Mighty Mutanimals
Mighty Mutanimals, a superhero group within the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles franchise, emerged in the comic-book series Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Adventures. Composed of various mutated animals, the team collaborated with the TMNT and has been featured in multiple iterations of the franchise since its inception.
Fictional team biography
Archie Comics
Mighty Mutanimals was first published as a three-issue miniseries released between May and July 1991, which was later released in a collection in Winter 1991. A follow-up regular series totaling nine issues was released from April 1992 until June 1993.The series was canceled due to low sales, but the Mutanimals received their own 7-part backup-series in the pages of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Adventures beginning in issue #48 and ending in issue #54. This series saw the assassination of the Mutanimals at the hands of the high-tech Gang of Four. Issues #55-57 continued the aftermath of their death and its effect on the Turtles' storyline. The proposed animated series was meant to take place during the 1987 series, where they are a team of superheroes that go around the world to fight evil. The turtles were meant to be shown up at the beginning of the series to help set up the island base HQ and once they are finishing it the turtles will return to New York leaving the Mutanimals to start becoming heroes in their own right and begin their own adventures.
The Mutanimals made a small cameo appearance in Tales of the TMNT #58. Dean Clarrain, Ken Mitchroney, Mike Kazaleh, and Garrett Ho all worked on the comic book miniseries.
Though the team was called "Mutanimals", implying that the members were all "mutant animals", only three were "true" mutants: Ray Fillet, Mondo Gecko, and reserve member Merdude. Leatherhead was a magically transformed human and so was Dreadmon, who was more or less a werewolf created by voodoo. Wingnut, Screwloose and Slash, were all aliens from Dimension X, and Jagwar was a demigod son of a human mother and jaguar spirit/god.
IDW Comics
A new version of the Mutanimals also appears in the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles IDW Comic series, in which Mondo Gecko, Man Ray and Slash reprise their roles as part of its membership. While Old Hob served as its leader, exclusive to this group are Herman the Hermit Crab, Pigeon Pete, and a mutant lioness named Sally Pride as well as a new interpretation of the Fred Wolf animated series character Mutagen Man.This version was created when Slash and Old Hob abduct former StockGen scientist Lindsey Baker and hire her to help them create a more coherent mutant army to protect the other mutants of New York City, since their own try at it resulted in Pigeon Pete who isn't at all that bright. Hob had obtained a large canister of mutagen and samples of Splinter's blood. Slash willingly injects himself with some of Splinter's blood and the compound within makes Slash intelligent in moments, proving her theory correct. Lindsey then uses a gecko and hermit crab stolen by Hob and Slash to create Mondo Gecko and Herman, having successfully combined the compound with the mutagen. Old Hob later gained the services of Sally Pride, Man Ray, and Mutagen Man, mutants created by the Null Group as slaves.
When Old Hob detonates a Mutagen bomb following Baxter Stockman becoming the Mayor of New York City causing anyone who was mutated to be placed in Mutant Town, Old Hob establishes a tight-fisted regime in the ghetto, hiring a number of mutants as his Mutanimal Enforcers, and surreptitiously starts selling some mutants to Karai in return for vital supplies. Upon learning this, Sally renounces her allegiance with Hob, sides with the Ninja Turtles and runs for the position as Mutant Town's first mayor. During a public rally, an attempt by Man Ray on Sally's life - an action not sanctioned by Hob - causes the Mutant Towners to rise against Hob's regime, toppling him and forcing him underground.
After the events of the Rat King's Armageddon Game, which includes the fall of Mutant Town's walls, Hob, still determined to isolate himself from humanity, moves his base to North Brother Island, but disaster strikes when Lindsey, in her efforts to "fit in", attempts a controlled partial mutation, which goes out of control and transforms her into a murderous spiter mutant, forcing Hob to entrust her to the Earth Protection Force's protective custody. However, the remaining Mutanimals rejoin him right afterwards.
2012 TV series
An animated version of the Mighty Mutanimals debuted in the 2012 Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles episode "Battle for New York". The team is led by Slash and composed of Monkey Brains, Leatherhead, and Pigeon Pete. Slash and Jack Kurtzman founded the team to combat the Kraang, who had conquered New York City. When the Turtles return, the two teams banded together to save New York from the Kraang, after settling their differences.In "Clash of the Mutanimals", Slash and Rockwell were captured and brainwashed by Shredder as a test run for a mind control serum. The two would be freed by their teammates and the Turtles, and the eight mutants would fight Shredder to a draw.
