#tmnt theory

[dead-rapheal-dog-toy]

The fast forward arc was probably reassuring as hell for donatello considering the other possible future he saw was sainw

[wirehaze]

The biggest mystery of Rise...

Donnie's goddamn belt

So I was writing Dimensional Decay earlier and trying to figure out whether Donnie’s belt is part of his battle shell or its own separate thing to add as a plot.

I still don’t know the answer.

This fucking thing is magic.

In Mascot Melee, he switches from the flight shell to the spider shell, and the belt stays on, but it doesn’t go over the shell.

From the purple jacket, and these shots are literally frames apart, his belt very clearly comes off with the battle shell.

So apparently it is attached.

Also from the purple jacket sequence (during his dream) again, these shots are only frames apart. In one, the belt goes over his shell, and in the very next, it doesn’t.

At this point, continuity has completely left the building.

From Insane in the Mama Train, when he self destructs the battle shells, his belt is gone too.

So that’s another point in favour of it being attached to the battle shell.

Also from Insane in the Mama Train and End Game, the first shot is right before they put on the Hamato outfits. No belt. Clean waist. Nothing there.

Then the second shot is when they tear the outfits off, and suddenly the belt is back.

Not gradually revealed. Not unclipped. Not shown being put back on. It just exists again.

From the movie, when his battle shell breaks, the belt breaks with it.

Which heavily implies the belt isn’t just something he wears under or over the shell, it’s structurally integrated into it. Like it’s physically part of the battle shell system itself.

Also from the movie, when he takes the battle shell off in the Technodrome, the belt comes off with it.

And when he’s first pulled out of the Technodrome afterward, it’s still off.

That sequence pretty clearly treats the belt as a component of the battle shell, not an independent accessory. It behaves like it’s mechanically integrated. Remove the shell, remove the belt. Leave the shell behind, leave the belt behind. Simple, right?

WRONG!

Because somehow, somefuckinghow, it magically appears while he’s restrained.

During the time he’s been restrained, it wasn’t there. Then suddenly it is going all the way around his shell. And then, in the very next moment, it’s still there… but not all the way around.

No explanation. No transition. No continuity logic. It just exists and reshapes itself at will.

Let’s lay it all out clearly, we've got

Scenes where the belt comes off with the battle shell.

Scenes where it stays on while shells swap out.

Frames where it’s over the shell, then instantly not.

An instance where it vanishes before a costume change, then reappears afterward.

Another instance where the character is literally immobile, starts without the belt, and ends up with it on.

At this point, the belt is operating on its own dimensional physics. It obeys no rules, respects no continuity, and refuses all logic. It simply materializes wherever it damn well feels like.

In other words, Donnie’s belt isn’t part of the shell. It isn’t separate. It isn’t even consistent. It’s its own chaotic character.

So yeah, my question was never answered.

[iscdisc]

Anyone who's familiar with my content on Insta / TikTok most likely already knows about this theory (But I guess you could consider it an AU of sorts??) that I have with 2012 Donatello post, "The Power Inside Her" (And yes, the only reason why I drew this / am talking about this is because of my previous post about Za-Naron, okay- Lmao) ! But because I haven't brought this to Tumblr, I'm talking about it again- 👍✨

Before I get into it, I want to preface this whole thing by saying that I fully acknowledge that this all could just be writing issues / faults with the writers and their lack of properly explaining anything or giving prior context to certain relationships / dynamics. I just want to get that out of the way immediately, since I understand some people brushing these things off as one of 2012's many notorious writing issues-

BUT.

I wholeheartedly believe that it's entirely possible that the Donatello we follow after the events of, "The Power Inside Her" is not actually the real Donatello at all and the real Donatello that we have been following before this episode legitimately perished. And let me explain why I say this- 👀

First of all, I want to establish some foundation for this possibility by pointing us in the direction of the episode, "Bat in the Belfry". During this episode, Mikey (Alongside Casey-) end up giving Wingnut and Screwloose temporary sentient life (With this only being temporary given the events of the episode-). Wingnut and Screwloose are previously established in this episode to be comic book characters / fictional characters, they were never real to begin with. Yet despite the fact that they have no prior existence physically or in any capacity of reality, the Aeon's power (Za-Naron's power-) was able to fully give them life and an established sense of self. We see throughout the episode that Wingnut and Screwloose fully believe that they're alive and well, not understanding when Mikey and Casey constantly try to inform them that they are just comic book characters and aren't actually real the way that they perceive themselves to be real. We also see the Aeon crystal / Za-Naron give sentient life to one of the villains from the same comic (Which is why I included a picture of that as well-), and we too can see that this villain acknowledges its existence, since it carries out it's normal activities as if nothing is strange about its situation at all.

