A Guide on How to create a Horror TMNT Iteration!
Good spooky evening everybody!
It is now time to get a little scary! 😈 This is based on the news that the Winnie the Pooh Blood and Honey director wants to make a TMNT horror movie, it's probably a big nothing Burger and nothing's going to happen because Viacom won't let something like that get made probably, but regardless I am inspired mainly because outside of TMNT one of the biggest things I'm into is horror. I grew up on slasher films, was traumatized in my preteens and early teen Days by Creepypastas, now I love Creepypastas, and I'm a fan of horror video games like FNAF. I basically love horror in any way, shape, or form. So I kind of like the idea of merging TMNT with horror especially since in the original Comics they were trained murderers so it shouldn't be too far off really. I Actually made a post where I laid out 50 ideas for horror stories, here's that post now. https://www.facebook.com/groups/690671757808526/permalink/2122417291300625/?mibextid=Nif5oz . I'll probably repost that Facebook post on Tumblr later. So now that that's said and done, unlike the other mythologies where I think they should have a comic book or movie series or show with a consistent story usually either episodic or have an overarching narrative or a mix of both, here I think this should work like an anthology series kind of like the Tales from the Crypt comics from the 50s, or kind of like the guest issues in Mirage volume 1 except that's the whole thing instead of mostly in the middle. Or maybe it could be mostly Anthology with one particular world popping up every few issues or so, either to tell a one-off story in the same world or build an overarching story that eventually gets a payoff. Either Anthology where most of the stories are unrelated to each other but take place in the same world, or every issue or every episode is a new world with a new set of turtles in it, or like I said before mostly Anthology with one main world that keeps popping up. I think all 50 of my ideas in that post should be in a comic book series. Now if you are making your own iteration of these Horror Turtles you can either make the tone of the world feel more like a Cheesy slasher movie, or a Sci-Fi monster B Movie, or you can make it a more serious horror story, maybe make it feel like a creepypasta, maybe make it deep & psychological, any type of horror goes here, I want to see it all! :D with that being said let us Dive Right In! :D
DISCLAIMER! Disclaimer! Even though I created this Mythos these are not strict rules just suggestions, let us begin.
A guide on how to create a Horror TMNT iteration.
This mythos is a lot of down to earth and fantasy with Sci-Fi elements as well and maybe 1% superhero if any. The turtles are more like antiheroes in this mythos considering what they do. Since horror is a lot of supernatural stuff that's where the fantasy comes in. Other time's horror can be down to earth with the killer being a normal person who's just not in their right state of mind and that's realistic, relatable, and down to earth. The Sci-Fi comes in because there are some sci-fi horror stories. And I guess the movie Bright Burn is a case of superhero horror, so you can have a story similar to that.
Design elements and aspects. Now their skin colors can be Green with the species markings of whatever species they are, or just be Green with no species markings despite whatever species they are, or they can be Green with the species markings of which species they are even if their species isn't Green, or you can make their skin tone match whatever species that are but without the species markings, or you can make their skin tone match whatever species they are and give them their species markings, or you could just give them Black skin with no species markings. They either have three fingers two toes, or six fingers six toes, and anything in between, Why? Because since this is supposed to be horror you can make them look more uncanny, more human-like but with something slightly off. You can also give each Turtle a different amount of fingers and toes from each other depending on their species. You can make their faces flat in this mythos if you want, and you can actually make them look like the bay turtles because here it would actually work because it's supposed to be scary looking. Depending on what type of horror you're going for in your iteration you can make them big and hulking if you want, or you can make them small, they can be anywhere between three feet tall and seven feet tall.
