Rocksteady

Rocksteady is a street punk mutated into a humanoid Rhinoceros who assists Oroku Saki and Krang in their fight against the Turtles in the 1987 TV series and Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Adventures comics, he also appeared in the film Turtles Forever where he ended up working for Ch'rell. In the earlier seasons, He was a Military-themed Rhino such as him wearing a Strong Army Helmet with a Yellow/Black Shirt that shows of his belly and navel (bellybutton), and rubber Black Soldier boots, originally he wore green, brown and black camouflage pants but they were later changed to brown shorts, and he ceased to wear his helmet, to make Rocksteady look less Military-styled in the later seasons. He has a knife strapped to his back, which is shown to be made of wood in the episode The Cat Woman from Channel Six. He is Best friends with fellow mutant and gang member Bebop.



Biography
Rocksteady was originally a human member of a gang of criminals who operated under the Foot, when one of their thefts was interrupted by an attack by the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. Rocksteady was originally a short and stocky blond Caucasian man (who sported army camouflage pants that would be replaced with simple beige cargo pants later while also occasionally sporting a strong Army helmet on his head in his mutated form). 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 this humiliating setback, The Shredder developed a plan to defeat the Turtles by mutating members of the street gang, so that they would have abilities parallel to the Turtles'. He and his friend Bebop were voluntarily mutated into evolved animals (though neither was particularly aware of what it would entail) with the promise that it would allow them to exact revenge on the Turtles. Rocksteady become a rhinoceros. However, though the transformation did make them larger and stronger, they remained incompetent and were often inept at stopping the Turtles or carrying out Shredder's plans. 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 important purposes, much to the annoaynce of the Shredder when they eventually fail. 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. Bebop and Rocksteady's last appearance is in the season 8 finale Turtle Trek. In that episode, the Turtles destroy the Technodrome's engines, trapping it and its inhabitants in Dimension X for good. Bebop and Rocksteady are never seen again after that episode, but Krang and Shredder return during the 10th and last season. Bebop and Rocksteady are presumed to still be somewhere in Dimension X. They 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). 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 the Turtles in existence.

Mirage Comics
Rocksteady had a brief cameo in All Tomorrow's Yesterdays.

IDW Comics
Rocksteady's human form appears in Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Micro-Series Raphael 1.

1980's
1988 The original Rocksteady action figure was released by Playmates Toys in 1988. This had the character armed with an automatic rifle (that was fitted with a telescopic sight on top of the receiver), which resembled the appearance of the US Army's M60 general purpose machine gun, as well as a bowie knife, manhole cover shield, and belt with turtle shells. 1991
 * Rocksteady (1988 action figure)
 * Machine Gunnin' Rocksteady

1990's
1992 1994 1995
 * Dimwit Doughboy Rocksteady
 * Giant Rocksteady
 * Mutatin' Rocksteady
 * Power Punchin' Rocksteady
 * Night Ninja Rocksteady
 * Robotic Rocksteady
 * Rhinoman
 * Gatekeeper Rocksteady
 * Kung Fu Rocksteady
 * Supermutant Rocksteady
 * Warrior Rocksteady

Video Games
Rocksteady appeared in many of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles video games. In some of his appearances, he is fought with Bebop as a pair.


 * In the original NES game, he first appears guarding the captive April O'Neil during the boss fight against Bebop. After Bebop is defeated, Rocksteady gets away with April and is later fought as a boss. Defeating him frees April.
 * He is the first boss faced in the arcade game, where he is armed with a machine gun. He later returns with Bebop guarding April, where the Turtles rescue her after defeating them both at once. During the rematch against Rocksteady and Bebop, their stupidity shows when they sometimes ram into each other and take damage for it. In the NES version, the rematch against Rocksteady and Bebop is replaced by a second battle with Baxter Stockman where he appears in his mutant fly form.
 * Rocksteady is again the first boss in Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles III: The Manhattan Project, where he fights in a similar manner to his boss fight in the arcade game.
 * Rocksteady appears along with Bebop exclusively in the SNES version of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Turtles in Time, replacing Tokka and Rahzar as the bosses of the pirate ship level(Tokka and Rahzar instead became minibosses in an added Technodrome level earlier in the game). The two are dressed like pirates, with Rocksteady as the captain and Bebop as first mate. Rocksteady fights with a rapier while Bebop uses a whip. As in the first arcade game, the two will sometimes run into each other by mistake, but it does not affect their health. It is only required to deplete the health of one of them to defeat both of them. After one has lost all of his health, both will start attacking each other and fall.
 * Rocksteady is a boss in Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: The Manhattan Missions. After he is defeated, Leonardo interrogates him to find out where the Shredder is hiding. Being Rocksteady, the mutant rhino slips up and tells Leo by mistake while insisting that he'll never tell him.
 * Rocksteady is once more the first boss in Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: The Hyperstone Heist. Oddly enough, this is the only Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles video game that features him as a boss, but omits Bebop. He appears and fights just like he did in the original arcade game.
 * Rocksteady is once again the first boss in Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Fall of the Foot Clan, fighting similar to the way he did in the original arcade game.
 * In Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles II: Back from the Sewers, Rocksteady is again the first boss and fights with a missile launcher. His attack pattern consists of him running from side to side and firing a missile at the Turtle facing him. A Foot Soldier appears in the background poking out of the windows of a building to help Rocksteady by dropping a potted plant on the Turtle.
 * Rocksteady's final appearance in a video game so far was in the SNES version of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Tournament Fighters, where he and Bebop appear in the background of War's stage.

Trivia

 * Rocksteady was the creation of David Wise, based on instructions by Fred Wolf to "put more mutants in the series"
 * In the 2003 animated series episode Samurai Tourist, Murakami Gennosuke an anthropomorphic rhino from the Battle Nexus dresses like Rocksteady.
 * Rocksteady and his cohort Bebop were slightly more of a threat in the Archie Adventures adaptation of the TV series origin. This could be attributed to issues of violence on TV, still, although he could be considered being slightly more competent in the comics it wasn't by much. Even so, by the time Archie Adventures started doing their own theme, it seems Bebop and Rocksteady reverted to something more similar to their cartoon counterparts.Bebrock.jpg
 * In TMNT, He and Bebop were mentioned in Shell Shock, a rap song that played in the end credits.
 * He and Bebop made a cameo appearance in Tales of the TMNT Volume 2 Issue #58.
 * Among Rocksteady and Bebop's favorite television programs is The Slurps, a thinly-veiled parody of The Smurfs
 * Pastiches of Rocksteady and Bebop can be seen in issue #29 of Sonic Universe, in prison with the evil version of Sonic, Scourge.