a power main with his axe and starts jerking around and smoking), Tatsu's beating of Shinsho to near-death (or actual death if you go by the original script), Tatsu's beating of Casey Jones, and the Shredder being crushed inside the compactor of a garbage truck. It shocked so many people that in the second movie the Turtles barely even touch their weapons, let alone use them against people. The third movie, for all its problems, attempted to fix this.
  • Floorboard Failure: The first movie has this occur in the middle of a fight between the Turtles and the Foot clan on the second floor of April's apartment. Given that the floor had been hacked at with ninja axes and the number of people in the room at the time this was inevitable. Donatello even tries to warn the Foot.

Donatello: Uh, guys, I'm not so sure if this is, structurally speaking... such a good time for your buddies to drop in.
Foot soldiers drop in through the skylight. Seconds later epic floorboard failure occurs.

Donatello: You're a claustrophobic.
Casey Jones: Do you want a fist in the mouth?! I've never even looked at another guy before!

    • From the third movie:

Michelangelo: (to Kenshin, after switching places in time with April) How did you get into April's pants?

    • Also from the third movie:

Casey Jones: (After Kenshin breaks a cup in frustration) Hey, Ken, yannow, maybe you ought to try a little "herbal", Ken-man, yannow what I mean?

    • One of Donatello's first scenes in the fourth film is of him handling tech support calls over the phone. But one call: "No, sir, I'm not playing hard to get. I'm telling you, it's not that kind of phone line!"
  • Gosh Dang It to Heck: Averted in the first movie, which is a Pragmatic Adaptation of the cartoon and comic book (where swearing was much more common).
  • Gotta Catch Em All: The Foot Clan capturing the 13 Monsters in the 2007 TMNT.
  • He Had a Name: Invoked by Shredder just to taunt the Turtles:

Shredder: It had a name...

Charles: See? That's what he does when he wants to ignore me. Sticks his head in those things.

  • Highly-Visible Ninja: At the end of the second movie, which involved the Turtles fighting (and dancing) in a nightclub, in full view of an entire crowd of people, Splinter asks them if they were seen by anybody upon their return home.

Leonardo: Of course not, Master Splinter.
Donatello: We practiced ninja.
Michelangelo: The art of invisibility.

  • Splinter holds up a newspaper with a picture of them on the front cover*

Splinter: Practice harder.

  • Huddle Shot: "So exactly at what point did we lose control here?"
  • Hybrid Monster: Most of the 13 Monsters in TMNT.
    • The first monster looks like Bigfoot or a Yeti, but with reptillian spines on its back.
    • The warehouse monster looks like a cross between a cyclops, a centaur, and a minotaur.
    • Raph, as the Nightwatcher, fights one that shares fearures of the Jersey Devil and a gremlin.
    • We briefly see a monster on the train that looks like the cryptid Lizard Man, but has sloth-like claws and knuckle-walks like a gorilla.
    • The final monster looks like a cross between a Chinese dragon and Quetzalcoatl, but is supposed to be the Loch Ness Monster.
  • I Know Your True Name: "Yes, Oroku Saki, I know who you are."
  • Improbable Weapon User: At one point Casey weaponizes a garbage truck.
  • Irony: In the first movie, Mikey orders a pizza from Domino's. In the original VHS release (from Family Home Entertainment), the movie was preceded by an ad from Pizza Hut.
  • Interspecies Romance: Pretty much all of the turtles display some level of attraction to April in the beginning.
    • Mikey has one in the third movie.
  • Julius Beethoven Da Vinci: Max Winters.
  • Kick the Dog: Shredder at the end of the first film, after thoroughly beating the Turtles, mocks them by saying that he killed Splinter. It works.

Raphael: *sternly* Where's Splinter?
Shredder: Ah, the rat. So it has a name... It had a name.

  • Leonardo angrily pushes past the rest of them*

Leonardo: You lie!
Shredder: *smiling behind his mask* Do I?

  • Leonardo charges at Shredder in absolute rage*
    • He tries it again, after taking down Leonardo, he orders the other Turtles to throw away their weapons, or else he would kill him. After they have done so...