In "Dinosaur Seen In Sewers!", Slash and Rockwell were injured by the crazed Triceraton Zog, and spent the remainder of the episode healing.
In the third-season finale titled "Annihilation: Earth!", the four Mutanimals fought alongside the Hamato and later Foot Clan as they tried to save the Earth from the invading Triceraton Empire. The group's efforts failed when Shredder betrayed them all by stabbing Splinter, and the four Mutanimals, along with all of the Turtle's allies and enemies, then were sucked into a black hole to their deaths.
The Turtles subsequently spent the first half of the fourth season working to undo this turn of events. While they are unable to save the original versions of the Mutanimals and the others, they are able to save a second version of them in "Earth's Last Stand" where thanks to Splinter getting the heads up and intercepting Shredder's attack, the Turtles destroyed the timer to the Heart of Darkness, causing Earth's secondary annihilation to never occur.
In "Mutant Gangland", the Mutanimals with Mondo Gecko as their newest member stop the Fulci twins from obtaining new-and-improved weaponry. Rockwell telepathically sees into one of their minds and is shocked to learn that they are engineering these weapons to hunt down and destroy all mutants. The quarter head to warn the Turtles about this dangerous threat against all mutant-kind. Noticing that Pigeon Pete is missing, Donatello asks the Mutanimals where he is to which Slash replies "We don't talk about Pigeon Pete", indicating that soon after their victory of defeating the Triceratons, Pigeon Pete left the team for unknown reasons.
In "Requiem", the Mutanimals are in their hideout working how to plan their next attack on Super Shredder with the aid of Karai and Shinigami. They are interrupted by the arrival of Super Shredder who burns their hideout and defeats them with ease. They are rescued by April and Casey while Splinter and Leonardo save a seriously hurt Karai via CPR. Slash goes with Raphael, Splinter, April and Casey to track down Super Shredder while Leatherhead, Mikey, Leo, and Donnie go fight Fishface, Rahzar, Bebop, and Rocksteady at the amusement park. However, Slash is no match for Super Shredder's might and is knocked out. Leatherhead manages to beat Rahzar by dragging him underwater.
In the fourth season's finale titled "Owari", Rockwell, Leatherhead, Slash, and Pigeon Pete all appear at Splinter's funeral.
In "The Big Blowout", the Mutanimals fights alongside the turtles, their 1980s counterparts, April, Casey, Karai, and Shinigami in a battle against the 1980s counterparts of the Shredder, Krang, and the present Bebop and Rocksteady. They soon face the return of Traag and Granitor until Bebop and Rocksteady came to save everyone.
Mutant Mayhem and tie-ins
The Mighty Mutanimals, or simply "Mutanimals," appear in the 2023 film Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayhem. These versions of Superfly's gang who were created by Baxter Stockman from baby animals. The Turtles and Splinter manage to convince them to live with them, later joining together to defeat Superfly with Splinter falling in love with Scumbug.The Mutanimals, sans Mondo and Rocksteady, reappear in Tales of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, where they also receive a new recruit named Pigeon Pete, who was mutated from Michelangelo's blood, and work with the Turtles to stop a trio of sea mutants from stealing a mass pearl from the Natural History Museum, while also dealing with a massive storm.
Season two of Tales of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles featured another group of Mutanimals consisting of Tokka, Rahzar, Antrax, Scale Tail, and Wyrm. They were created by Jordan Perry who met Baxter Stockman at some point. In addition, Perry created a mutant clone of himself called Mutant Omega. Because Perry used unstable mutagen, these Mutanimals exploded into a green goo afterwards which returned the animal to normal. Perry has since mutated the same animals in order to find a stable mutation. With Rahzar having recorded a video for future clones, these Mutanimals believed that they can stabilize their mutations with the blood from those who had stable mutations as they start by going after Donatello.
Principal members
Dreadmon
Dreadmon is a character from the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Adventures comic book and the Archie Comics' Mutanimals. The character is a native of South Africa. During the uprisings, his father sent him and his mother to Jamaica, where they suffered from poverty. Dreadmon became a thief and eventually stole a talisman that transformed him into a red wolf hybrid who possesses superhuman speed. The creature was friends with the Ninja Turtles and he eventually joined the Mutanimals as second-in-command along with his best friend, Jagwar.Dreadmon appears in the IDW comics as a mutant black-backed jackal.