Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles
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This TMNT trivia quiz covers the whole Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles franchise in 107 free questions with answers: the black-and-white comic Kevin Eastman and Peter Laird self-published in 1984, the 1987 cartoon that gave the Turtles their coloured masks and their pizza habit, the 1990 live-action film with its Jim Henson costumes, the 2003, 2012 and Rise series, the Michael Bay-era movies, Mutant Mayhem, the Konami and Shredder's Revenge games and the Playmates toy empire. It starts with questions any fan can answer (which turtle carries the sai, what Michelangelo shouts) and works up to ones for people who know which Marvel hero the original comic was parodying and who wrote the theme song. Around a third are easy enough for younger fans. Every answer has been checked against a reference source, and each question shows its explanation and citation once you have answered. Play the full set for a shareable score, then challenge a friend to beat it.
30 of 107 questions with answers and explanations. Play the quiz
Q 01The four Turtles are named after what kind of famous people?
Italian Renaissance artists
Italian Renaissance artists: in the 1987 cartoon, Splinter had been a ninja master who studied art history, and he named his sons after his favourite artists.
Q 02Which weapons does Leonardo carry?
Two katana
Two katana: in the very first 1984 comic, it is Leonardo who runs the Shredder through with his sword during their rooftop battle.
Q 03What colour bandana does Raphael wear?
Red
Red: in the original comics all four Turtles wore red masks, and Raphael is the only one who has kept that colour ever since.
Q 04What weapon does Donatello fight with?
A bō staff
A bō staff: in the very first comic, Donatello's staff strikes the Shredder, who then falls from a rooftop to his death.
Q 05Which Turtle wears the orange bandana?
Michelangelo
Michelangelo: British broadcasts cut scenes of his signature weapon, so the American cartoon swapped it for a grappling hook.
Q 06Splinter, the Turtles' adoptive father and sensei, is a mutant version of which animal?
A rat
A rat: in the original comics he was a ninja master's pet rat, but the 1987 cartoon made him the master himself, mutated into a rat.
Q 07What is the Shredder's real name in most Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles stories?
Oroku Saki
Oroku Saki: in the original comics he killed Hamato Yoshi, Splinter's master, to avenge his older brother, whom Yoshi had killed.
Q 08Casey Jones, the Turtles' vigilante ally, hides his face behind what?
A hockey mask
A hockey mask: Casey Jones began as a parody of the tough vigilante heroes that were popular in comics at the time.
Q 09Where do the Turtles make their home?
The sewers
The sewers: in the origin story, four baby turtles tumble into the sewer where Splinter is already living, and the ooze mutates them all.
Q 10In the 1987 Turtles cartoon, what is April O'Neil's job?
A TV news reporter
A TV news reporter: the original comics made her a scientist's lab assistant, and the 1990 film chose the cartoon's newsroom version instead.
Q 11Which toy company wanted a TV cartoon made before it would sell Turtles action figures?
Playmates Toys
Playmates Toys: the cartoon had to suit young children and pass TV censors, so the Turtles became lighter and sillier than in the gritty comics.
Q 12Which actor famous as a Star Trek captain voiced the villain Max Winters in 2007's TMNT?
Patrick Stewart
Patrick Stewart: Winters is secretly Yaotl, an ancient warlord whose ritual made him immortal but turned his four generals to stone.
Q 13Roughly how many copies made up the first Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles comic's print run?
3,000
3,000: the first printing sold out within weeks, and the creators soon had a full-time job making more issues.
Q 21In the 1987 cartoon, the disembodied brain who allies with the Shredder comes from where?
Dimension X
Dimension X: the brain-like warlord once ruled armies there, until he lost his body and was exiled to Earth.
Q 22What is the name of the Shredder's giant mobile fortress in the 1987 cartoon?
The Technodrome
The Technodrome: its commander took the finished fortress and banished Drakus, the engineer who had helped build it, to Earth.
Q 23The Shredder's henchmen Bebop and Rocksteady are mutants of which two animals?
A warthog and a rhinoceros
A warthog and a rhinoceros: in the 1987 cartoon they began as human street thugs working for Shredder, until he had them mutated.
Q 14What did the original Mirage Studios Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles comic look like?
Black and white on newsprint
Black and white on newsprint: the pair made it at home and named their company Mirage because there was no actual studio.
Q 15The Ninja Turtles' radioactive-ooze origin deliberately parodied which Marvel hero?
Daredevil
Daredevil: the first Turtles comic implies that the canister that mutates them is the same one that blinds young Matt Murdock.
Q 16The Foot Clan was a satire of which Marvel ninja organisation?
The Hand
The Hand: the Foot was a joke on Marvel's Hand, and the 1987 cartoon made its ninjas robots so parents wouldn't complain the Turtles were too violent.
Q 17The Turtles' creators paid for their first comic with a tax refund and a loan from whom?
Eastman's uncle
Eastman's uncle: Laird later used his Turtles fortune to found the Xeric Foundation, which gave grants to comic creators to self-publish.
Q 18Which Lord of the Rings star voiced Raphael in the 2012 Turtles cartoon?
Sean Astin
Sean Astin: the same show cast Rob Paulsen, the 1987 cartoon's voice of Raphael, as Donatello instead.
Q 19Which brain-like villain was created for the 1987 Turtles cartoon, inspired by the comics' Utroms?
Krang
Krang: a warlord who led an army of Rock Soldiers, he got Shredder to build him a human-shaped android body in exchange for his technology.
Q 20The 1987 cartoon's theme song was co-written by which future sitcom mega-producer?
Chuck Lorre
Chuck Lorre: given 48 hours and about $2,000, he and Dennis C. Brown read the original comic books for ideas and recorded a demo.
Q 24Which Fresh Prince of Bel-Air star voiced the Shredder in the 1987 Turtles cartoon?
James Avery
James Avery: after his death in 2013, the 1987 Shredder's crossover lines went to Kevin Michael Richardson, the 2012 cartoon's Shredder.
Q 25Which catchphrase is the orange-masked Turtle best known for in the 1987 cartoon?
Cowabunga!
Cowabunga!: the word began in the 1950s on TV's Howdy Doody Show, and surfers adopted it in the 1960s before the cartoon spread it worldwide.
Q 26Which food are the Turtles famous for loving?
Pizza
Pizza: the obsession came from the 1987 cartoon, and the 1990 live-action film borrowed it from there rather than from the original comics.
Q 27The 2012 Turtles cartoon first cast which American Pie actor as the voice of Leonardo?
Jason Biggs
Jason Biggs: he left partway through season two, and after a stand-in finished that season, Seth Green took over the role.
Q 28The Turtle suits in the 1990 live-action film were built by which company?
Jim Henson's Creature Shop
Jim Henson's Creature Shop: actors inside the suits did the fighting, while off-camera puppeteers worked each Turtle's face by remote.
Q 29What does the Shredder fall into at the end of the 1990 live-action Turtles film?
A garbage truck
A garbage truck: Casey Jones switches on its crusher, yet the Shredder returns, badly scarred, to vow revenge in the 1991 sequel.
Q 30Which studio distributed the 1990 Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles film in the United States?
New Line Cinema
New Line Cinema: the small independent studio took the film on after many major studios, including Disney, turned it down.