I'm laying this as the foundation for this theory, because my main point with bringing this up is that the "fake" (you could say) Donatello would have no reason to question his existence or believe that he is not who he is. You know what I mean?

Another reason why I believe "fake" Donnie wouldn't question his existence is because the Aeon Crystal doesn't exist anymore by the time he comes into the picture "once again", which is another point that I'm going to get into right now.

The only reason why Wingnut and Screwloose became aware of their predicament / fully accepted the fact that they weren't real is because they were exposed to the crystal and its seemingly overwhelming energy. As you can see in the picture I provided, they became very distorted and deranged after being exposed to this. But with this "fake" Donatello, there's nothing Aeon related for him to be exposed to.

During the last minutes of, "The Power Inside Her", we see April use what was left of the crystal (Since she had broken it prior as a means of freeing Za-Naron / freeing herself from Za-Naron's control-) to bring Donnie back into existence. But that's exactly why I have this theory?? Not only is bringing somebody back to life an almost impossible feat, even for April (Which I know the show says that Donnie was simply molecularly scattered and not actually GONE gone, but I don't buy that for a second / I feel like they only said that to make the situation a little more "kid friendly". in my opinion, that dude perished, okay. LMAO), but I don't even think that the Aeons abilities are even capable of something like that. Returning life or performing resurrection is such a complicated issue, and I feel like the Aeons themselves would acknowledge that it's not as simple as just "bringing somebody back".

So because I don't think this is something that falls under the scope of what Aeons are genuinely capable of doing, on top of the fact that we've seen the crystal give sentient life to things that technically did not exist before this episode, I fully believe that the Donnie that we see get "brought back to life" by April is not actually him- Instead, this is a physical manifestation of how April remembers him being or essentially a Donnie that was "created" from her memories of him / experiences with him.

Point number three as to why I think this is not the real Donnie and instead a "fake" Donnie. April's relationship with Donatello drastically changes after this episode (At least, in my opinion-). Going back to when she "brought Donnie back to life", I wouldn't be surprised if she was envisioning all of the more positive interactions that she's had with him in the past and a lot of the attributes that she enjoyed from him, rather than the negative ones (i.e. Him disrespecting her boundaries a lot, him disrespecting her autonomy as a person, him stalking her, him constantly getting in between her and other people /primarily Casey but I digress- /, him feeling entitled to her as a person, him giving her pet names that made her uncomfortable and she clearly expressed that / Which this is kind of a niche example, but during one of the Xbox / PS3 videogame titles for this series, there's a dialogue cutscene where Donnie calls her his, "Chinchilla" for the first time I think?? But April very clearly expressed discomfort with that and asked him not to say that about her. Which it really pisses me off that he does it again in Season 3 when she's UNCONSCIOUS, and this game came out either during Season 1 or when Season 2 was airing- Like it's an old game. 💀 /, etc.), especially given that what caused her to break free from Za-Naron's control was Raph telling April to remember Donnie. During that montage, there were a lot of happier moments with Donatello.

I don't think it would be far-fetched to say that she essentially created her "perfect" or ideal version of him as a person-?? And I feel like this is heavily reflected through their dynamic post this episode.

April's not off-putted by some of his kind / caring gestures (Like the image example I provided above, such as him putting his hand on her back-).

During moments of intense grieving and stress, Donatello is giving her space and not hovering around her like he was more prone to doing in the past (In my opinion-).

Instead of it feeling incredibly forced by the writers, April being in close proximity to Donnie feels like a choice she's actively making or okay with. Prior to this, (to me) it felt like the writers would just put April in the same space as Donnie simply because they were pushing this romantic narrative between them. The numerous times that Donnie would have April in his lab during Seasons 1-2 gave off a vibe like he either pressured her to be there or it just felt difficult for her to decline-? Especially since there was a lot going on with her Father during both of these Seasons, and instead of that feeling like a reason she would want to be there on her own, it felt like an excuse to force her to be there- Does that make sense? Not to mention Donnie always being by her side coming across like he was crowding April instead of her actively wanting him there.

