In the world of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles continuity, there isn’t a substance more significant than the mutagen ooze. This stuff is interdimensional, can heal the sick, and even turn regular animals into humanoid mutants. While all of this was established way back in the ‘90s animated series, there is one aspect of the mutagen ooze that the cartoon left out–and it’s the ooze’s best power.
The mutagen ooze was originally brought to Earth by the Utroms–the race of interdimensional aliens Krang belongs to. The ooze is used to keep Utroms alive while they explore planets that are alien to them, like Earth. However, the conquering aliens quickly discovered that it could greatly mutate other lifeforms when they were exposed to it. For instance, the Utroms first came to Earth over 65 million years before the events of TMNT and abducted a herd of triceratops, who these TMNT villains mutated into the Triceratons. Skip ahead a few million years, and this ooze is hand-delivered to the Shredder by Krang himself, as Krang wants Shredder to make him a mutant army to take over the world. Time and again, the ooze is used by the Utroms to mutate lifeforms for their own benefit, which is exactly what was established in the ‘90s cartoon. However, the secret power the ooze carries is far greater than its mutating properties, and Shredder can vouch for that assertion wholeheartedly.
TMNT’s Mutagen Ooze Can Make Someone Practically Immortal
In Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: The Secret History of the Foot Clan #4 by Mateus Santolouco and Erik Burnham, readers are taken back in time to feudal Japan during the Shredder’s rise to power. With the help of the trickster god, Kitsune, the Shredder was exposed to the mutagen ooze, and was granted a power beyond his mortal comprehension. At the time, Kitsune was approached by an Utrom who was using a standard interdimensional portal to travel to Earth from Dimension X. However, Kitsune didn’t recognize the Utrom as an alien, but rather a demon. This led the god to assume the mutagen ooze she was receiving from him was mystical in nature, and not the alien substance that it was. The Utrom wanted Kitsune’s help taking over the world, which is why he established this partnership to begin with. However, once Kitsune saw what the ooze could do, she made some plans of her own.
Kitsune targeted Shredder as the perfect person she could manipulate to lead the Foot Clan and conquer the world in her name, just as she had done to Shredder in his past life. However, Kitsune knew that her conquest wasn’t meant to happen during the age of feudal Japan, but rather in the future itself. So, after betraying the Utrom who delivered her the mutagen ooze for decades, Kitsune made Shredder bathe in the substance before forcing him to inflict himself with a fatal wound. Shredder then slumbered within the liquid for generations before eventually being awakened in the modern day, stronger than he was before, allowing the mutagen ooze to course through his veins for centuries.
This aspect of the mutagen ooze is something the Ninja Turtles never found out about, and one that really wasn’t used again in this capacity. Sure, the Turtles knew that the ooze had healing properties and obviously had the ability to mutate lifeforms–both of which were established in the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles ‘90s cartoon–but they didn’t know about its best power: the ability to essentially grant someone immortal life.