Shredder: Fools... The three of you might have been able to overpower me with the loss of but one. Now your fate...WILL BE HIS! *readies killing strike on Leonardo*

    • The Vampire Bat, one of the 13 monsters, eats a pigeon offscreen, then smiles menacingly.
  • Least-Common Pizza Topping: The first film has Michelangelo ordering a pizza near the beginning of the movie as Splinter talks about the "art of invisibility". As Splinter is finishing up his speech, Mikey is just about to finish the order, and he says, "Oh, but no anchovies, and I mean no anchovies. You put anchovies on this thing and you're in big trouble, okay?" right before Splinter throws a book at his head.
  • Let's Get Dangerous: Raph does this in the fourth film. After fighting Leo in his Nightwatcher gear and being outclassed, he pulls out his sai, the weapon he's trained with from birth, loses the helmet which constrained his vision, and puts up a better fight, before nearly killing Leo after it's revealed (To Leo) that his brother is the Nightwatcher.
  • Lighter and Softer: The first sequel, mostly because of the Moral Guardians. The second sequel takes it Up to Eleven. The third sequel subverts this, by having Raph & Leo fight each other which ends when Raph nearly kills Leo.
  • Love At First Punch: April and Casey; as Donatello so eloquently put it "Gosh. It's kinda like Moonlighting, isn't it?"
  • MacGuffin Melee: The second film has a battle in the TGRI labs between the Turtles and the Foot over a can of Mutagen.
  • Magic Pants: Shredder's outfit (cape and all) grows with him when he becomes Super Shredder.
    • Which crosses over into Body Horror when you realize that thanks to the ooze his costume is now a part of him.
  • Meaningful Name: Tatsu meaning The Dragon in Japanese.
  • Mentor Occupational Hazard: Nicely subverted by the first film.
  • Monster of the Aesop: in the 2007 movie, Raph is having issues with Leo's leadership. General Aguila and Yaotl are also brothers with similar issues. While Leo and Raph reconcile at the end, Aguila ends betraying Yaotl.
  • Mood Whiplash: The first movie seems like almost as funny and lighthearted as the cartoon series (it's a little bit darker, but we have to Avoid the Dreaded G Rating here!), until the Turtles return home to find it completely destroyed and Splinter missing. Watching it as a little kid, the effect is like someone punching you in the stomach.
    • In TMNT, the funny scene with the Raphael and a tiny monster is followed by a scene where Raphael and Leonardo have a falling out and have a fight, all culminating in Leonardo getting captured by the villains.
      • And in the final battle, we cut from an epic battle to Casey and April arguing about reckless driving, Karai snarking that they seem like they should be more concerned with the giant monster chasing them, the Foot Ninja nods in agreement, back to epic battle.
  • Mr. Fanservice:
    • Elias Koteas as Casey Jones.
    • Henry Hayashi as Kenshin.
  • My God, What Have I Done?: Danny looks at April's apartment on fire in tears, knowing it's because he told Shredder he saw one of the Turtles there.
    • More of a "My God, What Have I NEARLY Done?" example, but Raphael during the fourth film when he realizes that, in his rage, he was dangerously close to killing his own brother after a fiery battle; the realization causes him to run away in fear. Of course a straighter example happens soon after when Leonardo, beaten and weakened, is easily captured by the Stone Generals and Raphael is unable to stop them from taking him. He blames himself entirely for this.
  • Mythology Gag: While the first movie is mostly based on the original Mirage Studios comics, it had a few elements from the 80s cartoon: different-colored bandanas, their love for pizza, April being a news reporter, and Michelangelo's Catch Phrase "Cowabunga".
    • "Check out East Warehouse on Lairdman Island." (reference to Eastman and Laird, of course).
    • In the 2007 film, Casey's "home" clothes consist of a red shirt and dark blue trousers, and he has a slight navy tint to his hair colour; similar to his main design for Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles 2003.
    • April's "ninja" outfit in the 2007 film is coloured yellow. The colour that her 80's cartoon counterpart is best known for.
  • No One Could Survive That: Subverted in the second movie. The exact line was quoted after Super Shredder was crushed by a collapsing pier, but it turns out he really couldn't survive that after all.
  • Not So Above It All: Straight-laced Master Splinter, at the end of the first three films, will show that he's not above making the occasional joke like the turtles.

First film: I have always liked...'Cowabunga'.
Second film: Ten flips now! And remember... Go, ninja, go, ninja, go!
Third film, while wearing lampshade: Yo, dude! Like Elvis in Blue Hawaii!
Fourth film, while kicking monster ass: We should do this more often! I STILL got it!!

