List of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (2012 TV series) characters

This is a list of characters from Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, an American animated series based on the eponymous franchise that premiered on September 29, 2012 on Nickelodeon in the United States and that will premiere on YTV in Canada.

Main characters

File:Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles debut at the Nick Hotel.jpg

The Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles at the Nickelodeon Suites Resort in Orlando, Florida. From left to right: Leonardo, Michelangelo, Donatello and Raphael.

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles

A team of anthropomorphic freshwater turtles who are the protagonists of the series:

• Leonardo/"Leo" (voiced by Jason Biggs) - An enthusiastic ninjutsu student, learning how to be an effective leader for his three often unruly brothers. He wears a blue mask and fights with two katana swords called Niten Ryu. Aside from his sensei, he takes leadership references from his favorite sci-fi cartoon series Space Heroes (a parody of Star Trek: The Animated Series) which annoys his brothers to no end. He also seems to have a crush on Karai.

• Donatello/"Donnie" (voiced by Rob Paulsen) - In charge of the design and manufacture of all of the tools and weapons in the Turtles' arsenal, and a gifted hacker. He wears a purple mask and fights with a rokushakubo which converts to a naginata via a blade inside one end of the staff. He also has a crush on April which his brothers all tease him about. This incarnation of Donatello is depicted with a gap in his front two upper teeth. Rob Paulsen had previously voiced Raphael in the original 1987 TV series.

• Raphael/"Raph" (voiced by Sean Astin) - Raph often lets his impulsiveness get in the way of rational thinking. He wears a red mask and fights with two sai. While hot-headed, he has a soft side, as demonstrated by his interactions with his pet turtle Spike. This incarnation of Raphael is depicted with a lightning bolt-shaped crack in his upper left plastron. In "Cockroach Terminator," it was revealed that Raphael was afraid of cockroaches until he managed to defeat the mutant cockroach Chong.

• Michelangelo/"Mikey" (voiced by Greg Cipes) - A lover of video games, skateboarding, pranks and pizza. He wears an orange mask and fights with two nunchaku which convert into kusarigama via a blade inside if one of the sticks of each nunchaku and extra lengths of chain stored in the other. Despite possessing a child-like innocence, he always brings his best game to a fight. This incarnation of Michelangelo is depicted with freckles.

Allies

• April O'Neil (voiced by Mae Whitman) - The 16 year-old daughter of Dr. Kirby O'Neil who likes to play video games and eat pizza. April befriends the Turtles after the Kraang kidnap her and her father. After the Kraang get away with her father, April's aunt takes her in and the Turtles promise to help her find her father and take down the Kraang. In "Monkey Brains", Splinter learns April has a special spiritual sensitivity and offers to train her to be a kunoichi, which she accepts. As the series progresses, her training starts to pay off. In "TCRI", it is revealed that her father's abduction had nothing to do with his area of expertise but because of the Kraang's unknown plans for April.

• Hamato Yoshi/Splinter (voiced by Hoon Lee) - Splinter was originally the human Hamato Yoshi and resided in Japan where he became an expert of ninjutsu. When his friend Oroku Saki sought the affections of Splinter's wife Tang Shen, Saki wished to discredit Yoshi in front of her. Yoshi lost his temper and the altercation ended their friendship culminating in a battle that burned down Yoshi's home killing Shen and their daughter Miwa. After moving to New York City, Yoshi had just purchased four pet turtles when he stumbled upon an exchange in an alley between two Kraang droids. Seeking to silence Yoshi before he could share what he had seen, a fight ensued and the canister the droids had been carrying smashed open splashing both Yoshi and his turtles with an alien chemical called mutagen. As the result, Yoshi changed into a humanoid rat after having had contact with a rat upon entering an alley. Realizing he could no longer live a normal life topside, he retreated to the New York sewers where he raised his pets as sons and taught them the ancient Japanese fighting art of ninjutsu.

