Enter The Turtleverse

As a distant fan of The Teenaged Mutant Ninja Turtles, I have always appreciated the various versions of the turtles, and how whichever generation you grew up in you could have "your" ninja turtles. That being said if I were to create a show based off the TMNT it wouldn't be an all-new take on the series, but instead expand off the concept of the Turtleverse established in past cartoons. This way everyone has a turtle they remember and everyone can discover versions of the turtles they've never seen before! So who are the characters? What's the big threat? Well, let me tell ya!

Premise

The Krang are an alien race that exists in Dimension X and they have been plaguing the Teenaged Mutant Ninja Turtles in every dimension. What their higher-ups have conjured is a type of virus that turns Mutagen into a poison and they plan on testing it out in four dimensions. However, their plan backfires and four different turtles from four different dimensions are infected by the poison, but instead of dying they end up gaining the ability to travel the multiverse at will. However, the effects of the poison pull them out of these dimensions after a few hours. In order to fix this and defeat The Krang, these four ragtag turtles must team up, travel across the multiverse, and get to Dimension X.

Every dimension would have a letter coding  (which means Dimension X could have their own alien turtles). There are roughly ten different TMNT universes-across film, cartoons, comics, and video games-so you have fifteen (not counting Dimension X) universes where the writers can do anything, any bizarre multiverse they can come up with, perhaps versions of the turtles that never got made for real? That could be cool. Basically it's "Sliders" or "Spiderverse" withThe Teenaged Mutant Ninja Turtles! Awesome!

Leonardo (2012 Cartoon)

This version of Leonardo is very capable as a martial artist and as a leader, but coming from a cartoon he can have humor as well as an accidental corniness to his approach on fighting evil. This version of Leo also has an ability called Healing Hands which makes him unique and useful besides being a leader. Having this newer Leo be the team leader also allows this Leo have experiences in leadership others cannot. I could see an arc where this Leo goes off on his own through some other dimensions and has a bit of soul searching, kind of like Samurai Jack. His biggest conflict would be adjusting his leadership to some much different turtles.

Raphael (1984 Comics)

Coming all the way from the original source, this version of Raphael comes from the very first comic book series of The Teenaged Mutant Ninja Turtles. In the original, every turtle had the same dark red mask, you could only tell them apart from their weapons. It has always been my belief that when the turtles were given individual colors Raph kept the red as a sign of the character being constantly portrayed as a the rougher-edged tough guy of the team similar to how the original comic was a bit darker than most incarnations. This Raph is like the Wolverine of the team, he's short, he's violent, rough around the edges, and covered with cuts on his shell and rips on his mask. Like usual he'd clash with Leo, but this time because this Raph is the oldest of the group technically, he's seen the most, and he might be the best fighter of all of them. So that brings conflict.

Donatello (2014 Film)

Another newer turtle and definitely the most obsessed with tech out of all the Donnies, this Donatello is like the Beast of the team. He's much taller than the others, but he's more brain than a brawn. Covered in gadgets he'd be the turtle who invents communicators, a device to travel different dimensions, and a spacecraft version of the Turtle Van. Behaving like other Donnies, this version of Donnie's key difference would be is intense interest in the multiverse. So intense he may sneak behind his allies to communicate with other Donatellos, or perhaps he looks for the perfect dimension, or perhaps he goes mad from the concept of the multiverse. After all, this Donnie comes from the most intense turtle multiverse.

Michelangelo (1991 Arcade Game)

This version of Mikey is a bit of a combination of the 87' cartoon and the 90's live-action films. In the arcade beat-em-up "Turtles Through Time" the turtles travel through time and space to fight The Shredder as well as foes from the cartoon and the films. I picked this version of Mikey because he can still be layed-back and fun, but also has more maturity and experience. Having a version of Mikey who isn't the dumb little brother who is only the heart of the team would make this series feel very different and show how effective Mikey could be if he grew up a little bit. Not to mention this Mikey would have to the most experience travelling time and space. Since he's from the 90's he'd be the fun equivalent to Raphael. Since Raphael is from the earliest, most violent version of the turtles and Mikey comes from the second earliest and first kid-friendly version of the turtles, the two could have an interesting relationship. After all, Raph may have fought more battles, but Mikey's seen goofier stuff. 

Splinter, April, & Casey

Versions of these characters could appear in different episodes. Perhaps a criminal version of Casey in one episode, a version of April who became a ninja, a version of Splinter who never raised the turtles. Basically these would be character who reappear in different ways. Splinter would be a bit of a linchpin for the turtles as every time the team seems to part paths, they are reminded that the one constant between their universes is Splinter's love and guidance. Donnie even names their ship "The Hamato" in honor of him.

The Krang

Since The Krang would be the same aliens throughout all dimensions they'd be the main antagonist for the turtles. They would try to slow the turtles down before they get to Dimension X by creating beyond challenging threats in multiple worlds. They could have a leader who's a full grown creature, they could use sci-fi technology and enhanced minions. They would be the biggest threat against the turtles. But one rebel Krang would aid the turtles as a distant ally.

Shredder (2003 Cartoon)

I chose this Shredder because he is the most dedicated to his goal of destroying the turtles, this Shredder used to be a Krang using an android body, but later he was destroyed and all that remained was an artificial intelligence backup of his mind on the internet. This Shredder got a body, lost a body, and as of this series his AI would latch onto the turtle's ship. Over the course of the series Shredder would grow in power, possessing a robot body, getting his own ship, recruiting Foot Ninja from multiple dimensions and minions like Bebop and Rocksteady and Tokka and Rahzar. He'd find someway of implanting his robotic mind into a human body, keeping himself alive with Mutagen. Shredder-by the end of the series-would basically be Doctor Doom. Magic, technology, cosmic power, mutate abilities, he's the strongest. He grabs minions, weapons like the Technodrome, and armor like the 2014 mech armor. He's a bit of a third party, he doesn't care about fixing the multiverse, he doesn't care about The Krang, he just wants to kill these turtles and use their tools to kill every ninja turtle.

So that's my idea for a new ninja turtle cartoon, a nice celebration of the good, the bad, and the awesome of ninja turtles history! Maybe one year this idea will be utilized, but until then I look forward to the next form the Heroes in a Half Shell take next!

Thanks for reading!