As promised, some of my literary analysis that made its way into this comic!
Hypno-potamus, as of his first appearance in Rise of the TMNT, is a very insecure character.
The reason he initially found his way onto the TMNT's radar? Hindering other magicians by stealing their trick animals—and in a later episode, becoming supremely jealous of a random high school student's magic act going viral, and inserting himself into that situation, to the detriment of everyone present—including himself, having fallen victim to his own magic hat trap.
^ That is not the face of a happy, well-adjusted mutant hippo.
In terms of dyslexia, this misspelled "stupid turtles" drawing was seen in Hypno and Warren's shared apartment, and earlier in the series, in luring them to the trap in New Jersey, we see another "turtles" misspelling spray-painted on the sign.
In my own little pile of headcanons, I weighed the options, and decided that of the pair, it was ultimately more interesting to interpret Warren as being dyslexic, rather than make silly assumptions. Besides, Warren Stone is an extremely self-satisfied individual—maybe he's got a reason to be that proud!
Speaking of New Jersey... Look at him! Hypno's making friends. (Mostly really, really, scary friends.)
And he goes along with their plan, even though, "As an actual magician I'm offended by this charade".
In terms of Hypno's mystic mutation not harming his profession, let's see how the Magic Town House treats the MAGNIFICENT Mesme-Ron—now newly mutated, minus his beloved trick animal, and going by a new name.
For reference, here's the image of Hypno pre-mutation!
We find that, displayed inside the Magic Town House...
...Are a variety of images featuring both Hypno's pre- AND post-mutation designs.
Here's a couple more that I'd rule fall more into the "illusion" category than the "Actual Magic Town House interior", but are worth a look! The detail work the Rise crew includes in this show is BREATHTAKING.
Being a magical mutant hippo does not seem to have harmed Hypno's professional career—he's even updated his flyers to capitalize on his apparent success!
Meanwhile, on that same bulletin board, Warren Stone...Isn't faring well.
Warren has also updated his flyer, which advertises his abilities as a "Public Speaker" but someone's defaced it, writing "Loser" and slapping a big ole red "X" over Warren.
But hey! Since public speaking's not working out, there's an opportunity to go into business with his roomie!
Hypno begins the series pretty desperate for respect—and in some ways, he gains the respect he craves!
Big Mama considers him an entertaining enough player to include him (read: KIDNAP him) within her "Battle Nexus Wizbang" event.
His behavior during and after said event are pretty pivotal to his personal arc—someone finally respects him enough to think he's a challenge!
As Big Mama proclaimed: "Each of you is linked to an enemy, and you'll need to work together to complete a challenge against one of my BATTLE NEXUS CHAMPIONS!"
"Cortex is the smartest Yōkai in the Hidden City—and the CRUELEST. Lose, and he keeps the turtle in his collection of game pieces!
Oh no! How horrible for Hypno—wait. That threat doesn't affect him. Oh well! Presumably Big Mama's got something else nasty up her sleeve.
Still...Out of all the turtle & enemy pairs in this competition, Donatello and Hypno—despite having the least communication—display the most teamwork. (Not meaning to dismiss Ghostbear! But Hypno received some extra brownie points at the end, which Ghostbear didn't stick around for.)
...Maybe Hypno's behavior has something to do with his most recent interaction with the turtles at the Magic Town House, wherein the solution to his fashion trap was: "learn[ing] the power of self-love in order to break free"?
He's arguably grown more benign by this point in the series, even though he's been spending more time around the more extreme "villains" of the series.
Hypno, watching the turtles happily reunite, calls out: "Brotherly love! YEAH! That's what I've been talking about!" He moves to high-five one of his peers, and is met with: "Put that away—you're embarrassing yourself, Hypno."
When Leo threatened Big Mama, he initially counted crabby Carl, Meat Sweats, and Hypno as allies against their mutual enemy, Big Mama: "We've got you outnumbered six to one!"
...While Hypno may have been the only non-cannibalism-inclined villain present—that didn't quite stop him from hightailing it away rather than help the turtles in their fight.