  • OOC Is Serious Business: All four turtles have their moments. The normally calm and cool Leonardo loses it when Shredder implies he killed Splinter. Earlier in the Battle, Michelangelo and Donetello, who are often the Plucky Comic Reliefs attack Shredder with ferocity almost similar to Raphael. And While Raphael often has a Hair-Trigger Temper and even attacks Shredder with the same rage, he calmly demands to know where Splinter is after the Battle.
  • Offhand Back Kick:
    • Leo does this after faking out another Foot ninja during the fight in April's apartment.
      • Later, Mike does a straightforward offhand backhand after ducking in his shell.

"God, I love being a turtle!!"

    • Raph does it after calling Donatello a showoff after Don's skateboarding ass-kicking-montage.
  • Oh Crap: Raph, when the Shredder appears in front of him, after insulting Tatsu.

Raph: You know pal, if I had a face like yours, I try to make it up for with some sort of a personality. Ha ha ha! [Shredder stands between him and Tatsu] Shredder!

Donatello: These nets are very effective and very well-constructed.
Michaelangelo: Yeah, remind me to drop a line to Ralph Nader!

  • Physical Fitness Punishment: Michelangelo is made to do back-flips as a punishment in Secret of the Ooze. When Splinter notices that Mike has started just jumping up and down to make it sound like he was doing back-flips, he makes him do more.
  • Pragmatic Adaptation: The first movie, which satisfactorily combined two very different version of the turtles into a successful whole.
  • Precision F-Strike: Well, D-Strike anyway. Raphael curses twice in the film, a short "damn" in the opening in frustration at losing a sai (thus giving away a vital clue to their existence) and again as a Skyward Scream after being bested by Casey Jones.
    • And who could forget "NINJA KICK THE DAMN RABBIT!"
    • And during Mike & Don's rock paper scissors match at the climax: "One, two, three! Damn."
  • Product Placement
  • The Professor: Jordan Perry, in the second movie.
  • Put Down Your Weapons And Step Away: Played painfully straight in the first movie, and then Shredder tells them how stupid it was.
  • Revenge Before Reason: After transforming into Super Shredder at the end of the second film, Shredder becomes completely determined to kill the Turtles, by collapsing the entire pier, and not even caring that his actions could kill him as well.

Leonardo: Shredder! You've gotta listen to reason! You're gonna destroy us all!
Super Shredder: Then so be it!

    • Shredder spends the entire second movie like this, several characters even call him on it.
  • Running Gag: The Turtles say things like "awesome" and "wicked," while Don says something lame like "Bossa Nova" or "A Capella."
  • Sarcasm Mode: April thinks Casey was acting like this when he tells her she got fired.

Casey: Hey, you just saved yourself an 8-mile round tripper: you're fired.
April: I... I just saved myself?
Don: Uh-oh.
April: What did you do? Did you take classes in insensitivity?
Casey: I was just trying to break it to you easy.
April: Well, you failed miserably!
Casey: You wouldn't even be standing there if it weren't for me!

  • Scars Are Forever: In the first movie, Raphael has a scar on his cheek from some unexplained injury, while Shredder has scars on his cheek from a pre-mutation Splinter.
    • If you look closely in the first two movies all of the turtles have little nicks and dings all over their shells, probably from a life time of ninja training.
  • Screaming Warrior: Raphael in the first movie, when they find their home trashed and Splinter gone.
    • A better example would be his rescue of April from the Foot in the subway when he gets his missing sai back.
  • Secret Keeper: Besides April and Casey, there's also Danny and Keno. The people at the dance club don't count.
    • Well, they do immediately tell the press...
      • But they assumed they were people in costumes (one guy thinks so, yet he and his date are vaguely aware of a rat). And the owners of the club assumed they were hired extras.
  • Sequel Goes Foreign: Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles 3 ups the ante by taking place in ancient Japan. Of course they are ninjas.
  • Sequel Hook: At the end of TMNT, Karai mentions that soon enough, the Turtles would have further business involving her and "familiar faces from your past," to which Raphael responds, "She doesn't mean..." While we may never see a sequel, it seems like they planned to make a movie where the Shredder returns.
  • Shoot the Television: Shredder is introduced in the first movie watching a wall of TV screens. When April appears on the news and indicates that she knows too much about the Foot Clan, Shredder throws a knife at her face on the TV screen.

"Find her. SILENCE her!"

