Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Who is The Last Ronin?

This week came confirmation that Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: The Last Ronin is officially getting a video game. Reports had previously circulated on the matter, and the creative team for the comic even gave us a tease of the title, but now it’s officially happening. Even though TMNT: The Last Ronin is one of the most popular stories in the entire franchise, there will no doubt be some newcomers to story that have some questions, like, Who IS The Last Ronin in Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles? What happened to his brothers? We’ll cover all that and more, so Last Ronin and The Lost Years spoilers follow!

Who is The Last Ronin?

The hit IDW comic series player with the mystery of the Last Ronin’s identity ahead of the first issue’s publication, going so far as to not even reveal which of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles was the one wearing the black bandana until the final pages of Last Ronin #1. As many TMNT fans predicted however, it’s revealed that The Last Ronin is none other than the happy-go-lucky, friendly and ready to party, Michelangelo is The Last Ronin. Isolated and left to fend for himself, the series takes place far in the future with Mikey being the only living turtle, his brothers and their sensei Splintter having died in battle with The Foot. 

What is The Last Ronin about?

Written by Tom Waltz & Kevin Eastman with art by Esau and Isaac Escorza, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: The Last Ronin follows Michelangelo as the final member of his family, set out to finish the war between his clan and The Foot in the far future. Armed with the weapons of his fallen brothers (who appear as specters in his mind to taunt and train him), Mikey returns to New York City to kill Oroku Hiroto, the grandson of The Shredder and current leader of The Foot. Along the way Mikey reunites with April O’Neil and meets her daughter, Casey (named for her father) and learns how The Foot was able to take over New York City entirely.

Who dies in The Last Ronin?

As the story progresses we learn more about what happened to the other turtles, and how they all died fighting against The Foot Clan. Raphael dies in a battle with Karai, Leonardo is killed in an explosion by Baxter Stockman, and Donatello dies alongside Splinter in an ambush by The Foot Clan in Japan. In the end, Mikey is able to find peace within himself and carries out his last mission successfully, but that’s not where things end. As the story closes, young Casey Jones uses the blood from Mikey’s body to help make a new generation of four ninja turtles.

Who are the new Ninja Turtles in The Last Ronin?

After the major success of TMNT: The Last Ronin, IDW began expanding this new corner of the Ninja Turtles universe. Following The Last Ronin, the publisher released Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: The Last Ronin – The Lost Years, filling in more of the story of what Mikey was doing during the series and showing the new generation of Ninja Turtles grow up. The new four turtles are named Yi, Uno, Odyn, and Moja, and they’ll be the focus of the upcoming Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: The Last Ronin II – Re-Evolution.