The Duelity of Mikey the Ninja and Mikey the Turtle Titan

[Sage Ninja]

Alot of fans, my self included on occassion, think that Mikey's obsession and his desire to be a superhero is childish or annoying, others think it cute little facet to his personality. Alot of people think his alter ego Turtle Titan is ridiculous (personaly I sometimes find it cute) and should have ended in the first episode Mikey created the turtle titan when he found out he was better at being a ninja. But regardless of what he realized in the episode The Unconvincing Turtle Titan Mikey has still humg onto his turtle titan ego. He knows that he does just as much good in the shadows as a ninja as he could as a superhero but yet he still clings to it, and maybe the reason he does is that turtle titan represents than just playing superhero.

I think on an unconscious level Mikey is just trying to hang on to his innocence. Its been stated before that Michelangelo is the heart of the group, the innocent that keeps the turtles family from becoming too dark and keeps them on the lighter side of morality. Maybe what Michelangelo fears most is becoming too dark, world weary and hard. And you have to admit that given the turtles life style that wouldn't be too hard to happen.

Maybe that’s why Mikey likes superheroes so much and tries so hard to cultivate his super hero Turtle Titan identity and hang on to it. I think Super heroes represent to Mikey his ideal of being a warrior that makes a difference with out all the dark harsh unpleasant stuff that goes along with being a ninja. I mean from Mikey's point of view he must recognize the difference between him self as a warrior that of superheroes. Super Heroes like Silver Sentry are so powerful that they can take on an enemy and get the job done with out killing the enemy since they are easily more powerful. For Super heroes it’s all very black and white. Super hero’s good, villains bad; very cut and clean with no ethical dilemmas; this is a stark contrast to Mikey's life as ninja that is filled with dangerous battles where he or his brothers might not make it out of a battle or its kill or be killed and lots of gray situations where it usually boils down to the lesser of two evils. All the while having to keep to the shadows and have no pay off for the harsh realities he has to endure.

In the Unconvincing Turtle Titan episode Mikey pretty much learns that he can do more good from the shadows as a ninja instead of a super hero, so you would think the whole wanting to be a super hero thing would be resolved. But in later episodes it’s shown that Mikey is still hanging on to his superhero alter ego even though he knows that he does more good as a ninja. I think this shows how even though in his head he understands he is a ninja but he doesn't want to altogether give into that reality and hold on to the innocence and simplicity that being a super hero represents.

[Jelly bean]

thats a diffrent way of looking at it  I always just thought that Mikey's love of superheros and wanting to be one was just him wanting to be noticed and admired, I never thought of that "innocence" angle but it kind of makes sence that he would find their life style more appealing because it's idealized and not as frightening as being a ninja.

[LenniluvsBrian]

I'm sort of with the innocence thing. It's like, he's trying hard to hang onto something that was prolly apart of his childhood. I mean, c'mon - look at how most of us viewed TMNT when we were kids.

~Lenni~

[Mily]

Well, to me this is an innoncence thing and we all know how much Mikey loves superheroes and I can relate because how awesome would it be if you could be one, or if they were real but I guess but I'll be a realist here..., XD The creators of the show keep making turtle titan eps because they think the kiddies like seeing their hero become a superhero, there is that reason I think because the FF ep was ridiculous, they changed the costume for one thing into a really ugly one, and I can't really think of another one where Mikey once again dons the costume..., maybe in possible futures or flashbacks,

Also I've read a very good fanfic where Mikey ends up being the only turtle to keep it together while everything around him crashes down, with people dying or killing themselves until it's just him and someone else and he still continues to cling to whatever family he has left because he knows he's the only one who will.