Paramount isn't making any more seasons of Tales of the TMNT, so I decided to change that.
Here are how the four turtles developed or had their characterization written so far:
- Leo's arc was about being able to stand on his own without his brothers.
- Mikey's arc was about learning about taking responsibility for his actions.
- Raph's arc was about struggling with not being able to protect his brothers even though he was the strong one.
- Donnie's arc was about him doing something that would later become valuable and important, which contrasts with his low self-esteem.
- Raph's arc was about learning how to listen.
- Mikey's arc was about learning how to be a leader.
- Donnie's arc was about learning that he doesn't have to be just like his brothers.
- Leo's arc was about learning how he should listen to his team and not just bark orders at everyone.
- Raph's arc was about him learning that he shouldn't try to fight his family.
- Donnie's arc was about his brothers learning that they don't value the things that Donnie values.
- Leo's arc was about him learning what it means to be a hero.
- Mikey's arc was about developing his personality, showcasing his as the compassionate one.
Now, here's how I would write their characterization/development for future seasons, followed up with the storyline I would write for it:
- Donnie's arc focuses on him learning how to properly communicate with his brothers despite their differences. (Plot: Donnie goes digging around in Bishop's base alone [His brothers are super busy with lots of other things] and accidentally connects his mind to one of Bishop's new robots [Sort of like Mech Cadets], becoming Mecha Donnie. By the way, he can't talk in this new form and his brothers have no clue what happened to Donnie, whose body is now unconscious.)
- Raph's arc is about him learning how important it is to be open about how he is feeling and to not hide everything away. (Plot: Raph meets Mona Lisa, who is feeling overwhelmed and alone due to her family, nicknamed the "Salamandrians", hating mutants, especially her father, who calls himself "The Newtralizer", while she doesn't hate humans, but feels like she can't tell them how she feels because they'll hate her for it.)
- Leo's arc focuses on his brothers learning how hard it is for Leo to be a leader. (Plot: Leo is constantly feeling stressed out because his brothers don't respect him for being a leader [Similar to the 2012 TMNT episode: "New Girl in Town"]. He seeks refuge in Fyumi, a magician's assistant who is ignored by the magician, Fernando. Problem is, Fyumi has had enough and hypnotizes Leo so she can show the entire world that she's not a nobody. Leo then becomes the Masked Fury [Pretty similar to 2007 Leo, but is more vengeful and sadistic [He tries to humilate Raph to no end.] [Author note: Mikey feels bad about how they're ignoring Leo, Donnie states how lately Leo's plans have gotten them into trouble, and Raph thinks that Leo's is just a kiss-up to Dad.])
- Mikey's arc focuses on him to not let others take advantage of his compassion. (Plot: Mikey comes across a group of mutants hiding underground in fear of humans. Mikey takes them in to help them not be so afraid of humans, but the mutants take advantage of the turtles' popularity to get away with crime. [The mutants are known as the Foodtanimals, and consist of characters such as Pizza Face and Ice Cream Kitty [who is more humanized in this version, not just a pet cat.])
- Mikey arc is about him regaining his confidence in himself after the whole disaster with the Foodtanimals. (Plot: Mikey accidentally comes across Renet and accidentally causes mayhem in the timeline.)
- Leo's arc is about dealing with the trauma after the whole issue with the Masked Fury. (Plot: Nothing happens in the arc at all. There are no bad guys, no new mutants, but Leo is so worried that something bad is going to happen that he gets stressed out and starts having panic attacks.)
- Donnie's arc focuses on him learning to not always rely on technology for solutions. (Plot: Donnie accidentally gets sent to Usagi's dimension and has to figure out how to get back home without relying on technology.)
- Raph's arc is learning about his brothers learning how important strength means to Raphael (Plot: Raphael meets Casey Jones and the two duke it out with the Purple Dragons.)
I so badly wanted to write in Karai, but I wanted to make it feel like the stories could still exist with the universe of Tales, so unfortunately, no Foot Clan. Maybe one day Tales can come back :)