Mutagen, also known as Retromutagen Ooze, is a mucilaginous substance that has served as a key plot device in nearly every medium of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. It is responsible for mutating, among others, Splinter and the four Tartarughe Ninja, and villains such as Bebop and RockSteady.
History[]
Having earned the ire of the Clan del Piede's leader, Shredder, reporter April O'Neil manages to escape one attack with the aid of mysterious benefactors. Later, April goes to her apartment and finds Piede Ninjia inside, ransacking the place. Running down the fire escape and screaming, she catches the nearby Leonardo's attention. She again trips, knocking herself unconscious this time, leaving Leo to knock out the ninja and bring her back to the lair for recovery.
April wakes up startled to find she's in the company of mutant turtles and a mutant rat. To ease her mind, Splinter offers to tell her of their back story; he was once a human man, Hamato Joshi, who lived in the sewer with four baby turtles that he believes a child had lost. One day, a canister of a strange substance began to hyper-evolve the turtles, changing them into anthropomorphs. Joshi himself was turned into a rat-man, as before he found the turtles in their predicament, he had been caring for sewer rats. Arrivano le Tartarughe
April reports on a recent discovery of improperly disposed mutagen, found when an excavation crew began work at a dump site. She interviews Capitano Stearnes, Doodley, and Sullivan, the latter of which is the public prosecutor. She comes to the conclusion that the culprit is the Techno Biological Research Institute (T.B.R.I.).
In the lair, Splinter turns off the TV right after April's broadcast, startling his sons who were going to watch cartoons after it. He explains that the canister that held the mutagen that mutated them was labeled with T.B.R.I. Later, a hazmat-suited Shredder breaks open one of the stolen canisters over two of his punk thug minions, Bebop and RockSteady, mutating them into an anthropomorphic warthog and rhino, respectively. Bebop e RockSteady