Rise of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (2018)

Rise of the TMNT is a 2018 animated series featuring a new iteration of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles franchise. The series follows the turtles Leonardo, Raphael, Donatello, and Michelangelo as they discover a hidden world of mutants and magic beneath New York. 
The series ran from 2018 to 2022, with a TV movie premiering on Netflix in 2022 as a final capstone to the series. 
== Canon ==
== Fandom History ==
Upon its initial release, Rise of the TMNT was not well-liked by fans of the previous TMNT iterations. Many fans were disappointed by its more colorful artstyle and lighthearted tone; comparing it to the much darker 2012 iteration, which had only ended a few months before RotTMNT's release. Some fans compared it to Teen Titans Go, assuming it would be a cheap knockoff of a previously successful series in the same way. This led to a near-total dismissal of the series, with many fans refusing to watch it entirely for the majority of its run. Rise of the TMNT only began gaining popularity after the release of Rise of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: The Movie, which premiered on Netflix in 2022. After the movie brought a new wave of intrigue to the show, fans who had initially dismissed it were willing to give the series a shot, and almost universally realized that RotTMNT was nowhere near the cheap knockoff they had expected it to be, but rather a unique and nuanced take on the classic TMNT premise. 
Following the series' resurgence, fans began a media campaign to renew the show, getting "Save ROTTMNT" trending on Twitter and Tumblr on multiple occasions. However, as of feb. 2024, there are no plans to renew RotTMNT in the works, although the crew is still optimistic about a possible revival. This post-run fandom surge led to a unique, self-contained fandom environment, where fans had to depend on each other to keep the wheel of inspiration going, rather than relying on canon to provide fuel. Many fandom creators launched into long-term fanwork projects that sprawled into a seemingly never-ending web of AUs and other stories, leading to high levels of collaboration with other fans and a generally well-connected fandom environment.
== Characters ==
=== Main Characters ===
* Leonardo
* Raphael
* Donatello
* Michelangelo
* April O'Neil
* Splinter
=== Antagonists ===
* Baron Draxum
* Big Mama
* The Shredder
=== Other Side Characters ===
==== Allies/Neutral ====
* Foot Recruit/Cassandra Jones
* Casey Jones Jr. 
** AKA Casey Junior
* Sunita
* Shelldon
==== Villains ====
* Hypno-potamus
* Warren Stone
* Repo Mantis
* Meat Sweats
* The Purple Dragons
== Main Pairings ==
=== Platonic pairs/groups ===
* Donatello & Leonardo & Michelangelo & Raphael
* Donatello & Leonardo
** AKA Disaster Twins
* Donatello & Michelangelo
* Donatello & Raphael
* Leonardo & Michelangelo
* Leonardo & Raphael
* Michelangelo & Raphael
* April O'Neil & Donatello
* Casey Jones Jr. & Leonardo
=== Het ===
* Splinter/Big Mama
=== Slash ===
* Splinter/Baron Draxum
* Hypno/Warren
* Leosagi
** Leonardo/Usagi
=== Femslash ===
* April O'Neil/Sunita
=== Multi ===
* Donatello/Leonardo/Michelangelo/Raphael
** AKA Turtlecest, Tcest
== Notable Crossovers ==
=== Previous TMNT Iterations ===
Crossovers with the previous TMNT iterations are usually between Rise and the 2012 iteration, as well as Mutant Mayhem and occasionally the 2003 or Bayverse iterations. The crossovers usually involve a version of Donnie building an interdimensional portal device, either accidentally or on purpose, and getting one set of turtles stranded in the others' universe. 
=== Samurai Rabbit ===
== Example Fanworks ==
=== Fanfiction ===
=== Fanart ===
=== Fan Comics ===
* Cass' Apocalypse Series by somerandomdudelmao on Tumblr. "So...one day I thought 'hmmm, what if we had another season about the bad timeline' and then I went to draw it." -Cass. The comic, which is canon-compliant, follows Casey Junior's life in the bad timeline shown in the movie, and focuses on the fun moments within the apocalypse.
* Replica by kathaynesart on Tumblr.
==Archives & Fannish Links==
==References==
Category:Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles