Based on the amazing-yet-dark comic run, The Last Ronin isn’t the usual quirky cartoon universe.
The Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, if you didn’t know, started as a much darker, gruesome comic series back in the 1980s. When it became a cartoon, they made it more kid-friendly and made it fuel a massive toy line.
Sure, the TMNT have been known for their laid back attitudes, surfer vernacular, and lots of pizza over the years. But, they didn’t start out that way.
As mentioned, the original comics were grim, violent, and serious. Cut to nearly 40 years later, the multiverse is full of a wide-assortment of iterations.
Back in 2020, The Last Ronin told the story of one of the turtles dealing with loss and vengeance. In the story, only one of the TMNT remains, as nearly everyone else he knew is long gone. He uses all four weapons of the turtles during the story and it’s just a fantastic tale.
We won’t spoil the story. Go read it. We’ll wait. It’s worth it. We’ll be here when you get back.
In any case, The Last Ronin is getting a video game adaptation. It’s due out for PC, PlayStation 5, and Xbox One S and X.
THQ Nordic dropped a teaser trailer for the project, alongside some details in the description for the game, which lines up with its comic book origin. “Who is the Last Ronin?” The YouTube video’s description asks, “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.”
The description on the video continues by solidifying exactly what the teaser is for.
“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 TMNT: The Last Ronin.”
The video is in grayscale and shows four candles. Across the 45 second teaser, three of them burn out with various backgrounds as they do. The mystery, for those that didn’t read the comic, is that no one knows who the Last Ronin actually is.
The hardcore TMNT fandom already knows and has known for years. But, the mystery is part of the story, so they keep it intact for those that are learning of this for the first time.
Black Forest Games is developing the game, who is best known for the remakes for Destroy All Humans and its sequel.