If you're going to copy and paste the same model more than once like what was the normal standard before 2012 you can either do just that, or do something slightly different with each one, like give Raphael sharp teeth, and give them all something unique, or if you go the full 2012 or Rise route were they all the different here's some suggestions, make all of them feel like a different type of Horror that fits their personalities, an example. Leonardo, make him normal size or slightly small, the same type of feel that Michael Myers had in the earlier movies, his horror is subtlety, that's the problem with the later Halloween movies they made him big and that wasn't his type of Horror, making him normal size or small and seeing him peek out from the background was scary and creepy and unsettling enough, you don't need to make him as big as a house, that's not Michael Myers's brand, subtlety is, and I think Leo's should also be subtlety, he is supposed to be a stealthy ninja after all. Donatello's brand of Horror should be The Uncanny Valley, make him tall and thin and bizarrely human looking, but not quite, examples the Slender Man, SCP-096, Enderman, the stereotypical Gray aliens, The Puppet from FNAF, and more. Raphael's should be intimidation like Jason Voorhees, or Michael Myers in the later movies especially the Rob Zombie remakes, make him big, either just muscle wise or make him tall and muscular too, make him big and hulking, s*** your pants terrifying if you see him running towards you type scary, not just unsettling creepy scary. And Michelangelo's brand of horror should be the one you least expect, make him small and cute and when it's revealed he's actually a murderer and psychotic it's a shocking surprise, or it's not surprising at all because you always expect the one that's the least expected, either way make him small and seemingly normal, examples Chara from undertale, the Woodland Critters from South Park, yandere from yandere simulator, Mrs cuddles from Rise, Pinkamena from the Cupcakes Creepypasta, and more.
You could make them different species like in Rise, or make them all the same species, since this is horror maybe make them scary species, like Snapping Turtles, or maybe African Helmeted Turtles since they got a creepy smile and they behave like crocodiles, or maybe Soft Shells, those can be pretty creepy, you've seen how Rise Donnie acts sometimes, and there was an entire Gumball episode about how creepy they were, of course they over exaggerated, but still. Mata Matas look creepy with their big smiles, but they can also look cute depending on what way you interpreted, and Mata Matas are pretty harmless, but because they have a scary reputation they can work. Maybe you can make Mikey one of those Mata matas. Or you could just leave them as Red-Ears, or Generic Turtles with no particular species, or even make up a fictional species. You could make them Box Turtles because despite Box Turtles having the reputation of being cute small and harmless herbivores, people who actually know Box Turtles know that depending on the individual they can be little vicious monsters, so imagine a group of four three to four foot tall Box Turtles with red eyes coming out of the Shadows, that would be terrifying, looking like little demons.
You can give them gear or clothing or a mix of both. Masks colors, I think the first iteration of this Mythos they should all have Red, and then after that they can have all Dark Red, their traditional colors of Blue Purple Red Orange, all Gray, all Dark Gray, all Black, or you can give Leonardo Dark Gray, Donatello Gray, Raphael Black, and Michelangelo Light Gray, or you can give Leonardo Dull Gray, Donatello Gray, Raphael Dark Gray, and Michelangelo Light Gray. Another suggestion, if you give them their traditional colors here's a suggestion for the specific shades, Leo: Terror Blue #a2bad2 Don: Fear Purple #7828ad Raph: Horror Red #7c0200 Mike: Scary Orange #eb6123, or if you're going to make them all Red here's a suggestion for the shade of Red and for their skin tones, All wear Red masks: #7c0200 Leo's skin: #03342e Don's skin: #657b50 Raph's skin: #03211c Mike's skin: #7d9267 All Black gear: #000000, or you could give them these Mask colors, Leo: Blue Gray #6699CC Don: Purple Gray #7A687F Raph: Red Gray #997570 Mike: Orange Gray #8C8984.
Powers. You could leave them as kind of underdoggish with only the default superpowers like being slightly stronger than the average human so they can lift manhole covers, more agile, and slightly faster healing than the average human. Or you could give them actual mutant superpowers or even mystical powers like Rise, or because this is horror you can give them the powers that horror movie Monsters or even demons have, either being able to teleport or just making it look like they're able to teleport when in actuality they're just moving around fast and know shortcuts, make them immune to bullets and able to shrug off stuff that should kill normal people, maybe be able to get into people's minds and make them hallucinate. And how they got these powers can either be left vague in your iteration, or you can have an explanation maybe they did some kind of ritual on themselves to give them these powers or someone else did, like maybe Splinter.
You could also change the White part of their eyes to Black or Yellow or Red so when they go pupiless they seem even more demonic-like, this can either be a random mutation or a result of whatever gave them their powers, they might actually be half demon, depending on the iteration. You can also make their eyes look more like real turtle Eyes by changing their pupils from being just Black to being other colors, a creepy choice would to give them all Red pupils on a Black eyeball.
Bonus suggestion for a design, Black masks with Black gear, Black skin and Black shells (front and back), and Black eyes with Black irises and Black pupils. Or maybe Red eyes instead of White eyes so when they go pupilless they are completely Black with only Red eyes, that would be terrifying.