Villains

• Foot Clan - An evil ninja organization that led by the Shredder.
  • Oroku Saki/Shredder (voiced by Kevin Michael Richardson) - One of the main antagonists of the series and leader of the Foot Clan. Once friends in Japan, Oroku Saki and Hamato Yoshi parted ways when both fell for Tang Shen who ultimately chose Yoshi. Saki's jealousy turned to anger and hatred, especially after Yoshi and Shen welcomed a baby daughter named Miwa. A final battle resulted in a fire that burnt down Yoshi's home burnt part of Saki's face, and killed Shen and Miwa. Oroku Saki became the Shredder and established the Foot Clan. Years later, Shredder learns that Splinter is alive and in New York after seeing the Hamato clan crest on a shuriken during a television news report. Seeking to finish his business with Splinter, Shredder and his Foot Clan relocate to New York. The Turtles first encounter Shredder in "The Gauntlet" where he dominated them all in combat. Shredder almost kills Leonardo, but the distraction of the newly-mutated Xever and Chris Bradford gave the Turtles the chance to escape. In the same episode, Shredder is shown to have a pet Akita named Hachinko. He is also Karai's father as seen in "New Girl in Town." In "The Alien Agenda", Shredder didn't believe in the Kraang until Karai brought him the robot body of one of the Kraangs. As Baxter Stockman gets to work on studying the technology, Shredder assigns Karai to learn more about the Kraang so that he can use whatever information is gathered about them in his war against the Turtles.
  • Karai (voiced by Kelly Hu) - A rebellious teen member of the Foot Clan and an expert kunoichi. She first appears in a duel with Leonardo, while the other Turtles are out looking for Snakeweed. She is also the daughter of the Shredder. Karai tries to encourage Leonardo to break the rules for a change, daring him to help her steal a sword once owned by swordsman Miyamoto Musashi. When Leonardo's life is threatened by Snakeweed and he asks for her help, Karai kicks a knife toward him (which helps him break free), which Leonardo interprets as an act of friendship but which Raphael considers malicious. She later attacks the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles at the Kraang's World Wide Genome Project. Karai pushed a button which caused all the animal and plant DNA to be dumped into the mutagen resulting in the creation of a composite beast. Karai escaped with the Kraang robot body and presented it to Shredder as Baxter Stockman gets to work studying the technology. Shredder then assigns Karai to learn more about the Kraang so that he can use whatever information is gathered about them in his war against the Turtles.
  • Chris Bradford/Dogpound (voiced by Clancy Brown) - Chris Bradford was a famous martial artist (who is modeled after Chuck Norris) and secretly a member of the Foot Clan. Chris Bradford is ordered to New York with Xever to find Splinter. After his first encounter with the Turtles, he befriends Michelangelo on a social media website in an attempt to entrap the Turtles, going so far as to teach Mikey his secret kata "The Death Dragon". Bradford later captures Mikey and baits the Turtles to rescue him and lead the Foot to Splinter. However, the plan fails after Splinter recognizes the 'Death Dragon' move during the Turtles' sparring. Bradford is defeated by Mikey's use of the 'Death Dragon' before he and Xever are flushed down the sewers. In "The Gauntlet", Bradford and Xever go after the Turtles again and are exposed to mutagen. As Bradford was previously bitten by Shredder's pet Akita Hachiko, the mutagen transforms him into Dogpound, a spike-backed dog-like mutant with a large left arm, heightened senses, and super-strength.
  • Xever/Fishface (voiced by Christian Lanz) - Xever was a Brazilian street thug. He was in a prison until Shredder freed him and indoctrinated him into the Foot Clan. Shredder orders this ruthless, accomplished fighter to assist Chris Bradford in finding Splinter. During a battle in "The Gauntlet", Xever is exposed to mutagen. As Xever previously touched an exotic fish at a Chinatown Marketplace, the mutagen transforms him into the fish-like mutant Fishface. After his transformation, Fishface lives in the waters within Shredder's hideout. In "The Alien Agenda", Baxter Stockman creates a water-breathing rig for Fishface and mechanical legs that Baxter tries to get working. In the episode "The Pulverizer," Fishface gains full control of his robotic legs and bites Raph with venomous fangs, causing Raph to experience delusions, fever, and nausea.
  • Baxter Stockman (voiced by Phil LaMarr) - An inventor who plotted revenge against a company called TCRI after he was fired for spilling copier toner. A running gag is that the Turtles mispronounce his name. The Turtles first encounter Stockman in rudimentary battle armor, while he attempts to break into a building. The Turtles defeat him, but Stockman obtains Donatello's T-Pod, which contains a military-grade artificial intelligence chip, and incorporates it into his battle armor. The next time the Turtles run into Stockman, his battle armor has upgraded itself. Eventually, the Stockman battle armor and the T-Pod merge into a destructive robotic being, which Mikey dubs "The StockmanPod". The StockmanPod defeats the Turtles, causing them to flee. Using wisdom from Splinter about 'fighting the person inside the armor', the Turtles engage the StockmanPod again, and make use of a beehive to cause the StockmanPod to fall off a building. The Turtles deactivate the T-Pod and throw Stockman in the dumpster again. Following the incident with the M.O.U.S.E.R.S., Dogpound brings Stockman to Shredder. Shredder threatened to kill Stockman for interfering with his plan to kill the Turtles, but spares him and comments on how his intelligence could be useful. In "The Alien Agenda", Baxter creates a water-breathing rig and his prototype mechanical legs for Fishface. After Karai returned to Shredder's hideout with the Kraang body and the controls to it, Baxter Stockman gets to work on studying the machine so that he can get Fishface's mechanical legs operational. In "The Pulverizer," Baxter Stockman gets the technology that he uses to successfully get Fishface's mechanical legs operational.
    • M.O.U.S.E.R.S. - Mobile Offensive Underground Search Excavation and Retrieval Sentries (M.O.U.S.E.R.S.) are small robots that were created by Baxter Stockman to steal on his behalf. Stockman programs them to attack anything tagged with his radioisotope spray.
  • Foot Ninjas - The foot soldiers of the Foot Clan.

