10 Dark TMNT Moments That Will Change the Way You See Its Iconic Heroes

The Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles are famously bright, colorful, and kid-friendly. The franchise has become a Nickelodeon property, after all, so it makes sense that the television series and animated films are geared towards a family audience. However, the ‘kid-friendly’ lens that is oftentimes placed over the TMNT franchise doesn’t give fans a full scope of what the series is as a whole. In fact, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles can be insanely dark.

When the series was created by Kevin Eastman and Peter Laird, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles had nothing to do with toys, cartoons, or Nickelodeon. In fact, it was a gritty, black and white indie comic geared towards a more mature audience, and it didn’t hold back on the hyper-violence. While TMNT has certainly changed over the years from its bloody origins, there is a corner of the franchise that has stayed true to the darker elements of the Turtles fans first fell in love with, offering fans no shortage of awesome, dark moments from the series.

10 The Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Brutally Kill Shredder (in the Very 1st Issue)

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles #1 (Mirage Studios) by Kevin Eastman and Peter Laird

The Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles franchise wastes no time when it comes to kicking off the brutality, as one of the most hardcore things the Ninja Turtles have ever done happened in the very first issue of the original comic book series. Indeed, TMNT was originally a franchise meant for a more mature readership. The Turtles were gritty, black and white, and used their ninja training to kill their enemies without remorse. And, in the first issue, one of the people the Turtles brutally killed was the Shredder himself.

Shredder would go on to become the most iconic TMNT villain in the franchise's history, appearing in practically every single incarnation of the franchise. However, back when Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles was still in its infancy, Shredder was put down by the Turtles in truly brutal fashion.

9 TMNT’s Raphael Gets His Face Melted Off

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles #1 (Image Comics) by Gary Carlson and Frank Fosco

While the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles franchise isn't afraid to get brutal, it does tend to stay away from being super gory. Sure, the Turtles will stab and slash Shredder on a New York City rooftop, but the comics don't really emphasize the blood and guts associated with killing someone like that. However, when TMNT was briefly being published by Image Comics, the series' restraint on gore went right out the window - and in the first issue, no less.

In Image Comics' Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles #1, Raphael gets half his face melted off while battling an enemy, and the panel depicting it doesn't hold back on the gory horror Raph was experiencing. This wasn't a one-off injury, either, as Raphael spent most of this series wearing one of Casey Jones' hockey masks, making this moment as dark as it was significant to the wider story.

8 TMNT’s Donatello Gets Beaten to Death by Bebop & Rocksteady

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles #44 (IDW Publishing) by Kevin Eastman, Tom Waltz, and Cory Smith

Aside from Raphael's unfortunate injury over in Image Comics, the Ninja Turtles are usually the ones who deal out the brutality as opposed to being on the receiving end of it. But, that's not exactly true, as Donatello found himself in a far more serious situation in IDW Publishing's Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles when he was ambushed by Bebop and Rocksteady. Indeed, the normally dim-witted mutant duo prove just how deadly they truly are in TMNT #44.

Bebop and Rocksteady were sent to kill Donatello after the Ninja Turtle betrayed Shredder during a story arc that saw Donnie pit the Foot Clan against the Utroms in a scheme that would eliminate two of the Ninja Turtles' greatest enemies at once. Shredder became aware of Donatello's double-cross, so he sent Bebop and Rocksteady to kill him - and they did just that.

7 Casey Jones’ Dad is an Abusive Alcoholic (& Raphael Nearly Kills Him)

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles #2 (IDW Publishing) by Kevin Eastman, Tom Waltz, and Dan Duncan

It isn't until IDW Publishing's TMNT that Casey Jones' personal story gets fleshed out like it never had before. This version of Casey isn't an adult vigilante who meets the Turtles while on patrol of the city, he's just a kid in high school who plays for his school's hockey team. Though, tragically, Casey Jones has more going on in his life than balancing sports and school, as he lives in an abusive home with an angry, alcoholic father.

Casey's home life is a dark aspect of his story that TMNT fans weren't aware of before, and the situation only becomes worse when Raphael intervenes. Raph sees what this man is doing to his son, and he breaks into their house with the intention of stopping him - maybe even killing him.

6 TMNT’s Old Hob Horrifically Mutates a Crowd of People, & Raphael Helps Him

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles #98 (IDW Publishing) by Kevin Eastman, Bobby Curnow, Tom Waltz, and Michael Dialynas

There's a moment in IDW's TMNT canon where Raphael leaves his brothers to join a mutant extremist named Old Hob and his band of loyal soldiers called the Mighty Mutanimals. However, Raphael underestimated just how far Old Hob was willing to take his pro-mutant mission. Raph thought they would just take down organizations targeting mutants. But in TMNT #98, Raphael's horrified to realize that Old Hob didn't just want to save existing mutants, he wanted to make new ones.

