Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles

The Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles are four comic book characters (they have also featured in a number of cartoons and live action films). The wisecracking, pizza-scarfing crew battle urban evil under the tutelage of their mentor Splinter. Their best friend in the human world is a lady journalist.

Each ninja turtle sports a colored bandanna, uses a characteristic ninja weapon and favors a particular pizza topping. They take their names from renaissance painters: Leonardo, Donatello, Raphael and Michelangelo.

The term "teenage" is a misnomer as within the primary material (the comic books), the turtles are now in their mid-thirties.

When the television cartoons were screened in the United Kingdom, the BBC altered the title to Teenage Mutant Hero Turtles, fearing that the mere use of the word ninja would unleash a tidal wave of oriental-martial-art-inspired violence among the nation's children.

See also[edit]

• Mutation