Iâm a new Tumblr blog dedicated to facts, headcanons, worldbuilding breakdowns, and rambled-but-researched speculations about Rise of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. I also throw in real turtle facts and anything else that connects back to Riseâs world.
If you want something analyzed, explained, compared, or researched, Iâll happily dig through sources and hand you the cleanest info I can find.
My goal is to give writers, artists, worldbuilders, and curious fans fuel for your creativity. Iâm more of an analyser than a storytellerâso I dig, you create.
Lore theories or speculation I potentially might expand on
Character behavior analysis through the lens of real turtles or Rise logic
Comparisons (e.g., species differences between the boys, weapon parallels)
â˘Yokai/mythology stuff and animal facts that tie into mutants (like spider behavior for Big Mama or mantis traits for Repo Mantis)
General science questions that might help with writing or drawing Rise content
Mild / non-explicit NSFW topics when framed around biology, anatomy, or behavioral accuracy
Just to throw it out thereâBotany. If you dare.
Basically: if itâs Rise or turtle-adjacent, Iâm down.
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What I WONâT answer / DNI
Anything Tc*st (NO romantic/sexual content BETWEEN the turtles. Please for the love ofâthey are siblings!)
Explicit pornographic asks (graphic detail, sexual content unrelated to biology, etc.) Tastefully ask things, please.
Hate, harassment, ship wars, or discourse bait
Shock-value or intentionally gross-out asks
This is a safe nerd corner. This stays a respectful and educational space, even when topics get biological.
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>> Disclaimer:
Iâm not a professional biologist or a Rise expertâjust a random person on the internet who flung myself into the turtle-facts rabbit hole to cope with the showâs cancellation. Iâm learning as I go.
Feel free to correct, discuss, or add onâthis blog grows with everyone who joins in.
If you spot something I missed or want to add to the discussion, please do! This blog is a collaborative learning space.
This was created with the intention of all in good fun and as a little pastime for me. Data collection calms me down :^
Ohâand writers, creators? If you ever got inspired or utilize the information I provide, I would appreciate it if you ping me. I'd love to see your works heh >:]'
What's your favorite canon facts /maybe canon not directly stated but heavy implied facts about the boys
OK. Some of these are probably common knowledge as a Rise fan, some a bit niche and just tiny little details I found funny...
Also most of these is Donnie cuz I just happened to pick up more about him compared to the other brothers throughout the series. It wouldn't even surprise me if Donnie is the staff favorite.
I would love to add more, but here is what I've got so far:
⢠Donnie's true passion is botany. As stated by Ron Corcillo himself on Twitter/X for the supposed scrapped episode for season 2 "Gourd Almighty".
⢠This thing for Raph (Pizza Puffs episode):
⢠Donnie is bad with money and budgeting. He stole from the other brothers piggy banks in "Breaking Purple", he steals from ATMs (insert episode here) and presumably blows money on a lot of stuff to fund his tech. Hence why I believe this boy can count money, but he spends more than he saves (if at all).
⢠Mikey has major Darwin (from Amazing World of Gumball) energy to me. I think he can be one heck of a scary yet adorable dictator. Have you SEEN the "Mystic Library" episode?
⢠Donnie is the one who makes Leo and him dress up as grandmas. It's canon that their undercover grandma names are Hortense (Donnie) and Patty (Leo) as heard in episode "Operation Normal".
⢠There are underlying clues throughout the show that Donnie, is in fact, the fashionista of the group and the one with the best fashion taste. RiseStarKiss Studios on YouTube made a full video explanation on this.
He can also sew, apparently (see photo). He probably got that from Splinter (Splinter sewed his boys matching ninja uniforms with all red bandanas in "Insane In The Mama Train").
⢠Not about the turtles, but I just wanna put it out there that April is a horror junkie. Just look at her during "The Gumbus" episode.
⢠Leo is canonically the older twin.
⢠Leo is a skeptic and doesn't believe in ghosts and superstition despite being into magic (as seen in episodes like "The Gumbus"). Donnie is a conspiracy theoriest despite being a scientist (as seen in episode "Pizza Pit"). Reverse twin energy at its finest.
⢠Leo with the turts helped buy a bunch of pizza to get Senior Hueso's kid enough money for college as stated by Leo himself in episode "Portal Jacked".
⢠Leo uses body spray.
I mean... it's LEO. You can't say he doesn't. Ron Corcillo (...or was it Russ Carney?) said this somewhere about Leo having it in his little bagâI can't find it. And I'm pretty sure Leo is the one next to Splinter who hogs the shower the most.
⢠Mikey is obsessed with astrology and horoscopes as implied in "Late Fee".
