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Warning: This post contains SPOILERS for The Last RoninTheTeenage Mutant Ninja Turtlesfranchise is about to take a leap in video games, breaking out of its classic beat ‘em-ups comfort zone and daring to produce an action RPG influenced by the God of War reboot.
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If that genre change wasn’t groundbreaking enough, the upcoming game from THQ Nordic and Black Forest Games wouldn’t be following the lighthearted TMNT tone. Instead, it will be based on the darker five-issue comic book series The Last Ronin, and the protagonist’s identity is a mystery to gamers unfamiliar with the content. Here’s everything you need to know about which Turtle is The Last Ronin.
TMNT: The Last Ronin Game Teaser Trailer
Debuting during THQ Nordic’s digital showcase in August 2023, TMNT fans got their first look at The Last Ronin game through a minimalist teaser trailer leaning into the character’s Japanese roots while providing a concept art still from an action sequence.
The black-and-white trailer showed four candles burning and gradually showed three of them being blown out. In the background, we see a Turtle’s mask blowing in the wind and scenes of smokey ruins after a battle accompanied by heart-racing Taiko drums. The teaser confirms that the game is now in development for PC, Xbox Series X, Xbox Series S, and PlayStation 5, alongside a press release that provides an overview of the premise:
“Who is the Last Ronin? In a future, battle-ravaged New York City, a lone surviving Turtle embarks on a seemingly hopeless mission seeking justice for the family he lost. From the minds of the creators of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, and based on the best-selling comic book event by Eastman, Waltz, Bishop, Delgado, and the Escorza Brothers: the official video game adaptation of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: The Last Ronin.”
Which Turtle Is The Last Ronin?
The Last Ronin is revealed to be Michelangelo, nicknamed Mike or Mikey, quite early on in the comic-book series, allowing readers to cast their minds back to the pizza-loving Turtle that sported the orange mask and favored the use of nunchaku. Mikey provided a lot of energy to the team and delivered plenty of wisecracks to his brothers while manning his favorite mode of transport: a skateboard.
In The Last Ronin, however, Michelangelo is a very different character. Having lost his brothers, Michelangelo is hellbent on bringing down Oroku Hiroto, the grandson of The Shredder, to end their family feud once and for all, and his humor is a thing of the past. Despite getting help from April O’Neil and her daughter Casey Marie Jones—named after her father and popular TMNT character Casey Jones —, Michelangelo is noticeably lost after losing his brothers, even though the readers see them appear from time to time through Michelangelo’s hallucinations.
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At the end of Part One, titled Wish For Death, Casey finds Michelangelo in the sewers preparing to commit seppuku after failing to take down Hiroto. At this point, he feels like a failure in the eyes of the late Splinter and his dead brothers, who he misses very much. Michelangelo is then taken to April’s underground abode to recuperate, where she reveals The Last Ronin to be Michelangelo and seems concerned that he was talking to his dead brothers whilst being close to death himself.
How Did The Other Turtles Die?
Throughout the comic, it’s revealed that Michelangelo’s brothers all died fighting the Foot Clan during separate events told through flashback, which adds extra fuel to Ronin’s plight during the series.
Firstly, it’s depicted that Raphael dies whilst fighting against Karai. After Karai finds out the truce between the Foot and Hamato Clans has been broken, she strives to kill all the mutants. Whilst Karai and the rest of the ninjas are planning their next move, Raphael performs a surprise attack on the group. Both Karai and Raphael plummet into the water and stab each other, which results in the pair of them dying.
Another flashback reveals that Leonardo died alongside Casey Jones in an explosion caused by Baxter Stockman. The mad scientist wanted to obtain the robot Fugitoid for himself and proceeded to send in an army of robotic soldiers and Mousers. In order to let Michelangelo and Donatello get away with Splinter, Leonardo, and Casey stayed behind to stall the army, but Baxter ended up detonating an explosion that killed the pair of them.
Lastly, Donatello and Splinter both die in a separate flashback while being ambushed by the Foot Clan in Japan. Michelangelo took a plane to the country in order to reach Clan Hamato, which is where Donatello and Splinter were at the time. However, upon arrival, Master Shinichiro explained that the pair perished in a battle with Oroku Hiroto after the Foot Clan unleashed a blanket of arrows.
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