Talk:Oroku Saki (2012 TV series)/@comment-44735974-20200103035931/@comment-995426-20200103134921

True, but 2K12 had a problem with making most of the mutants extremely ugly, seemingly for exploitative reasons. It was especially noticeable with the Triceratons, who are actually kind of hot in most other versions. One of my friends reacted to the 2K12 Triceratons the same way most people reacted to the first Sonic the Movie trailer. In fact, the only 2K12 mutants I thought didn't look ugly, were the four turtles, Splinter, Slash and Leatherhead. I think so many mutants were designed so ugly because it makes preteen boys gawk, "That's so yucky! Cool!" Honestly I don't think that was all that appealing to me even when I was a preteen.

In most other versions of TMNT, it isn't such a general rule that mutants appear ugly or malformed or covered with sickly green veins. Some mutants look very presentable for their form, like Bebop (Archie), Bludgeon, Dakota Dude, Ferd, Jack Finney, Genealdo (sometimes), Usub Gerstalk (Palladium), Herman (IDW), Hypno-Potamus, Jennika, Jess Harley, Old Hob (IDW), Igor (Palladium), Leatherhead (2003 TV series), Manx, Marshall Moo Montana, Maxence (sometimes), Mondo (Archie), Mondo (IDW), the mutant water buffalos, Pete (IDW), Ray (IDW), Rocksteady (Archie), Sally Pride (IDW), Slash (IDW) (he has his moments, especially depending on the artist), Stanley (Rise of the TMNT), and the Triceratons (IDW). And those are just some of the nice-looking ones, not counting all the mutants who are neither particularly photogenic nor particularly ugly.

Ugliness with soul is something I can appreciate better than ugliness for ugly's sake. I like TMNT stories that, even if they acknowledge how someone's appearance can startle, upset or offend other people, at least still portray characters as deserving of fundamental respect, dignity and acceptance. If someone has an unusual appearance, it should be entirely their choice whether they want to go on tour with a traveling circus freak show. And if they want instead to be treated like anyone else, I like the story to acknowledge that it's something they deserve on a basic level, regardless of whether it's actually likely to happen.

2K12 at times could be bad about highlighting a character's ugliness in rather tasteless ways, especially when they were the antagonist of the moment, as if the two were somehow connected. This seemed especially tasteless in Slash and Destroy (otherwise my favorite 2K12 episode), when Raph condemned Slash's axe-crazy behavior by also adding that he had become a hideous freak. (And Slash wasn't even unsightly, that's the thing. Raph didn't seem to think this before he found out what Slash was doing, and saying it actually made Raph look bad, all without any sign that the writers intended it to reflect badly on him at all.)  It seemed part of a wider trend of 2K12 crapping on characters for extremely shallow reasons. Compare the abject neglect and indignity 2K12 paid Timothy (2012 TV series) after he mutated and was then frozen, with the more complex portrayal of Seymour (IDW) and how loved he is by those around him. And in a less ugliness-related example (more an annoyingness-related example), compare how the showrunners callously treated Pete (2012 TV series) in season 4 with the way the equally flaky and dim-witted Pete (IDW) is consistently shown demonstrating the most random acts of kindness.

Ugliness for ugly's sake tends not to allow for this kind of depth of character, because it's a shallow, one-dimensional storytelling device. But when done well, a character's superficial flaws, rather than reflecting poorly on them, can increasingly be appreciated by other characters and audience alike as an integral part of their complex character, especially if they have other redeeming qualities. It's not that they have become more photogenic or less awkward, but they become less ugly and less annoying to those who love them as they become more loved for who they are.