⢠I'm willing to bet Mikey is the type of person to try any creative hobby just for the heck of it. Look, this boy can paint, draw, stack cans, cook, DJsâhe can WELD and do carpentry (Donnie probably taught him that)... and I bet there's more we just didn't get to see with cancelled episodes and the show ending so quickly.
Also, with that in mind... Mikey definitely helps out Donnie with his tech projects sometimes. In the "Repo Mantis" episode, Mikey was competent enough to help Donnie build Doggie Land for Todd. Hands-on, no less.
⢠Raph loves karaoke. He sings soul (like in that "Al Be Back" episode) and R&B (as stated in the image below). This is a nod to Omar Benson Miller's (Raph's VA) love for karaoke as well. I... forgot where the post I saw this info related to Omar is in Twitter/X. So take this with a grain of salt. I believe it tho.
I'm also willing to believe Raph loves Jazz.
To add to this, I'm pretty sure Donnie is an EDM and Electro fan tooâALSO 80s music. If you've seen the episode "Clothes Don't Make the Turtle", you know what I'm talking about.
Ans Mikey is definitely into rapâhip-hop too. He just gives off the impression to me. Also this turtle canonically DJs (Donnie provides said DJ table) as seen in "Mascot Melee".
My personal headcanon... besides Glamrock, I think Leo is a fan of Funk and Disco.
⢠Leo also apparently knows how to fiddle with tech a bit. Definitely not as in-depth as Donnieâbut Leo was the one instructing and reprogramming version 1 of S.H.E.L.L.D.O.N. in the episode 'Smart Lair'.
⢠There's also this little headcanon that's been floating around by artist @kittykathaynes about how Splinter can see the color of the boys' Ninpos and that's why he calls them by colors.
Art by @kittykathaynes:
And considering that according to Ron Corcillo...
Hah. Yeah, I believe it.
I don't have as much as I want to give on my boys Raph and Mikey :']
Thank you, you GORGEOUS ASKERS for your asks! Sorry it's taking a while for me to answer them. I have been, unfortunately, extremely swamped and burnt out by the clutches of college work for approximately 3 weeks since my last postâbut don't fret! Answers to your queries are under process. Albeit, a very slow processâbut I WILL get to you. Whether you like it or not đđ
Just chipping away at them little by little when I have the braincells unhogged by this academic torture that has been normalized since apprentices have been emotionally abused since the 1950s... if you know, you know.
And more asks are still welcome! I won't be overwhelmed. Questions make my brain gears turn.
So until then... see you around when I finally have ample time for:
hey saw your post! was curious if you had any thoughts on raphâs parentification throughout the series?
What a good ask, Anon. Although, I have to admit... I'm not very good at emotional analysis. Certified thinker hereâbut I do my best when I can :]'
Raph's parentification has been evident from the start. It likely has been going on ever since they were turtle tots.
While it's difficult for me at the moment to give you a deep dive on Raph's parentification throughout the series... On an interesting note, however, I can look at this through a more biological lens as Raphael's parentification behaviours surprisingly have parallels with natural snapping turtle behaviour in the wild.
So that makes Raph's parentification not only nurture, but nature; instinctual. Combine that with Splinter's early neglect... and you got yourself an overprotective older sibling who stepped up.
Snapper hatchlings often instinctively follow the biggest or strongest sibling during the trek from nest to water.
This bigger hatchling isnât actually the âleaderâ, but ends up in a role similar to one.
They choose the path, break through obstacles (smashing tendencies lol), and draw predatory attention away from the smaller ones.
This is very Raph: He leads because he has mass, not because he wanted the role.
For Alligator Snappers (Macrochelys temminckii):
â The Older the "Tank-ier"
Older juveniles instinctively stay closer to younger ones if theyâre from the same clutch, acting as a "moving shield" because their shells are more developed.
The younger ones also use the older siblingâs shadow and cover as protection.
This parallels how Raph is constantly positioning himself physically between danger and his brothers. His role as the tank in the group.
We see this consistently throughout the series. One notable example would be this framed moment in "Mystic Mayhem" S1, Episode 1 where Raph is positioned at the very front where the threat is standing.
And knowing that makes this screenshot funny to me because April is older than all of the turtles, but Raph still takes the protective stance in this position (as he always does).
To add to this, both common snappers and alligator snappers have a reflex where:
The largest individual holds still and stays in front during danger, and lets others slip away behind it.
In nature this isnât "self-sacrifice", but functionally it resembles: "Iâll take the risk, you go."
Raph does this constantlyâeven in the movie, where he weaponizes himself as the first line of defense.
(*Clutches my heart in Movie Raph sacrifice scene*)
Common snappers, especially the strongest one in a shared territory, will:
Guard food patches
Guard resting spots
Guard shallow water access
Not because theyâre greedy, but because: the dominant individual keeps predators or rivals away from weaker siblings.
