TMNT Reveals New Nightwatcher Origin, Redefining Raphael’s Vigilante Persona

Warning! Spoilers ahead for Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Nightwatcher #2Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles did Revived Raphael’s long-forgotten Nightwatcher alter ego at last, but with an unexpected twist. Instead of Raphael wearing the mask, it’s Jennica, and her version of the mask is much more than meets the eye. As Nightwatcher’s origins are revealed, so too is the true extent of Jennika’s responsibility as the new Nightwatcher.

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Nightwatcher #2 – written by Juni Ba, with art by Fero Peniche – provides the backstory for how Jennica, the fifth Ninja Turtle, became the vigilante Nightwatcher.

A massive creature is taking young hostages in Mutant Town, so Jennica decides to join the fight and stop the chaos. She manages to hold her own, but gets knocked down, and the creature’s cloak falls off to reveal that he is a robot that bears a striking resemblance to the Nightwatcher’s armor.

Who is TMNT’s Nightwatcher? The fifth turtle’s alter ego is revealed

Nightwatcher’s origin underwent a major rewrite

After Jennica sees the Nightwatcher’s intimidating form, an older mutant woman appears and reprimands the armor for his kidnappings, claiming to be his mother. She explains to Jennica that she created the Nightwatcher armor to be a protector for mutantkind. In her youth, she was exposed to violence and racial injustice, and she knew that the same would happen to those taking refuge in Mutant Town. She built Nightwatcher to be focused solely on the protection of mutants with no ability to be deterred from the core mission.

However, Nightwatcher’s tunnel vision proved to be a design flaw. As a machine powered by magic rather than a proper living entity, Nightwatcher is unable to detect nuance in a scenario and only acts with cold, mechanical logic. Thus, Nightwatcher starts to kidnap mutants to protect them from dangers on the streets in his misguided attempt to save mutantkind. The woman tells Jennica, “He needs someone to show him how to be a man.” This redefined origin for Nightwatcher provides Jennica a compelling reason to claim the mantle, in a daring departure from Raphael’s name.

Raphael laid the foundation for the new Nightwatcher of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Nightwatcher #2 – Written by June Ba; Art by Fero Peniche, Luis Antonio Delgado, & Nathan Widick; Available now from IDW Publishing

Raphael was first Nightwatcher in 2007 TMNT movie, but he’s not the one who originated the mantle in that version of commitment. in the TMNT movie prequel Miniseries – Written by Stephen Murphy with art by Fernando Pinto – The true originator of Nightwatcher is unveiled. David Merryweather is an old man who has retired from his days of crime fighting as a vigilante when he meets Raphael. The two become friends, but their friendship reaches a sad end with David’s death. In his final moments, David passes the Nightwatcher cloak to Raphael, who then makes it his own.

The 2007 film finds Raphael fully embracing vigilantism. The Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles split up after their defeat of Shredder, so Raphael gets his fill of crime fighting as Nightwatcher. Rather than the armor being his own being, it is merely a suit Raphael dons to keep his identity hidden How he dispenses justice through violent combat that is far more brutal than ninja-like. At the end of the movie, Raphael joins forces with his brothers again and retires his Nightwatcher persona. Seventeen years later, Nightwatcher is back, and Jennica needs the mask in a way Raphael never did.

Nightwatcher gives Jennica a new purpose in Ninja Turtles lore

The fifth turtle finds her calling as the new Nightwatcher

In the beginning of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Nightwatcher #2Jennica is caught in a bit of a funk, feeling aimless on her own. She’s always had a clan to fall back on, whether it’s Shredder’s Foot Clan or her found family with the Ninja Turtles, so she struggles to navigate the world as a solo act. Her status as the protector of Mutant Town isn’t enough to ease her inner turmoil. As she tells the woman, – I don’t know what people are accusing me of being. Now, Nightwatcher finally gives Jennica the drive she needs.

Jennika crossing paths with Nightwatcher feels inevitable as the next step for her character. Nightwatcher needs someone to lead him, and Jennica is the perfect candidate for the job of mutantkind’s defender. She hesitates at first, but once she wears the armor, she realizes that it allows her to hide behind a mask. Therefore, Jennica can fight without being aware of herself, giving the Nightwater Cloak a more profound purpose than Raphael’s. Jennika has become Nightwatcher inside and outAnd this new beginning story for Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles‘ Resident Vigilante opens up thrilling possibilities for the future.

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Nightwatcher #2 is available now from IDW Publishing.