Ptah is a human-born mutant crocodile and the antagonist of the Mystery at the Museum storyline in Saturday Morning Adventures.
History[]
Thousands of years ago in Egypt, Ptah was a scientist of little merit, hoping to make a big discovery to put to his name. One night, he and his assistant Bakari were out searching, when a portal opened in the sky, and on the other side were the Turtles fighting Shredder over a canister of mutagen. Shredder dropped the mutagen through the portal, and it broke and splashed Bakari and Ptah. While Bakari somehow became a formless entity that formed and could control mummy-like bandage wrappings, Ptah became a massive crocodile mutant with his large brain encased in glass on his head. The mutagen increased Ptah's intelligence but also drove him mad.
Ptah created a device that could trap his enemies within it. Bakari rebelled and trapped Ptah inside, but Ptah had safeguards implemented in the device in case of that very chance. The device can be taken apart, but it will automatically draw the pieces to itself and once whole, unlock Ptah after a certain time period. If the device is destroyed, it will set him free immediately.
The device was unearthed in present day by the Egyptian government and gifted to the New York Museum of Science and History, where Bakari also ended up at. Posing as a regular mummy in their display, Bakari would disassemble the device every night, vexing the museum staff. Every morning, they would rebuild the device, forcing Bakari to keep up this action night after night.
Mona Lisa, a former student of the museum's head of Egyptology Aida Hosny, came to her to inquire about the device, and Dr. Hosny told her about it being disassembled every night. Mona called Raphael and invited him to a stakeout that night to see what had been going on.
Bakari was on his way to disassemble the device again, when he ran into the two mutants. He tried to convince him to let him disassemble it again, but they attempted to fight him off. Once he'd restrained them, Mona convinced Raph to listen to what Bakari had to say, and Bakari outlined his and Ptah's history. Unfortunately, this took long enough for the device to unlock, releasing Ptah. The Box of Ptah
Ptah disables the device that held him prisoner, and then pulls out a small wand from a satchel. Bakari says it has limited control over non-living matter, and his claim is immediately proven when Ptah comes riding in on an animated tyrannosaurus rex skeleton. Raph, Mona, and Bakari attack Ptah, but he brings to life a number of museum exhibits, including more dinosaur skeletons, effigies of prehistoric mammals and early hominids to chase them.
After the good mutants are chased outside, the other Turtles arrive in the Turtle Glider and initially attack Bakari, before Raphael corrects their target. Ptah responds by bringing the Glider to life to attack Donatello.
Mona then gets the idea to lure Ptah to Central Park, where there is mostly living matter, and Raph realizes what she's planning. He taunts Ptah and leads him to the park, and uses ventriloquism to throw his voice to the trees, leaving Ptah to impotently fire at things he can't control. Raph reveals himself from some bushes just long enough to distract Ptah and have Mona leap down from the trees and steal his wand and toss it to Raph. Raph uses it to zap Ptah, causing his wrappings to extend and entangle him. However, Ptah is strong enough to break free, but is only so for a moment, before Bakari smashes him over the head with his bandages in the shape of a hammer, knocking him out.
Although Raph asks Donatello to fix the prison artifact, Bakari says he'll just destroy it so that Ptah can't use it again for his own means. Instead, they have Ptah arrested and he is sent to Spiker’s Island Penitentiary. Ptah rants about his "unfair" treatment and defeat at the hands of a lizard woman and some Turtles. The inmate in the cell next to his, Rat King, hears him mention the Turtles and proposes a friendship. That's a Wrap for Ptah
Notes and trivia[]
- Ptah's name comes from an ancient Egyptian creator god, who was also the patron deity of craftsmen and architects.