TMNT’s New Turtles Secretly Replace One Original Brother Each

Warning! This article contains spoilers for Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: The Last Ronin – Lost Years Within The Last Ronin timeline of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles universe, a new group of Turtle siblings have been introduced, and each one of them has already begun the process of filling the proverbial shoes of the classic Ninja Turtles before them. In fact, the individual similarities are uncanny, leading one to conclude that these four new Turtles are actually replacing one original brother each.

In The Last Ronin, Donatello, Leonardo, and Raphael are dead. They, along with Master Splinter, were killed by the Foot Clan led by the Shredder’s decendant, his grandson named Oroku Hiroto. Michelangelo was the sole survivor of this war, though by the end of the limited series, he, too, died as a result of it. But, as the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles series has taught fans throughout nearly every era of its publication, with death comes new life, and the Ninja Turtles themselves are no exception. So, with the launch of a new spin-off Last Ronin comic, fans are able to see this ‘new life’ that has sprung up from the deaths of the classic Ninja Turtles: Yi, Uno, Odyn, and Moja.

TMNT is Officially Introducing the Original Turtles’ Perfect Successors

In Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: The Last Ronin – Lost Years by Kevin Eastman, Tom Waltz, SL Gallant, and Ben Bishop, fans are given the details of Michelangelo’s life in the time between the death of his family and the events of The Last Ronin. Simultaneously, the book also jumps to the future, after the events of The Last Ronin. There, April and her daughter Casey are raising four new Mutant Turtles who are no older than toddlers. Casey is hellbent on shaping them into great ninjas just like Master Splinter did with the original four, though April is there to make sure these Turtles have enough breathing room to discover their own unique personalities outside the dojo. Though, as it turns out, it seems they’re each filling the proverbial vacuum left by their predecessors, and their actions throughout these first few issues released so far prove it.

Uno is a bit too harsh on the others, indicating that they have leadership qualities within themself, but haven’t quite figured out how to be a good leader just yet. Yi is always eager to help, especially when it comes to assisting April in mechanical endeavors, though sometimes a bit too eager, and getting hurt as a result of her own curiosity. Moja is a total loner, oftentimes listening to music, off in their own little world in a totally unapologetic way. And Odyn is easily distracted, and is way more focused on their own desires being met (primarily food) than paying attention to a lesson. Based on these characteristics shown in the first few issues of this Last Ronin series, it’s easy to see how Uno is filling the role of Leonardo, Yi is the successor to Donatello, Moja fills the role of Raphael, and Odyn is the new Michelangelo.

While it’s clear that these new Ninja Turtles still need to grow to fully become the Turtles they were born to be, these early glimpses into their formative years gives fans a lot of insight into the Turtles they will become. Though so far, it’s looking suspiciously similar to the Turtles who came before, as Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles’ new Turtles seem to be replacing one original brother each, and the evidence is way too convincing to ignore.

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: The Last Ronin – Lost Years #1-3 by IDW Publishing are available now.