(He was literally protecting you from POISON)
â Stress Outbursts from Over-responsibility
While snapping turtles do not have emotional "stress outbursts" in the human sense, but they do exhibit strong defensive behaviors, such as snapping and lunging, when they feel severely stressed, frightened, or threatened.Â
Common Snappers
Under stress, they become explosively reactive. Their bite or lunge is a pressure release, not aggression.
This is extremely parallel to Raphâs emotional arc: anger = stress overload, not hostility.
Why I love this iteration of Raph, because he isn't rude or a jackass just becauseâit stems from stress about caring about his brothers and all the pressure on this big guy. He's just a boy! He's only 15 in the show! Look at all that baggage :']
Meanwhile...
Alligator Snappers
These big spikey guys hold tension without striking until theyâre pushed too far.
Then justâSNAP. Once. And they go still again.
Like how Raph tries so hard to stay composed, but breaks when the pressure becomes too much.
â Lone Responsibility = Lone Coping
In nature: Alligator Snappers Grow up mostly alone. They canât rely on a group for survival and must learn everything themselves. They become hyper-independent.
This fits Raphâs early-series mentality that he thinks he HAS to carry it all alone. He wouldn't want anyone else to bear this type of baggage, so he resulted to handling it all by himself to protect his loved ones. Went full-on Atlas.
Not to mentionâ
â The âParentâ Instinct Without Actual Parenting
Snapping turtles are not parental animals.
But interestingly, behaviors like:
⢠Leading movements
⢠Providing cover
⢠Being protective
Are incidental caregiving behaviors that come purely from strength, size, and instinctânot emotional attachment.
Thatâs the closest animal-world equivalent to parentification.
Raph wasnât "supposed" to be the parent.
He simply became it because of circumstance⌠just like the biggest snapper in a vulnerable clutch.
MAN the writers in this show did an excellent job.
Might be a bit of a weird/violent question, but how do you think the Dark Armor would've affected a different wearer than Baron Draxum? He had his usual armor on when he put it on. What if somebody didn't have protection like that? Say⌠Donnie with only his battle shell? Or at least a version of it.
Draxum was really weak, and I SWEAR that he was bleeding, even with the protection of his usual armor. If someone didn't have that, would they have scars? And if so, how do you think they'd look?
Oh my dear asker, what a treat you have oh-so-deliciously dropped into my ask box.
!!! MAJOR SPOILERS UNDER THE CUT !!!
First of all, let me share this screenshotted post from the trenches of X/Twitter with RotTMNT's staff writer: Ron Corcillo, and what was heinously robbed from us due to the show's second season being rushed and cut in half like King Solomon's clever proposal to tell which was the baby's real mother. The POTENTIALâ
Ahemâback to your question.
Here we see Draxum's mystic power being grotesquely deformed once April batted a baseball right into the flaw of the Dark Armour. He, during this moment in the show, I quote, said:
"What's going... on?"
"I... feel... weak..."
"...Like power... being... drained..."
And as the Foot Lieutenant stated, the armour was literally siphoning Draxum's life force like a teen with a slurpee, so it can have enough mystic energy to become self-sustainingâan entity capable of moving without a wearer. Sentient.
However, there was a missing piece, and the armour was unstable; feral, without its original owner controlling itâOroku Saki AKA The ACTUAL Shredder, or its soul (Due to Oroku Saki being trapped in the Twilight Realm by Karai).
This is why Draxum looked like a shriveled up grape under the blazing sun. Because his mystic energy was sucked out of him.
The Foot Lieutenant and Brute planned this all along. Draxum was an ideal subject to fuel the armour, as he was a yokai of great strength and mystic power.
Even with Draxum's armour on, you can see his life force/mystic energy was completely drained anyway, only enough to leave him barely alive when the armour spat him out (If this show wasn't for kids I bet he would've just died on screen right there).
But judging from that, more true-to-the-show wise instead of a darker turn, the armour would simply spit out its wearer once it was done draining all it could get from them.
Going off of thatâif anyone else were to wear the Dark Armour and WASN'T on the mystic power scale of Draxumâlet's say, Splinter. That would take an immense toll physiologically: extreme malnutrition, immense fatigue. Compared to Draxum, Splinter would've passed out on the spot after the armour spits him out, as he has no mystic energy, but only his great physical strength to siphon. Could be dead, could be in a coma. I suppose.
Now... Scars?
Here are my thoughts.
Since Draxum was turned into a raisin, I think ifâlet's take from your exampleâDonnie, with OR without his battleshell... will still, well, be a raisin.
So if his body (or any personâs for that matter) shrinks rapidly: their skin canât contract fast enough. Elastic fibers tear.
So that leaves us with:
Stretch Marks
Stretch marks happen whenever skin is forced to change size too rapidly. Even though we usually think of them forming when someone gains weight, they also appear when someone loses mass too fast.