During a rally for Mayor Baxter Stockman (who famously creates, imprisons, and torments mutants), Old Hob drops a mutagen bomb on a crowd of humans, mutating all of them against their will. This process appeared excruciating, and these people's lives were forever changed (most for the worse) because of Old Hob - and, to some extent, Raphael.

5 TMNT’s Leonardo Gets Corrupted by Shredder & Nearly Kills His Family

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles #24 (IDW Publishing) by Kevin Eastman, Tom Waltz, and Mateus Santolouco

Raphael isn't the only Turtle Brother who leaves his family's side to join a known villain, as Leonardo did the exact same thing earlier in the series. However, in Leonardo's case, he was manipulated by an ancient god to join the worst villain in the entire series: Shredder. Leo's mind was twisted by Kitsune, and as a result, he became Shredder's chunin - the second in command of the Foot Clan.

His commitment to Shredder was so great, in fact, that when his brothers and father came to rescue him, he nearly killed them where they stood, and only stopped when Shredder himself told him not to land the killing blows. Seeing Leonardo - the Turtle who leads his brothers through the greatest hardships - fall to villainy was utterly heartbreaking, and one of the darkest moments in the series.

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles #61 (Mirage Studios) by Kevin Eastman, Peter Laird, and Jim Lawson

The weapons the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles use aren't just iconic, but they're also pretty appropriate for all ages without being considered hyper violent. Granted, two out of the four are types of blades, while the other two are used for bludgeoning, but the 'toyetic' nature of ninja weapons is sanctioned by society as being appropriate for kids without parents making too big a fuss. Guns, however, are decidedly more mature, though that didn't stop Raphael from using one to kill a Foot Clan soldier.

Granted, Raphael did this in the more mature Mirage Studios TMNT, but retrospectively, it's pretty shocking to see this character wielding a firearm in battle. No fun ninja-kicks or somehow non-lethal sai attacks, just good ol' fashion bullets, which is surprisingly dark for Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles.

3 TMNT’s Casey Jones Accidentally Kills a Kid

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles #48 (Mirage Studios) by Kevin Eastman, Peter Laird, and Jim Lawson

As if Casey Jones' TMNT history could get darker than suffering abuse by the hand of his father as a kid, his original stint in TMNT canon has the vigilante do the unthinkable: kill a kid. Granted, Casey didn't mean to murder him, but that doesn't excuse what he did. Casey Jones used force that was too excessive on a gang of teenagers, and as a result, he killed someone with their whole life ahead of them.

Casey couldn't forgive himself for the longest time after accidentally killing this kid, falling into a pit of depression that he struggled to claw himself out of. Even after he went back to being a hero with his TMNT allies, Casey never forgot what he did, as this dark moment stuck with him for the rest of his life.

2 TMNT’s Donatello is Imprisoned in a Mutant Fighting Pit

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles #4 (IDW Publishing) by Jason Aaron and Chris Burnham

Right now, the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles are entering an all-new era within IDW Publishing continuity, marking a fresh start for the Ninja Turtles. Unfortunately, this 'fresh start' doesn't seem to be that great for the Turtles themselves. Raphael was in prison, Michelangelo was famous yet miserable, and Leonardo was unable to find peace. However, none of them have had it worse than Donatello, who found himself imprisoned in a mutant fighting pit while slowly going insane.

In the previous story arc, Donatello meddled with magical forces beyond his understanding, and now he's experiencing the fallout of that, as his mind is starting to slip while his body is slowly withering away. Then, Donnie gets abducted by people who are kidnapping and fighting mutants for money, which is a decidedly dark start to Donatello's new TMNT era.

1 TMNT’s Raphael Goes Back in Time to Kill Donatello

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Annual 2023 #1 “Out of Time” (IDW Publishing) by Michael Walsh, Vlad Legostaev, and Santtos

Some of the darkest moments in Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles are when one Turtle brother turns on another, especially when it's more than just a temporary fight, but with actual murderous intent. That's exactly what happened in "Out of Time", though the circumstances were definitely different. In "Out of Time" Raphael tries to kill Donatello, as Donnie is responsible for the creation of the timeline-eating cosmic shark, Armaggon. However, this Raphael isn't the brother Donatello knows and loves - this one is from the future.

'Old Man Raph' jumps through time and space, faces off against Armaggon itself, and even loses an arm, all to do one thing: kill his own brother. That is a dark story arc no matter what franchise it takes place in, and it's especially so in Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, making it one of the 10 darkest of the entire franchise.