Donnie is more actively giving April her space at the same time too / not reacting when Casey is in closer proximity to her than himself. I'm not saying that this technically didn't occur before the aftermath of, "The Power Inside Her", but it just feels different now- I don't know how else to explain that.

I'm telling you right now, this moment from, "When World's Collide (Part 1)" is the first time I've seen them on screen acting this way. There has never been a moment like this one before, where April is joking around and laughing with Donnie and just being overall silly?? 2012 has never done something like this with these two on screen.

All of these instances lead me to believe that April (unintentionally) created her most ideal version of Donatello as a person. Taking away all the things that she didn't like or (rightfully) felt uncomfortable by, and only leaving the characteristics that she did enjoy about him. Which would obviously result in her having a much healthier / drastically improved dynamic with him moving forward.

There's also was only one moment that I feel Donnie was "weird" towards April again like he was in the past, but it didn't last long at all and it only happened once during Season 5 ("The Curse of Savanti Romero"-).

Another thing that I feel supports this theory is his relationship with Casey. From Season 3 to 4, it really felt like Donnie and Casey were forming a much better dynamic / their friendship had a steady progression. Sure, Donnie would still get annoyed with Casey from time to time, but it felt obvious that he viewed Casey as more of a friend / ally than a rival / "threat". Casey would also actively go out of his way to be around Donnie physically more, which I feel was a good sign of their friendship moving in a more positive direction. But then we get to "Tokka vs. The World", which takes place almost immediately after the events of, "The Power Inside Her" and it suddenly feels like Donnie's friendship progression with Casey just vanishes-?? Their dynamic feels like they're back in Season 2 again, minus the constant arguing about April (At least, from Donnie's perspective-).

A lot of the moments that we get with them during Season 5 kind of reinforce this for me. Donnie's reaction to Casey suggesting they get their hands on a couple of tanks during, "Scroll of the Demodragon", Donnie and Casey essentially arguing about how to deal with Kavaxas during, "The Forgotten Swordsman", Donnie's response to Casey in regards to his ghostbuster rip off inventions and how Donnie went out of his way to say everyone will get one except Casey during, "End Times"- Like, it really does feel as if their relationship regressed after the events of, "The Power Inside Her"- And while that does upset me, since as you all probably know by now I love those two to death, it does make complete sense in relation to this theory of this Donatello being "fake".

All of the progress and dynamic / friendship development Donnie and Casey went through? April was not privy to that. Like, at all. If my theory holds up and April did (unintentionally) "create" or manifest a version of Donatello from her memories of him using the remaining power of the Aeon crystal, then it would absolutely make sense why Donnie is treating Casey the way that he is during Season 5. I'm not saying that April didn't notice or acknowledge that they had a better relationship before the events of, "The Power Inside Her" happened, but she didn't know where that better relationship came from. So if April doesn't know, then obviously the Donnie that she (unintentionally) "created" wouldn't know either- Therefore, there wouldn't be a reason for him to have a better relationship with Casey / there would be no reason why he wouldn't continue viewing him in a similar way to how he did during Season 2. AKA, when he first met him / when Casey first came into their lives.

There are other parts of this theory that are definitely more speculative on my part, such as Donnie not having any memories of events that April wasn't there for- So for example, if the brothers are reminiscing about the Mousers predicament from Season 1, the "fake" Donnie would be confused and not know what they're talking about because April wasn't aware of that situation / probably only heard it through word of mouth if anything- Clearly nothing like this happened in late Season 4 to early Season 5 to support that kind of thing, but there also isn't any evidence to disprove it either. I just think it would be interesting for that to be one of the biggest tells as far as everyone else having their doubts about whether or not the Donatello they see before them is actually the legitimate one-!

This theory also makes me really sad as far as Casey and Donnie goes, because it really does feel like Donnie had to sacrifice one developing friendship for another. Like sure, his dynamic with Casey is all fucked up. but at least he has a better one with April now- 💀 Lmao || There could totally be some holes in this theory, I'm not going to deny that ! But so far, I think it kind of holds up and I just thought I'd share that today- 👍✨ Lmao

(There were so many more screenshot examples that I wanted to give, but I didn't know you can only include 10 pictures in a post- 😭)

Edit: I don't know why it took me so long to notice this, and I feel so bad because I do have a habit of mixing up the placement of certain episodes sometimes-! 😭

I just realized that my points with the episodes of, "The Super Shredder" and, "Darkest Plight" in regards to April and Donnie's relationship having a drastic shift are a little invalid, since I always forget that those episodes took place before, "The Power Inside Her"- I don't know how I forget something like that, but I did, clearly,, 💀 / However, I feel like you can glean some significant differences in how those two interact during, "Requiem" and "Owari" (Which I mentioned in my reblog post for this theory alongside screenshots-) and basically Season 5 as a whole ! So my point still holds up there at least-! I don't know if you could find anything significant with April and Donnie from the episode, "Tale of TigerClaw" personally, but maybe that one can count too? 👍 Lmao

[randopineapple]

GUYS. TOTTMNT PURPLE DRAGON HEAD CANON TIME.

