The Unconvincing Turtle Titan is the twelfth episode of Season 1 and the twelfth episode of the series.
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles - Season 1 Episode 12 - The Unconvincing Turtle Titan
Previously: The Shredder Strikes Part 2 Next: Notes From The Underground Part 1
Plot[]
While training above ground, Michelangelo comments on how peaceful it is since they defeated the Shredder and how they ought to do more to help mankind. A little further on, they come upon a burning building with a child trapped inside. Mikey wants to save her, but Leonardo tells him to stay put. Before long, Silver Sentry shows up, saves the kid, and puts out the fire. Awed by seeing one of his heroes in action, Mikey suggests that the Turtles become a band of superheroes, but his brothers just laugh at the idea.
Back at the lair, Master Splinter is training Leo, Don and Raph, but rather than paying attention to his exercises, Mike is doodling some sketches of costumes that the TMNT might wear as super heroes, which becomes the point of general criticism and ridicule for the evening. Mikey tries to convince Splinter that they could do more good as superheroes than as ninjas, but Splinter cautions him against being seen and declares that everyone must choose the path that is true to themselves.
Mikey gathers his sketches and heads topside to get some advice from April. April encourages Mikey in his intentions and helps him create a costume from stuff at her shop. With his new costume and the alias "Turtle Titan", Mikey patrols the streets in search of crime, but each time he tries to help, he ends up looking guilty or silly. Also, everyone he tries to help turns out to be in a trance until a robotic bug scurries away from them, at which point they recover with no memory of what has happened. At the end of one his misadventures involving a runaway bus, the Silver Sentry saves Mikey from going into the river with his cape trapped in a bus door. Afterward, he warns Mikey away from super heroics, telling him it's too dangerous. Mikey, however, is able to show him the robotic bug he managed to take off the bus driver, and Silver Sentry recognizes it as the work of his archenemy, Dr. Malignus.
Silver Sentry tracks the bug's signal to a warehouse. Instead of bringing Turtle Titan along, Silver Sentry flies him in the opposite direction, telling him that he will take care of Malignus. He then flies off to Dr. Malignus' secret lair, but undeterred, Mikey follows on foot; he falls behind, but is able to find the building. As Mikey enters the building, he becomes acquainted with Dr. Malignus, who shortly sends Silver Sentry, now under his mind control, to attack him!
Mikey engages the Sentry, but proves no match for his flight powers, super strength and resilience. When things start to look hopeless, Mikey decides to lose the superhero costume and fight like a ninja. Using the techniques Master Splinter was teaching earlier, Mikey is able to dodge the Silver Sentry's attack and remove the bug from him. Silver Sentry, recognizing Turtle Titan's talent, teams up with him to capture Dr. Malignus, who is stopped by Mikey while attempting to use an escape tunnel through the sewers.
Once Malignus has been taken away, Silver Sentry thanks Mike for his help, and Mikey decides (for now, at least) that a superhero's workload is a bit out of his league. He gets back to the lair and, after shrugging off some more teasing from his brothers, turns on the evening news, where the Silver Sentry officially thanks the Turtle Titan for his help. Leo, Don and Raph are taken by surprise, but Mikey denies any involvement in the matter and then asks Splinter to renew their training session.
= Character Debuts[]
- Silver Sentry
- Dr. Malignus
Trivia[]
- First time a superhero appears in the series.
- Officers Eastman and Laird show up at Crazy Manny's store.
- Turtle Titan (Michelangelo in disguise) uses a grappling hook. Michelangelo also used a grappling hook as his regular weapon in the UK's Teenage Mutant Hero Turtles series and in the later seasons of the 1987 Ninja Turtles series, when Nunchakus were banned as too violent.
- In 1993, Playmate Toys released an action figure of Michelangelo as a superhero, called Super Mike. This figure only slightly resembles the Turtle Titan of the 2003 cartoon.
- In this episode, Don refers to Starwars by saying "Exqueese me," (Jar Jar Binks). He also later makes a reference to the Fantastic Four, as does Raph to the Justice League, and Leo to the Legion of Super Heroes.