• Purple Dragons - A street gang that has been extorting shop owners for protection money and have become allies with the Foot Clan. The Purple Dragons were led by Xever, but Dogpound took over since Xever's mutation into Fishface.
  • Fong (voiced by Andrew Kishino) - The leader of the Purple Dragons who fights with a butcher knife. Staff writer Kenny Byerly named Fong after Benson Fong, an Asian actor from the '60s who appeared in such films as The Love Bug and Flower Drum Song.
  • Sid (voiced by Andrew Kishino) - A member of the Purple Dragons. Sid was named by show writer Jeremy Shipp.
  • Tsoi (voiced by James Sie) - Member of the Purple Dragons. Tsoi fights with a sledgehammer. He is named after Andrea Tsoi, a friend of show writer Kenny Byerly's.

• The Kraang (voiced by Nolan North) - One of the main antagonists of the series. The Kraang are a race of brain-shaped aliens from Dimension X that pilot robotic bodies and are responsible for bringing mutagen to Earth. The Kraang have not mastered English and communicate in redundant speech. In "The Gauntlet," the Turtles learn that the Kraang have been abducting scientists so that they can help modify the mutagen's properties. In "The Alien Agenda," the Kraang establish the World Wide Genome Project as a front while they were collecting the DNA of every animal and plant species on Earth. In "The Pulverizer," the Kraang reclaim the power cell that Leatherhead stole from them. In "TCRI," it is revealed that the Kraang have their headquarters in the higher parts of the TCRI building. It is also revealed that the Kraang can survive in poisonous gas. When the Turtles get away when their explosives are unable to destroy the Kraang's portal, Michelangelo managed to obtain a Kraang data storage device which revealed that the Kraang are also after April. In "Cockroach Terminator," the Kraang steal a special lens as part of a plot to use their laser drill to burrow to the Earth's core as part of the Kraang's invasion plan. This plot was thwarted by the Turtles.
  • Kraang Prime (voiced by Roseanne Barr) - Role has not yet been revealed.
  • Mrs. Campbell (voiced by Cassandra Peterson) - A research scientist from the World Wide Genome Project who takes an interest in April O'Neil. She is actually an android created by the Kraang who used the World Wide Genome Project as their front. When she was pursuing April, she ends up fighting the Turtles until her face is sliced off and is then shorted out by water from a nearby water fountain. Another robot of Mrs. Campbell was seen as the receptionist at TCRI. This time, she and the Kraang operatives were taken out by Leatherhead.

