Warning! This article contains spoilers for Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles #125
In the latest chapter of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles story, the Turtles’ oldest villains have just made their huge return. While the Shredder was the first ever villain the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles ever faced, the Triceratons actually predate the Turtles in terms of publication history. Upon their introduction, the Triceratons were a strong race of alien conquerors but in their more recent history they have been brought to the brink of extinction. In the latest TMNT comic issue from IDW Publishing, the Triceratons reach a pinnacle moment in their survival, which could mark a return to their former glory.
In Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles #125 by Kevin Eastman, Tom Waltz, Sophie Campbell, and Pablo Tunica, the Turtles are faced with the all-new threat of the Punk Frogs who have infiltrated Mutant Town and burned the Turtles’ dojo to the ground. While the Turtles are preoccupied with that new group of anarchist villains, another threat is looming in the background. The leader of what’s left of the Triceraton race realizes she is pregnant, and gives birth to a perfectly healthy Triceraton baby. While that may seem insignificant, it is in fact a revolutionary development for their entire species.
The Triceratons have been on the brink of extinction in recent TMNT comics, and their only way to survive has been through cloning. With resources limited, the Triceratons haven’t been able to clone enough of their kind to reclaim the glory that their race once held. In their desperation, the Triceratons aligned themselves with the Utrom race, the same race of interdimensional aliens as the villain Krang. However, now that a Triceraton has successfully given natural birth for the first time in years, that partnership could soon go out the window as the Triceratons will soon rise up as a powerful race once again and no longer require the cloning resources offered to them by the Utroms, something Krang’s people aren’t too happy about.
The Utroms are hoping to retain the partnership with the Triceratons and eventually force the powerful alien creatures to do their bidding with the threat of separation looming over their heads, a threat that at one time would mean the end of the Triceraton race. Once they find out the Triceratons can have babies once again, their plans to eventually control and even enslave the Triceratons are dashed, leaving fans to wonder what evil schemes TMNT’s villainous Utroms will cook up to hold onto their powerful allies.
With the inevitable rise of the Triceratons could come the simultaneous and even more villainous rise of the Utroms. The Triceratons have proven to be bloodthirsty conquerors, but they are nothing compared to the disgustingly evil members of Krang’s alien race, and now the Utroms are forced to expedite their efforts to ensure the Triceratons don’t become as powerful as they once were. While the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles’ oldest villains have made their huge return, the Triceratons could have just laid the groundwork for the rise of something much worse.