Origins: They can either be an accident or intentional. And they must always start out as Turtles. Maybe they were created in a science lab by the military to be used as weapons, but they turned on them and Escaped, or maybe created by some random scientist as a sick curiosity, who did horrible experiments on them making them kind of mentally traumatized and murder happy, and they escaped after killing them. Additional Turtles are optional.
The Foot Clan: Either just an organized crime syndicate, or specifically a assassination group, or just a group of murderers who murder for fun, or a cult. They're exact beef with the turtles can vary from iteration to iteration, but most of the time it's because Shredder has beef with their master, Splinter. Their goals can vary from iteration to iteration, sometimes they don't even have goals, sometimes they just kill to kill.
Splinter: Hamato Yoshi is optional in this Mythos. He can start out as a normal Rat who somehow learned Ninjutsu from someone or something "not a freaking book", or was a human that mutated into a Rat, or possibly a Mystic, Yokai, or Alien rat, or in this Mythos a Demon Rat, but a Demon Rat that actually has a moral compass and only kills bad people, which makes him an outcast in the Demon World. Or he starts out human and gets magically transformed into a Rat man, or starts out a normal Rat and gets magically transformed into a humanoid Rat, or starts out as a human and gets magically transformed into a demon Rat, or starts out as a normal Rat and gets magically transformed into a humanoid demon Rat. HIs exact beef with The Shredder can vary from iteration to iteration, but it's personal.
How to write this Splinter. Old and wise and seemingly all knowing, the turtles see him as a god or at least like a god, basically kind of like a cult leader. And a similar mentality to The Marionette from Five Nights at Freddy's how they think Killing is okay as long as you're killing bad people who deserve it or if it's for vengeance, but depending on the iteration the exact qualification for bad enough to be killed can vary, meaning the turtles are still technically the bad guys even if they're not trying to be.
Leonardo: He likes to stalk his prey, using stealth to sneak up on them, but whenever he does give Chase he won't play dirty and get them when they fall down or if they get stuck, he's still honorable so he wants his opponent to be at Peak Performance when he kills them. He likes to give them chances to escape just so it's not unfair. He is a strategist and whenever his whole team is after someone he comes up with the plans. He's the leader, but only because he kind of fell into that role over time, just like the original Mirage Leo. Instead of Raph picking fights with Leo because he wants to be the leader, instead Leo fights with Raph because Raph doesn't always listen to his plans and he also often times doesn't play fair with the victims and doesn't give them a chance to escape. The reason for this is because Leo and the other two believe that these bad people can change, going off of the same methodology as Jigsaw, while Raph thinks that there's no changing them and that they deserve to die. Like how Raphael in the original mythology sharpens his Sai, Leonardo here even though his sword is supposed to be one-sided he's sharpens both sides to be a more efficient killer. He is either the oldest or second oldest depending on the iteration. And he's the most skilled at Ninjutsu. And despite being a killer he is actually the most sound of mine out of all of his brothers, he is the least insane. Character development suggestions, maybe have him develop out of being a murderer and into a normal Mythos Leonardo personality, or just have him develop to be more efficient at being a killer.
Donatello: He's the sophisticated intelligent killer, and like Leonardo believes people can change So he often has a way for his victims to escape. Similar to Jigsaw he likes to play a game, either a game similar to a game Jigsaw would play, or a game kind of like a horror game, Sometimes he puts his victims in a maze or labyrinth and hunts them down while leaving clues for them to figure out a way out. Sometimes He plays a game similar to Slender, other times it's similar to FNAF, and sometimes he'll make up a new game entirely. He loves flexing his intelligence and he likes a challenge, he wants to try to outsmart his victims, and whenever one of his victims outsmarts him He's really impressed, and respects them for that, but if that person doesn't change their ways and become a better person then he will catch them again and put them back into one of these games. Sometimes he plays these games solo, other times he gets either one of his brothers to join him, or all of them to join him, and Michelangelo loves playing these games. Leonardo is usually the leader, but when it's one of Donatello's games Donatello is the leader, Because it's his game. He is the second youngest and the least skilled it Ninjutsu and the least strongest muscle-wise, because he prefers to use his intelligence. He's kind of a sophisticated killer kind of like Alastor from Hazbin Hotel before he died. He sharpened each end of his Bo Staff kind of like a pencil, basically turning it into a Double-Sided Spear. He is still a tech guy and he often fills his games with deadly machinery that his victims have to figure out how to stop before they get to them. He's also still the sensible one. And he's constantly seeking out knowledge to find new ways to kill people, and torture them, and trying to find new ways to convince his victims to change, so he's also somewhat of a psychologist. Character development suggestions, either just have him become even more of a cunning killer, or have him develop into a normal Mythos Donatello and give up killing, depending on what route you want to go with your iteration.
