#Whereas with TMNT that is much easier to answer.

[mimeparadox]

Well, not really, but also kinda.

Like, they're certainly part of the same premise niche (genre kitchen sinks featuring super-hero-adjacent anthro families) of which the original TMNT cartoon is the most visible and successful example. That the original TMNT exists and was extremely successful almost certainly made Gargoyles' existence more likely. And Greg Weisman has explicitly stated that the theme naming for the Gargoyles was inspired by the turtles' naming convention.

That said "was inspired by" is not the same thing as "ripped off": you could never confuse the two shows, and even if you were to argue that TMNT and Gargoyles are comparable in quality, you could not, realistically, expect everyone who liked one to like the other. Ultimately, the original TMNT cartoon makes up only about 45% of Gargoyles' DNA. Just as important is Batman: The Animated Series, whose tone and storytelling set the stage for Gargoyles (comparative) sophistication, and helped it stand out within the genre.

Now, where it gets really interesting is when you get to 2003, and the second TMNT series, which, with its darker (compared to the original) tone and serialized storytelling, ends up having a lot of Gargoyles in its DNA*--enough that I ended up having an entire blog dedicated to that fact. And while part of this is coincidental--a lot of its approach is informed by attempting to be faithful to the original comic books--the similarities in concepts can't be avoided when they're both telling similar stories in similar ways.

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*It's worth noting that there's a fair amount of writer crossover between the two TMNT series and Gargoyles. the Notably, two particular writers, Erik Luke, and Marty Isenberg, worked regularly in both Gargoyles and TMNT (2003), while two others, Michael Reaves and Brynne Stephens, wrote for the original TMNT before working on Gargoyles.

Is Gargoyles a TMNT knock off?

[shellheadedd]

Hey, so I haven’t started the 2012 TMNT series and likely won’t start for a while, but I found out via Tumblr that Splinter dies and I don’t know if I can handle that. Does he ever come back? Who takes care of the boys? Basically I’m asking if the death sticks or not because if he doesn’t come back I think it would hurt me too much. These boys need their rat dad so much and I can’t imagine the boys without Splinter and vice versus.

Wow, it’s been forever since I got a message concerning tmnt, so thank you first of all!!!!!

To answer your question - yes, Splinter dies (twice, actually) and stays dead the second time (as far as I’m aware- I didn’t watch the last season, but I know Splinter began appearing as a hallucination for Leo)Long, involved answer (SORRY IM NOT USED TO THESE MESSAGES!)- 

2k12, for me, doesn’t do a fantastic job of making you care about the characters beyond the “they’re so cute! so sassy! so funny!” factors. When Splinter died, I did feel an impact, but I didn’t feel sadness. I was more like “OH SHIT THE WRITERS KILLED HIM” instead of “OH NO SPLINTER’S DEAD AHHH”Whereas nearly any other series/movies could have me in tears over Splinter’s death, 2k12 didn’t do a great job of building it up or even getting you to care about Splinter.

IMO: 2k12′s major flaws in developing their stories were that they didn’t make Karai’s character believable when her big secret is revealed. As well, in trying to make Shredder out to be the BIG BAD, they actually made him understandably bad and (maybe unintentionally) developed his character way better than almost any other character. In that respect, it was easier for me to actually root for Shredder than Splinter, but that could just be me. Also, Splinter was really just kind of an asshole the whole time.

As the series progressed, I was able to care a bit more about the turtles, April, and Casey (especially Casey). However, there was very little character development and in episodes where character flaws were explored- nothing changed in later episodes.

I ended up finding the 2k12 series overall unsatisfying and problematic in several ways. I enjoyed some episodes and held on up until the last season, so I get why some people really love the series.I hope if you decide to watch it you can form your own opinions and I do hope you actually enjoy it!Thanks again for the message!!