Bebop (1987 TV series)

Bebop is a character and a recurring villain from the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles animated series.

History
Bebop was originally an African-American human gangster that was employed by Shredder, affiliated with the likes of thugs such as fellow mutant Rocksteady. With the other members of his gang, he was sent out to stop a Channel 6 reporter named April O'Neil from doing a report about crime in the city. April ran down into the sewers while being chased by the street gang and met the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, who then defeated the gang in a fight.

After his army of Foot Soldiers failed to stop the Turtles, Krang suggested that the Shredder mutate his own mutant soldiers so that they would have abilities parallel to the Turtles' to fight his enemies. With a new plan, Shredder sought two "volunteers" for his experiments. Bebop and Rocksteady both volunteered to undergo the procedure (though neither was particularly aware of what it would entail) with the promise that it would gave them superhuman powers and allow them to exact revenge on the Turtles. He was tied down with belts on a laboratory chair. Using robot drones, the Shredder stole a rhinoceros and a warthog from the zoo and brought them in the room with his new test subjects, and so his DNA was mutated with the kidnapped warthog.

The result...Bebop became a mutated mix of warthog and man, donning twin turtle shells on his shoulders to mark his new job as an enforcer for the Shredder. Bebop henceforth supported Shredder in carrying out his plans. Bebop had the enormous strength of his animal counterpart, with the disadvantage being his appearance. However though the transformation did make them larger and stronger, the Shredder's choice in test subjects were...less than stellar. Although tough, both Bebop and Rocksteady were far from the brightest of the bunch. For example, in Enter the Shredder they charged at the Turtles, who jumped, and crashed into each other. Donatello commented that their mutations didn't "up their IQ's any." For most of the series they were employed for purposes however, the Turtles certainly consider them to be formidable (despite their stupidity) in combat due to their great strength and endurance, and as such, often use their intelligence to outwit them rather than fighting them in a straightforward manner. But their attempts at the turtles seem to regularly fail due to their incompetence and goofing behavior, which all leads to them being abused both physically and verbally by Shredder and Krang. In one episode of the series, Bebop was shown to have kept a pet turtle, which got mutated into the evil turtle Slash. Despite his supposed lack of intelligence, Bebop is continuously employed by the Shredder and is poorly chosen to be entrusted with various jobs that almost always fail miserably. In one episode of the series, Bebop was shown to have kept a pet turtle, which got mutated into the evil turtle Slash.

However, in their final appearance in the first "Red Sky" season, Bebop along with Rocksteady seemed to grasp some form of intelligence, and talked and joked around less. Bebop and Rocksteady's last appearance is in the season 8 finale Turtle Trek. As soon as Krang managed to get a transdimensional portal open to Dimension X, Bebop followed along with his boss. However, he is not seen later in the episode, perhaps signifying Shredder and Krang put him and Rocksteady to work with simple manual labor that even they could not foul-up. However, after the Turtles destroy the Technodrome's engine, it becomes trapped in Dimension X for good along with its inhabitants. However, as a living plant was trying to eat the Technodrome, it could be assumed Bebop was eaten by it. Bebop is never seen again after that episode, while his bosses Krang and Shredder return during the 10th and last season. Bebop and Rocksteady are presumed to still be somewhere in Dimension X. Their whereabouts after being trapped in Dimension X were not explained.

Turtles Forever
Bebop and Rocksteady as well as their former human forms, made a reappearance in the made-for-TV movie 'Turtles Forever'. In the flashback describing how the Turtles crossed dimensions, they said to their Turtle counterparts that they were facing off against Shredder and the Technodrome, meaning that he got the machine out of Dimension X (as well as Bebop and Rocksteady). He and Rocksteady end up working for Ch'rell after he takes over the Technodrome. Their incompetence is still shown, although it ended up saving the Utrom Shredder when Rocksteady accidentally tripped over and unplugged a laser that was about to destroy him, although Bebop ended up obliterating the Utrom Shredder anyway when he replugged the same laser device all the while thinking he would be pleased that they "fixed" his machine. All this happened just as the Utrom Shredder was unleashing a plan that would wipe out Ninja Turtles of all planes of existence (even if it meant destroying himself since he was still linked to them), so ironically... Bebop saved all of Turtle existence.

Trivia
Just like Rocksteady, Bebop is named after a genre of music.

Related

 * Character Gallery: Bebop (1987 TV series)
 * Appearances of Bebop (1987 TV series)
 * Fan-Art Gallery: Bebop (1987 TV series)