Raphael: He is basically the Jason Voorhees of the group, doesn't talk much, but when he does talk he's either really scary and intimidating, or he might be making a joke in a sarcastic way for his own Amusement, he doesn't care if anyone else finds it funny. Like Leonardo and Jason Voorhees and Michael Myers even though he's the strong tough guy who's more brutal he will still stalk and watch from a distance because Jason Voorhees still does that, but when he does go for the kill subtlety is out the window, either he'll sneak up on you before you notice him or if you notice him he's going to give Chase, he doesn't care he will run at you like Jason Voorhees in the earlier movies. And while Leonardo is quick and deadly, Raphael is more brutal, sometimes quick, sometimes not. Ripping people apart with his bare hands, crushing skulls like watermelons, gutting them and hanging them from their own intestines, he is a gruesome person. And even though he's this brutal he still has a softer side to him, he still cares about protecting good people from bad people and sometimes we'll just run up to murder someone without a plan not knowing if he can take them on or not, which can often lead to him getting injured and a scolding from Leo. He's a closeted softie, a closeted murderous softy. The original Mythos Raphael sharpened his Sai, this Raphael not only did that, but also added an extra small blade on the butt of the handle of the Sai, so he can stab in two directions. Unlike the original Mythos where Raphael wanted to be the leader, here he doesn't really want to have a team, he wants to kill on his own, because he feels like he does better on his own, plus he's worried that while in his bloodlust mode he might kill his family, he still cares for his family he just doesn't want to be a team with them, that's why he's a loner here. Him with anger issues is optional in this Mythos, he's a naturally violent person even without an anger issue, so giving him anger issues to make him even more violent, it's like putting a hat on a hat, but you can do it. Oh and you can make him eat people in some iterations if you want. He's either the oldest or second oldest depending on the iteration. He's also the second most skilled in Ninjutsu, the thing holding him back here is either anger issues if you give him those in your iteration, or him not caring about subtlety or fighting moves and relies mostly on brutality, or both. Character development suggestions, make him develop to be closer to the original Mythos Raphael, or just have him become a better killer, because the original Mythos Raphael was already a murderer so there's not much of a difference here.
Michelangelo: While the other three don't usually have a victim type that they like to go for, except maybe Donnie preferring more intelligent people cuz he likes the challenge, Michelangelo does have a specific type of victim that he likes. He doesn't like liars, cheaters, manipulators, ECT. Michelangelo in other mythologies is usually the type of person to get tricked by one of those types of people and has a few times, in this mythology where he's a murderer he hates those particular type of people so he himself uses their own tricks against them, getting close to them, becoming their friend, making them think that they're using him when an actuality he knows what they're doing, and when they least expected boom he gets them. He's the cute innocent seeming one that seems to innocent, immature, and sweet to be a murderer kind of like Pinkie Pie in The Cupcakes Creepypasta or Chara from Undertale. He's still light-hearted, open, and friendly to people he Trusts, and he loves to make friends, but if that friend isn't a real friend and is only a fake friend they become a Target. He also has some underlying undiagnosed mental disorders, insanity, and in some iterations this could lead him to try and kill and eat his brothers and father and friends, but the other three and Splinter will restrain him and try to make him come to his senses, if they can. He loves to turn his victims into Pizza. He's kind of like if the scary side of Rise Michelangelo was the main side, he's creepy and scary. He's a wisecracking killer like Freddy Krueger or Chucky or Ghostface, he likes to kill and be funny while doing it. He's also an artist when it comes to killing, finding unique and creative ways to kill, and play with the bodies afterwards. He sometimes wears his victim's faces as both a reference to Texas Chainsaw Massacre and just because he finds it funny. He will kill humans, other mutants, aliens, Yokai, nothing is off the table. He's the youngest brother and is the second least skilled at Ninjutsu. Out of all of them he might be the most insane and possibly most psychotic and possibly most demented out of his killer Brothers. His weapon he made by taking a pair of ordinary nunchucks, taking a blade off of a Kama and putting it on one Chuck, and on the other chuck he took the blade from a chef's knife like Michael Myers uses, and attach that to the other chuck on the bottom, basically turning the Chuck into the knife handle, Depending on the iteration he either has one or two of those. Character development suggestions, have him deal with his Insanity overcome it and become more like the original Mythos Michelangelo, or just have him become a better killer and maybe a better grip on his sanity so he doesn't kill his family.