• Dr. Victor Falco/Rat King (voiced by Jeffrey Combs) - A scientist working (presumably for the Kraang) on an experiment involving a combination of mutagen and monkey DNA. Believing that he was close to developing a neurochemical that could make him psychic, Falco tests the chemical on his colleague Dr. Rockwell, transforming him into a man/monkey monster who can read emotions. After the Turtles figure out that Falco was lying about Rockwell's involvement in the research, they confront him. Falco injects himself with the chemical, and is able to predict the Turtles' every move. Donatello figures out how to close off his mind from Falco to defeat him. Falco escapes before the Turtles can interrogate him about the Kraang's plot. In "I, Monster", Falco is destitute but has salvaged some mutagen and has recreated the psychic chemical in his rat infested lab. An accident with the chemical gives him psychic control over all the rats in the city, including Splinter. Falco dubs himself the "Rat King" and attempts to take over New York with his legion of rats. He manipulates Splinter into fighting the Turtles, but Splinter frees himself from mind control and defeats the Rat King.

• Snake/Snakeweed (voiced by Danny Jacobs) - A thug working for the Kraang as their getaway driver. The Turtles interrogate him and find out where the Kraang are holding April and Kirby O'Neil. During their mission to rescue the O'Neils, the Turtles crash a truck full of mutagen into the Kraang base. Snake is exposed to the the mutagen and some nearby weeds which turns him into a plant monster that Michelangelo dubs "Snakeweed". The Turtles fight Snakeweed. Leonardo lures him into a power core where Snakeweed is electrocuted and blown up. After the Turtles leave, Snakeweed's heart starts beating again. He revives and returns later in the series.

• Vic/Spider Bytez (voiced by Lewis Black) - A crabby, middle-aged, out of shape New Yorker who videotapes the Turtles on his cellphone during a rooftop battle with the Kraang after one of the Turtles accidentally knocked down his satellite dish. When Vic attempts to sell his video to the Kraang, they kidnap him. The Turtles attempt to rescue Vic who is splashed with mutagen shortly after coming into contact with a spider. He transforms into a giant spider-like monster with spider legs on top of his head which Michelangelo dubs "Spider Bytez". Spider Bytez blames the Turtles for his mutation, and attacks them with webs and acidic spit. During the battle, his cellphone is destroyed. Spider Bytez escapes, vowing to get revenge on the Turtles later.

• Justin - After Karai pushes a control button on a machine at the World Wide Genome Project, a variety of animal DNA samples gathered by the Kraang are dumped into mutagen, resulting in the creation of a composite monster that Mikey simply names Justin. After Karai leaves, Justin attacks the Kraang until only the Turtles are left. Leonardo manages to use his swords as an conductor of electricity to destroy Justin.

• Traag - Traag is a lava-spewing, giant rock monster in service to the Kraang. The Kraang bring the giant through a portal that connects TCRI to Dimension X. Traag proves a challenge to the Turtles, but Leatherhead ends up dragging Traag through the portal back to Dimension X.

• Chong - Chong is a cockroach that was trained by Donatello to spy on the Kraang with special micro-equipment on it. Raphael has a fear of cockroaches. An accident during the spying on the Kraang caused Chong to fall into the mutagen and mutate into a humanoid appearance with the equipment fused to it's body. After escaping from the Kraang base, Chong ran into the Turtles and attacked them. Raphael was able to knock him out with the Shellraiser's cannon to knock out Chong, yet Chong managed to sneak away behind the Turtles's back. When the Turtles thwart the Kraang's robbery of the special lens, Chong catches up to the group where Chong defeats the Kraang. Then Chong attacks Raphael until Leonardo saves him. The Turtles then use the bug spray in order to get it out into the street where it gets hit by a truck and collides with the wall. Yet Chong survives and goes after the Turtles. Leonardo discovers that Chong is targeting Raphael and chased him until he got caught in the wet cement. It is then discovered that Chong had molted his skin and emerges in a second form where it can now fly. Chong then chases after Raphael while the Turtles are trying to get to the Kraang. When Chong grabs Michelangelo, Raphael ends up having to overcome his fear to rescue Michelangelo. Raphael then pilots his vehicle to lure Chong away so that the other Turtles can stop the Kraang. Raphael's fight with Chong ends up disrupting the Kraang's laser drill. Raphael then turns the laser drill on Chong who ends up blasted apart. Of course a new Chong starts to form from one of the fragments of the old Chong.

