This table lists characters and their appearances in eight of the major continuities of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (TMNT) franchise, as well as appearances in various video games, magazines, or as action figures.
Contents
Origins
The Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles originated in an American comic book published by Mirage Studios in 1984. The concept arose from a humorous drawing sketched out by Kevin Eastman during a casual evening of brainstorming with his friend Peter Laird. Using money from a tax refund together with a loan from Eastman's uncle, the young artists self-published a single issue comic intended to parody four of the most popular comics of the early 1980s: Marvel Comics' Daredevil and New Mutants, Dave Sim's Cerebus and Frank Miller's Ronin.
Much of the Turtles' mainstream success is owed to licensing and wider merchandising opportunities for the offbeat property. Including action figures and a popular Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles animated series. At the height of the frenzy, the Turtles' likenesses could be found on a wide range of children's merchandise, from Pez dispensers to skateboards, breakfast cereal, toothpaste, school supplies and cameras. This led to the production if a series o feature films. A later resurgence in the Turtles' popularity due to the second animated series, a new line of Playmates action figures, Konami and Ubisoft's video games, and a computer-animated feature film. In late 2009, the franchise was purchased by Nickelodeon, which has produced the most recent animated series, and has a new feature film released.
Table
This table is not automatically generated, so please add new characters as they are added to the article.
This list is of appearances, a brief mentioning or reference is not counted.