April O'Neil: She is optional. If you do decide to add her though you must make her sassy that's it, you could make her like a yandere, or a trained assassin from the Deep Web Maybe. You can make her any age or race you want.
Casey Jones: He is also optional. But if you do add him you can make him like the original Mirage Casey and have him be a brutal vigilante who murders criminals. The original Mirage Casey had no problem with killing people until Raphael stepped in, which is ironic considering Raphael is a murderer too, and then later before the city at War story arc Casey Jones accidentally killed someone and feels bad about it, well here in this mythos he is just a cold murderer. He's still a good person at heart who's doing what he thinks is right, making the streets safer. His heart is in the right place, but his head is not. He's insane and possibly schizophrenic and talks to people who aren't there. Anger issues are also optional. You can make him any race or age you want.
The Shredder: He is the main antagonist of this mythos. Oroku Saki is optional in this Mythos just like Hamato Yoshi. The Shredder is just a title and some iterations can have more than one Shredder like 2003 did. He could be a human serial killer who wronged Splinter in the past and now the Turtles and Splinter want vengeance, but after they kill him he comes back as something worse. Or if you're going to make Splinter a demon you can make Shredder also a demon, perhaps a rival demon who wants Splinter dead because he thinks Splinter is a disgrace to the demon race because he actually has some good in him, which isn't right. But you could also make Shredder a demon without Splinter being a demon. Perhaps The Foot Clan is a cult that worships the Shredder, and The Foot Cult did something to Splinter in his past, maybe sacrificed one of his loved ones to bring Shredder back, and that would make it personal and give the story weight, or maybe something else, it can depend on the iteration. If you have Shredder come back after the Turtles kill him either he can come back like Jason Voorhees an undead zombie, or have him come back as a demon after escaping hell, or possibly a dream demon like Freddy Krueger, or maybe as a bodyless spirit that can possess anything, maybe before he died he put bits of his soul in multiple different things spreading himself out like William Afton did. Or maybe he is like the slasher killer in a movie and the Turtles only think they killed them when it actuality he just walked off all their stabbings. Either he was a human serial killer who joined The Foot Clan because they were also Killers, or he started The Foot Clan himself. There is so much you can do with The Shredder. As long as you make it personal to Splinter and give the story weight that's all that matters. His exact motives and reasons why he's a killer can depend on the iteration, he might be a paranoid schizophrenic, or some other form of insanity.
Their skin can be Green, or Black, or based on their species, and species markings are optional.
You can make them any scary, creepy, or unsettling species of turtle. You can make them all the same species or make them different species.
Leonardo is the leader. But sometimes Donnie is.
They wear either all Red or Dark Red. Or All Black. Or all Gray or Dark Gray. Or Blue, Purple, Red, and Orange. Or Dull Gray, Gray, Dark Gray, and Light Gray. Or Dark Gray, Gray, Black, and Light Gray. Or Blue Gray, Purple Gray, Red Gray, and Orange Gray.
Leo: Blue Gray
Don: Purple Gray
Raph: Red Gray
Mike: Orange Gray
Leo: Twin Ninjaken (referred to as katana) with both sides of the blade sharpened
Don: One Bo Staff with both ends sharpened like a Double-Sided Spear.
Raph: Twin Sharpen Sai with a extra blade on the butt of the handle.
Mike: One or Two Kama Nunchuck Chef's Knife hybrid weapon. Depending on the iteration.
They can be anywhere between 13 and 19.
Leo: oldest or second oldest
Raph: second oldest or oldest
Don: second youngest
Mike: youngest
Depending on the iteration.
Strongest to weakest (muscle wise)
Strongest to weakest (ninjutsu skill-wise)
And there we go that is the Horror Mythos done. Halfway through writing this I realize I might get some backlash for this one because people don't want to see a Horror TMNT, but my brain came up with it so I wrote it LOL. Let me know what you think, next time is going to be the Girl Power Mythos. Have a turtley awesome day! ;) TURTLE POWER!!!! :D