It's pretty surreal that four teenage turtles, trained by an anthropomorphic rat in the art of ninjutsu, would become as popular as they are today. Especially since they were created for a laugh. You see, one night in 1983, two friends were hard at work on the latest chapter of their comic "Figitoid", when one of them goofily doodled a nunchuck-wielding "ninja turtle". The comic duo, Kevin Eastman and Peter Laird, pretty much pee'd their pants for the rest of the night; drawing more and more of the sewer-dwelling mutants. Naming them after their favourite Renaissance artists - Leonardo, Michelangelo, Donatello and Raphael- the pair self-published a single issue comic using money from a tax refund and a loan from Eastman's uncle. The first TMNT comic was intended to be a parody of the most popular 80s comics; yet became one of the most popular kids cartoon, like, ever... what the shell? We've put together 10 more surprisingly weird origins and inspirations that will definitely make you see your favourite cartoon characters in a turtley differently light. Yeah, that was bad. Sorry.
