Okay, so- I had this idea cooking in my head for a little while and decided I might as well share my thoughts as part of a little treat!
After reading "Dog and Phony Show", I began questioning why the show never alluded to Randy getting stanked- of course, this is likely only due to him being the main character, but in context of the canon - this is quite an interesting thing to not have included within the show. Do Ninjas simply not get stanked because the suit is protecting them? Of course, there's also the fact
Stanked! Randy Headcanons
So, genuinely this whole thing happens because Randy either gets distressingly overwhelmed with being the Ninja OR it has to do with a ridiculous feeling of inferiority- (think something like what happened during the whole Lucius O' Thunderpunch fiasco, but you know, if it had done a little more realistically)
He does try to fight off the stank, but ultimately the Sorcerer manages to take over and Randy remembers briefly blacking out before ‘waking up’ in a daze- of course, he doesn’t have the foggiest what’s happening and feels this overwhelming urge to break free, and run… so he bursts out of wherever he’s in
I do view Randy as being this quadrupedal creature and has this fluffy mane but okay- first things first…
Stanked! Randy Headcanons
🧣 Randy would be themed either after an oriental dragon, a lion of sorts, or even… some sort of cheetah-looking creature. For some reason, this just makes sense to me-
🧣 He's going to be fast and that makes him harder to catch, but at the same time- I feel he might be slightly uncoordinated, letting himself be governed by present emotions
🧣 Randy will have purple somewhere on his stanked form- at least to make sure that it's him and not someone else. If I remember correctly, Dog and Phony Show had it as a mane and I think it would be a pretty cool feature to have!
🧣 I also feel that Randy isn't going to be easy to be destanked, but he also did attempt to resist- purely because he knows that as the Ninja, him getting overpowered by the Sorcerer is not ideal
🧣 He obviously doesn't have any of his powers as the Ninja- apart from being agile and lithe
Additional Thoughts + Analysis
If we're speaking on the angle of him getting stanked because of being overwhelmed, and that is putting it mildly, I imagine he's just full of anger and frustration which means the only way to destank him is by convincing the boy what he's doing is important- that he's capable, that he's a good Ninja. I honestly think that if the show were done for a more serious angle, he would be a little bound by the mantle he carries.
At some point, he reaches breaking point- feeling he can't juggle his own career, so to speak, as the Ninja and his own life as a high schooler which is what leads to his own 'demise' so to speak. In doing so, probably the only people who have the power to reverse the stank are Howard and Theresa for reasons to say the least- one being more obvious than the other.
As a bonus! This idea was cowritten between myself and a lovely mutual of mine @just-animaxiz featuring a non-canon take on "Into the Ninjaverse" - in an alternate reality where Spike, the leader of the punk bots, is the Ninja and Randy's a regular human... our favorite boy deals with a certain ahems loss to keep from spoiling the story too much. Overcome by grief, he falls pawn to the Sorcerer and goes on a violent rampage to the point he nearly ends McFist. This AU of course, is a lot deeper but I'd hate to ruin the fun so early.
Out of curiosity, and a quick show of hands- would anyone be interested in me writing a fic where Randy's stanked?
I might honestly do both versions- the one where he's stanked in a canon divergent timeline, and one for my beloved (/p) mutual.
I'll be back later tonight with more! Until we write again, my lovely readers~)
~ Destiny & Erin (They/Them)