Supporting characters

• Kirby O'Neil (voiced by Keith Silverstein) - A scientist and the father of April O'Neil. He and April were captured by the Kraang. Although April was rescued by the Turtles, the Kraang made off with Kirby. In "The Gauntlet," the Turtles find information left by Kirby O'Neil that the Kraang have been abducting scientists so that they can help modify the unstable mutagen. In "TCRI", it is revealed that Kirby O'Neil is actually a doctor of psychology and that his abduction has nothing to do with the mutagen itself, but because the Kraang's target is his April.

• Carlos Chiang O'Brien Gambe (voiced by Jim Meskimen) - A local TV news reporter.

• Spike - Raphael's pet turtle.

• Dr. Tyler Rockwell (voiced by Frank Welker) - A scientist that was the partner of Dr. Victor Falco were approached by the Kraang to work on an experiment involving mutagen, a neurochemical, and monkey DNA. April and the Turtles learn Rockwell has gone missing and investigate, to discover Falco had transformed Rockwell into a monkey-like monster that can sense emotion.

• Mr. Murakami (voiced by Sab Shimono) - A blind, skillful Japanese chef who runs a noodle shop. He becomes a friend to the Turtles after they save him from an extortion attempt by the Purple Dragons. Despite being blind, he knows what the Turtles are, but isn't afraid of them. Murakami rewards the Turtles with a dish called "pizza gyoza" (a type of Japanese-style dumpling that is stuffed with pizza ingredients) which the Turtles love. The Turtles also address Mr. Murakami as 'Murakami-san'.

• Pete (voiced by A.J. Buckley) - A pigeon that was mutated by the Kraang. Pete learned to talk and befriended Kirby O'Neil who used him to send a message to his daughter. He told the Turtles the location of where Kirby is in exchange for some bread.

• Leatherhead (voiced by Peter Lurie) - An alligator that was originally owned by a young boy until his parents found out and flushed him down the sewer. The Kraang took him to their dimension, mutated him, and experimented on him. Leatherhead eventually escapes from the Kraang, steals the energy source that powers the portal between the Kraang dimension and Earth, and retreats to the sewers. The Kraang locate and attack Leatherhead, to demand the return of the power cell. The Turtles witness this event and Michelangelo urges his brothers to help intervene. The Turtles protect Leatherhead, restore his health, and keep the power cell from the Kraang. In "TCRI," Leatherhead tells the Ninja Turtles where the Kraang's base is by drawing the shape of the TCRI building. Leatherhead helps the Turtles by attacking the Kraang while the Turtles make their way to the top of TCRI. Leatherhead even helps to fight Traag which ends with Leatherhead dragging Traag back to Dimension X.

• The Pulverizer (voiced by Roger Craig Smith) - The Pulverizer is an ineffective costumed vigilante who models his appearance after the Turtles. In their first encounter with The Pulverizer, The Turtles rescue him from a bungled attempt to stop the Purple Dragons from looting a warehouse. The Pulverizer winds up back at the Turtles' lair after he accidentally gets stuck to the Shellraiser. Taking pity on the would-be hero, Donatello attempts to train The Pulverizer in basic self-defense, but The Pulverizer shows little capacity to learn. In a failed attempt to stop the Kraang from fleeing with their power cell, The Pulverizer winds up in need of help, and Donnie chooses to save him instead of getting the power cell back. The Pulverizer vows to train on his own in order to be better the next time he meets the Turtles.