  • Shout-Out: Present in most of the movies, such as Mikey's quoting of famous movie lines at April's apartment in the first, and the revelation of Splinter's favorite show (or one of them) being Gilmore Girls in the fourth. However, the third features shout outs considered by most to be absolutely cringe-worthy, such as...
    • In the monster roundup scene in TMNT, there is a blink-and-you'll-miss-it moment of a monster that looks just like Wildmutt.
    • The Addams Family line quoted above. It was probably supposed to be a Take That at Addams Family Values, a sequel to the first Addams Family movie that was coming out the same year as Ninja Turtles III, but even with that kind of context it makes no sense, especially since Donny is asking this to a group of guards in 1603 Japan.
      • Most likely the context is that Donatello is making what some people know as a "joke", or "humorous reference", which does not rely on the other party being able to understand it to still amuse the teller.
    • "Whoa, leg-o-rama! Schwing!"
    • "Help, I'm a turtle and I can't get up!"
    • As Donatello bonks a Mooks with a tree branch: "It's hammer time!"
  • Shut UP, Hannibal: Delivered by Splinter and Casey to the Foot members still identifying Shredder as a father figure, essentially telling them that the Shredder cares nothing for them; he merely uses them for his own selfish desires.
  • Shut Up, Kirk: Shredder attempts this in the first movie, when Splinter is lecturing him while holding him over a ledge.

Splinter: Death comes for us all, Oroku Saki, but something much worse comes for you, for when you die, it will be...
Shredder: [tries to stab Splinter, who instead releases his grip on Shredder's weapon, making him fall into the garbage truck]
Splinter: [finishes] ...without honor.

  • Skyward Scream: "DAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAMN!"
    • As noted above, Raph has another, unintelligible one when Splinter is kidnapped.
      • That scream can even be heard on the surface. An old man walks by and hears it, but shakes his head "nah, it couldn't be".
    • "SPLINTERRRRRRRRRRRRRRR!"
  • Spotlight-Stealing Squad: Raphael gets the lion's share of the focus in the first movie, taking over a plot that belonged to Leo in the original comics. TMNT could accurately be said to star only two turtles—Raphael and Leo—with the other two as supporting characters.
  • Starring Special Effects: But when Jim Henson is on board that's kind of a given.
  • The Starscream: General Aguila in the fourth movie. Granted, all four stone generals betrayed Winters, but Aguila was who convinced his siblings to do it.
  • Stealth Hi Bye: The Turtles, Splinter, and the Foot ninjas.
  • Take That: "A Jose Canseco bat?! Tell me - you didn't pay money for this!"
  • Talking Is a Free Action: There's really no reason why the Turtles should be able to spout off that much dialogue during their fights, other than the Rule of Cool and Rule of Funny.
  • Thirteen Is Unlucky: Especially when its thirteen powerful, bloodthirsty,immortal monsters capable of eradicating a whole army. Did I mention they're from another dimension?
  • Totally Radical
  • True Companions: The Turtles.
  • The Unchosen Ones: In the second movie, the Turtles discover that the creation of the ooze that changed them was purely an accident. Don was not very happy to learn this. He always thought they were special and believes there's got to be more to it. There isn't.
  • Viewers Are Geniuses:
    • "Do you like... penicillin on your pizza?"
    • A lot of Donny's failed attempts at slang are this.
  • What Happened to the Mouse??: Played straight in TMNT, where there are said to be 13 Monsters, but only 8 are actually seen.
  • Who Wants to Live Forever?: Max Winters, again.
    • He wouldn't but his generals would.
  • The Worf Effect: In the fourth movie, as per the plot demands, Leo gets this treatment, both at the hands of Winters's monsters and Raphael.
  • You Fight Like a Cow: The Turtles constantly mock and goad their opponents in battle. Don and Mikey are the two biggest offenders but even Leonardo and Raph get in on this one. They only stop joking at the very end, when the Shredder seriously pisses them off.
    • Of course, with the way the fight had been going, the turtles could hardly justify talking smack against the way the Shredder fights in the first place.
  • You Have Failed Me...: Shredder stares at Tatsu, who realized he failed. Tatsu takes his anger out on the Foot ninjas he was commanding, almost (maybe?) killing one.
  • Your Princess Is in Another Castle: In the second film, the Turtles do the "Cowabunga!" high-five celebration after the Shredder's apparent demise—only to have Super Shredder tear the dock out from underneath them.
  • You Watch Too Much X: It's implied that the Turtles watch a LOT of TV (especially Mikey). It's not like there's too much else for them to do.
    • Don skateboards and Raph goes to movies.
    • Judging by the mess he leaves in the second movie Leonardo like to read comic books.
  • Yuppie Couple: 1/2 of it; in the second film, April meets a couple. Later, that guy is working at the club in the climax.

See Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles for other works with the same title.

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