Characters like Hun and the other members of the purple dragons all have the logo on their outfits.

While other members like Spuds have it tattooed!

Assuming that Angel is an older teenager (or maybe even an adult like Spuds, orrr maybe she is the same age as hun and is just badass enough to be tattooed so young) and possibly stayed in the gang for a while, she probably also has this logo tattooed on her !!

The girl already has tattoos all over her,

She must have the dragon’s logo somewhere hidden like her calf!…

OR, maybe you can only get the dragon tattoo if you do something very important for the gang or for Kitsuné?

If the first theory is the case, the theory where you get a tattoo if you are in the gang long enough and/or get a dragon tattoo if you are an adult in the gang, then that means that if Hun stays in the Purple Dragons long enough, he will probably have to get a tattoo as well.

I think that he gets a very small one that’s easy to hide since he’s ashamed to be apart of the group.

But if it’s the second theory? The theory where you only get tattooed if you do something important for Kitsune?…

Doesn’t that make you wonder what Spuds did?

That man has lore. I just KNOW it… too bad we won’t see him again since TOTTMNT got cancelled.

[fairywrenzyay]

My prediction is that in mm2 Leo is gonna kill or like ALMOST kill someone or any other sort of immoral thing

I just think the “murder is a heavy burden” line might come back to bite just a little bit!!

Also “rules” and “consequences”??! That’s more general but it all connects trust, something will happen with those damn swords

OH and that scene where he shakes the watermelon off his sword, what colour is watermelon? RED just like blood, yeah!

What if the “we gotta do the right thing” guy the one whose actions are based on what he thinks is the RIGHT thing has to do something WRONG to say…. Save his brothers?? What would be the CONSEQUENCES of that??

Ohh I’m such a good theorist they call me matpat yup/j

[don-da-host]

Day 8 of waiting for TOTTMNT to get uncanceled. TOTTMNT SEASON 2 SPOILERS.

Where did they get glasses?

Rewatching this episode, I was like… how the f*ck did Rahzar and Tokka get glasses?. And honestly the answer is obvious.

They’re probably Jordan Perry’s spare ones.

They don’t look exactly the same, but I don’t believe Jordan would’ve used the same kind of glasses for that long.

We think his safety goggles also work perfectly for Jordan to see properly (you can tell he’s not wearing glasses underneath them), however, he likely keeps spare glasses in his room or his lab in case his goggles get damaged (and he most likely owns more pairs of safety goggles anyway, so it’s not very likely that he wears regular glasses).

And that’s how Tokka and Rahzar ended up with two pairs of glasses while exploring their surroundings.

What do you think?

Not sure if this is a theory or just a headcanon, I’m still kinda new to this lol

[christeli4]

I have a rather obscene, but one true guess that one of April's faker was the only one who wore the casual clothes of the real April, which comes to mind one thing...

The Kraang not only wanted to suck everything out of her, but also forcibly (or with the help of technology) stripped her and gave another one to lead the turtles into the trap.

Can you imagine how she felt half naked around the alien robots who don't feel anything but the desire to make a "cash cow" out of her...?

AND SHE STILL FEELS STRONG AND HARDY AFTER EVERYTHING THAT'S HAPPENING!

[blue-not-a-chiken]

Ok, what if Leo was hydrofobic when his head was on fire.

Is he a freaky charizard now?

If all turtles and splinter are sick, is April chasing them like some wild Pokemons ???

In fever episode, Donnie locks (or tries to do so) Splinter into a big plastic ball. Does this makes April Pokémon trainer???

I mean, she befriended mutated/non-realistic-but-based-on-real-animals team that she helps in their battles. That's basically a Pokémon plot! And all of them fit some piketypes + origami dudes would be dark types and all.

Rottmnt is just Pokémon in different font...