Board Thread:General Discussion/@comment-25020257-20140604191005/@comment-995426-20150613214107

EndBringer99 wrote: I wish there was this Mutant Academy where mutants can call home, learn and train to become heroes.

Inspired from Davenport Bionic Academy of Lab Rats: Bionic Island.

and from Triskelion/S.H.I.E.L.D. Academy of Ultimate Spider-Man: Web-Warriors.

I find this concept rather clich&eacute;ed&mdash;a "discredited trope" that's increasingly difficult to take seriously at face value. And I think the show demonstrates how unrealistic it can be even in-universe on different occasions: But I like these kinds of "useless" mutants, because they're more like...ordinary people, and that makes them more relatable. Many of their useful skills are more like what ordinary people have, and so is whatever courage they have as well. Rather than a school for mutant heroes, I think it would be more interesting if mutants just went to school&mdash;like, Jason could enroll in a public high school (like Roosevelt High School), or something, and even be April or Casey's classmate. Since the Kraang and their mutagen are common knowledge in New York now, more mutants can come forward as relatively ordinary people. Since most New Yorkers were temporarily mutants themselves, there should be at least some public sympathy for these permanent mutants, Joan Grody's sensational journalism notwithstanding.
 * Timothy assumed that, as soon as he was mutated, he would have superpowers he could use against the Foot. One of the most humiliating mutation scenes ever.
 * Jason has some abilities, mainly as a...teenager. Meet Mondo Gecko drove the point home how nonexistent his fighting abilities are.  He's a decent skater, but not a fighter.  That episode made me sad just considering how his parents kicked him out, he became homeless, and then criminally exploited by Xever.  He doesn't need hero lessons&mdash;he needs a foster home.
 * Martin Milton seems to have supernatural powers that help him with gaming and LARPing, but otherwise they don't seem that useful.
 * is a pathetic case of a muggle who's allowed to think he's one of the heroes. He can fly (kind of), but otherwise he mainly just eats bread.  Battle for New York, Part 1 even pointed out how he's basically glorified bait, though Slash still seems to care about his safety after the fact.

I mean, the turtles' lives have never been normal and will never be normal, because they're Hamato Clan ninja, and Splinter doesn't like their identities to be public. But it's fun imagining the more peaceful lives of characters. For instance, Leatherhead seems fairly intelligent and sensitive and we've seen him meditate to candles and soft jazz records, so maybe in the rest of his life he's a bookworm who appreciates the simple beautiful things in life.