Thread:The S/@comment-995426-20180214103908/@comment-995426-20180216124947

Well, from what I understand, of the different reincarnated characters, Yoshi/Splinter has the best recall of his past life, but this is because of the psychotropic serum seeming to unlock everything at once even before Splinter mutated. And when Splinter did mutate, he had no prior adult humanoid life as Splinter and so immediately simultaneously identified through his full memories as Yoshi.

Oroku Saki had a subconscious connection to Takeshi Tatsuo, but it took Kitsune's interference to get Saki to gradually remember his past life; by then, Saki had already lived an established adult life and perhaps it made more sense to use his current name (especially to spite Oroku Maji) than to use the name of a figure by then already shrouded in legend.

The four turtles have the poorest recall of their past lives, beyond the occasional isolated memories and skills and the presence of their father and occasional visits with the spirit of their mother.

But if you're concerned about whether Saki and Takeshi ("Takeshi" is the given name in this case, BTW) identify as the same person, there is a moment that makes it clear that he does: Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: The Secret History of the Foot Clan issue 3/Transcript. (These transcripts are already becoming so damn convenient, aren't they?) In that moment, though he does not specifically discard the name Oroku Saki, he assumes wholesale the personality and rank of Takeshi Tatsuo as he takes revenge not against a father with whom he has daddy issues, but against a treacherous subordinate who killed his lord. Takeshi's life experience has appeared to assert itself over Saki's life experience and they continue on as one personality, though "Oroku Saki" is still a useful (and conveniently spiteful) moniker at the time, especially since the familial relationship allows Saki to easily inherit Maji's joninship. But when Saki comes back in modern times, he's remembered as Oroku Saki both by the Oroku family and by Splinter, yet he seems to prefer a third name: The Shredder. And of course, Kitsune had yet another name for him: The Dragon Warrior (speaking of daddy issues).