The result: fine, pale or silvery stretch marks (or dark red/purple ones) often in places like: stomach, thighs, hips, arms, chest. Or in this case... all over.
These would probably remain even after they recover, unless you got some mystic mojo to take care of thatâdoubt it. (Oh wait cloaking brooches existâ*gasp*âcan they be used cosmetically in the yokai realm?? Thatsatheoryforanotherday)
The person could also have lingering looseness or wrinkling, especially around the stomach or face. This might improve over months or years but rarely disappears completely.
On a more fantasy note, they might show:
Darkened veins
Faded patterns
Or energy-burn marks.
Areas where the life force was âpulled outâ could show discoloration.
Kinda like how Mikey's skin cracks when he overuses his NinpĹ, or a better exampleâlike Rumi's demon patterns from Kpop Demon Hunters (the initial or reformed versionâwhatevers to your taste).
Or I envision something likeâget thisâstripes on Leo like an actual red-eared slider's. Like the ones you see in cool fanart. Heh.
If you look up pictures of severe stretch marks, they sorta resemble slider stripes, no?
Interesting food for thought biology headcanon about the world of Rise TMNT.
Soâyokai, mutant, and human biology. Canon Rise stuff:
â˘Humans: self-explanatory. Silly creatures that took over the world for some reason.
â˘Yokai: are the original mutants that were theorised to originate from Empyrean (from the Crying Titan) that mutated them.
â˘Mutants: artificially created yokai that Baron Draxum created through utilising Empyrean to come in contact with human or animal DNA.
â˘Kraang: grotesque squid-rottencannedspam-looking invasive alien race that brought Empyrean to the earth a thousand years ago that resulted in the mutation of the yokai.
So here's what I've been thinking: (This is only speculation and not canon information)
Since there is no known half-human and half-yokai hybrid in canon Rise to everyone's knowledge so far...
I surmise that slowly over the centuries, yokai don't breed with humans and that they actively AVOID that interbreeding.
Why?
Because I think the human gene is aggressively dominant compared to the yokai gene. So if a yokai bred with a human, their offspring would come out human with mild yokai internal traits of the yokai parent.
These traits can show up cognitively, instinctively or in a physiological aspectâlike being a hairier human than normal (yokai parent is a bear or something), and it is dismissed as one of those bizarre congenital disorders and the like. And I think that some yokai back then who actually bred with humans are the reason for these bizarre types of disorders.
But MUTANTS on the other handâmutant genes will be so much stronger than human genes because the Empyrean in them or the ooze that Draxum created, is much more freshly concentrated in their blood, hence, it overpowers the human gene. So a human and a mutant offspring would always result to a full mutant and inherit most of the traits of the mutant parent. Same goes for mutant and yokai parents, where their offspring would predominantly inherit the genes and biological makeup of the mutant parent.
Although... thinking about it further, Empyrean is really strong and Kraang genes are a 100% MUCH stronger than human genes. Which is a given for how much they override biological systems with physical contact alone (transforming the Foot Clan into Kraang soldiers and even krangifying a whole ass train).
So how is the human gene more aggressive than the yokai gene?
First off, it wasn't always that way. In the earlier years when the yokai were first mutated, the yokai gene WAS more dominant than the human gene due to the freshly concentrated Empyrean in their systems. But here's the thing...
Yokai were mutated long ago by ambient Empyrean exposure (like an ancient radiation event). Their altered genes have since stabilized over generationsâmeaning their DNA has blended into a new natural equilibrium. Yokai DNA may contain Empyrean traces, but it's diluted and well-regulated.
Without ambient Empyrean or compatible energy, their DNA expression weakens. Humans don't have Empyrean in their environment or bloodstreamâso when a yokai and human reproduce, the yokai DNA has no "fuel" to maintain its expression.
And human genes are optimized for Earth's biosphere. Millions of years of adaptation to Earth's conditions mean human DNA is extremely efficient at expressing itself in this environment. When mixed with yokai DNA (which requires Empyrean to activate traits), the yokai sequences get silenced or recessive because the body prioritizes what's more viableâthe human baseline.
Hence why, in order to preserve yokai species... yokai only breed with other yokai.
So, in short, TLDR;
⢠Headcanon that the human gene is aggressively dominant compared to the yokai gene, and yokai actively AVOID interbreeding with humans and sees it as heinous.
⢠The mutant gene is aggressively more dominant than the human and yokai gene due to the high concentration of Ooze/Empyrean in their bloodstream. All offspring will result in a mutant.
⢠Kraang gene and grossness overrides everything on earth (which is canon).
So theorists, writers, and Rise enthusiasts of Tumblr.... thoughts? Anything to combat this headcanon out of the water? Comment or send me AN ASK!
