In Rise of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, Piebald is Splinter's pet goldfish who was mutated.
Physical appearance[]
Pre-mutation[]
Originally, Piebald was a goldfish with dark orange and white mottled scales, light orange fins, and blue sclerae.
Mutant[]
Piebald is a mutant goldfish with large brown eyes, dark orange and white mottled scales, and light orange hands. She wears a black sleeveless hooded cloak and grey wraps around her arms.
Personality[]
Not much of Piebald's true personality is shown in her debut episode, in which she is shown to be intimidating and sadistic, taking great joy in the Turtles' terror and laughing as she (seemingly) tears Franken-Foot apart.
After revealing her wrathful revenge is a prank, Piebald seems rather playful and laid-back and does not appear to hold as much of a grudge against the Turtles for flushing her as she makes it originally seem.
History[]
Before Piebald's mutation, the Turtles would play with her, setting her fishbowl up to act as a fifth player for their games. One year prior to the events of the series, Piebald's bowl was accidentally shattered when she served as the goalie during a game of sewer hockey. Desperate to submerge her in water to ensure her survival, the Turtles placed her in the lair's toilet, only intending to keep her there temporarily. They then continued to play with a flying disc; Leonardo accidentally hit the toilet's flush mechanism with the disc, sending Piebald spiraling down through the pipes. Leo forced his brothers to never disclose the incident to Splinter, replacing Piebald with another goldfish which was actually a rock with googly eyes glued to it. During her journey through the sewage system, the Trash Wizard attempted to eat her, but spat her back out. Piebald later ate an Oozesquito, which caused her to mutate.
Piebald debuted in "Flushed, but Never Forgotten". She returned to the lair one night to mess with Michelangelo's psyche, trying to get him to confess to Splinter what he and his brothers had done to her. She began by writing threatening messages on his bedroom wall (which had disappeared when he went to show Leo), then she interrupted his playing of Hot Soup: The Game with unnerving footage of her emerging from a toilet bowl and crawling towards him. The Turtles were forced to finally believe Mikey when Piebald revealed her camouflaged form in front of them to attack. One by one, Piebald abducted three of the Turtles as well as Splinter and violently shredded Franken-Foot to death, until only Leo remained. She suspended the family above a whirlpool drain in the sewer, threatening to flush them as they did her. When Leo summoned the courage to face Piebald, she severed the rope suspending Splinter and the Turtles and sent them spiraling toward the whirlpool. Leo finally confessed what he had done and how he had pressured his brothers to keep it secret. The rope rebounded before it touched the water and Splinter escaped from the binds. It was revealed that Piebald had reunited with Splinter beforehand and collaborated to scare the the Turtles for their actions. Franken-Foot was also a collaborator in the prank, his death having been faked.
In the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles 40th Anniversary Comics Celebration story Farewell, Piebald watched Splinter succumb to his illness in 2024 with the rest of her family.
Abilities[]
- Camouflage: Due to her mutation, Piebald has the ability to camouflage herself to the point of being invisible, along with anything she is wearing or carrying.
- Bubble production: Piebald can use her mouth to create floating bubbles, which she can use to distract opponents, and, when camouflaged, hide behind for a surprise attack.
Relationships[]
Family[]
- Piebald's parent(s)
- Splinter: Piebald's relationship with Splinter is that of a daughter and father as expressed by Piebald herself in "Flushed, but Never Forgotten", effectively making her a Hamato and a sister to the Turtles. She loves Splinter and still seems to remember his doting care and time spent with her before she was mutated.
- Donatello: Donnie is technically Piebald's adoptive brother. She pranked Donnie in "Flushed, but Never Forgotten", acting as if she was going to flush him down the sewer in an act of revenge to provoke a confession from him about what happened to her before her mutation.
- Michelangelo: Mikey is technically Piebald's adoptive brother. She pranked Mikey, acting as if she was going to flush him down the sewer in an act of revenge to provoke a confession from him about what happened to her before her mutation.
- Raphael: Raph is technically Piebald's adoptive brother. She pranked Raph, acting as if she was going to flush him down the sewer in an act of revenge to provoke a confession from him about what happened to her before her mutation.
- Leonardo: Leo is technically Piebald's adoptive brother. She pranked Leo, acting as if she was going to flush Splinter and his brothers down the sewer in an act of revenge to provoke a confession from him about what happened to her before her mutation.
Friends and allies[]
- Franken-Foot: Piebald worked with Franken-Foot to scare Leo and Mikey by pretending to destroy him in the garage of the lair.
Enemies[]
- Trash Wizard: Piebald was nearly eaten by the Trash Wizard prior to her mutation after she was flushed, but he promptly spit her out.
Trivia[]
- Unlike the Turtles, whose human DNA specifically came from a pre-mutated Splinter during a controlled mutation in Baron Draxum's laboratory, Piebald's mutation was the result of a random encounter with the Trash Wizard and her consumption of an Oozesquito in the sewers.
- Consequently, it is likely she does not share any of Splinter's DNA.
- Piebald's black, hooded cloak is likely a nod to the folklore character Death, also known as the Grim Reaper.
- Additionally, her large hook may be a nod to a scythe, which the character of Death is usually depicted carrying.
- Piebald's name is derived from the coloration of the same name, referring to mottled patches of white and another color.[2]
- She was likely named this because her coloring is white with orange patches.