Magic’s TMNT set features 18 deep-cut villains, from Pizza Face to Tempestra

Lord Dregg is another character that originated in the 1987 cartoon. This bug-like alien became the main villain after they retired the Shredder in season 8. If you don’t remember this guy, it’s okay, because he was terrible on that show. That said, the 2012 cartoon series reworked him into a better character, which is what his appearance here is based on.

Also from the original cartoon was Tempestra, a video game witch who came to life and fought Leonardo. For Magic, she’s been given more love than anyone would ever expect. That has a lot to do with her being a favorite of the set’s narrative design lead, Crystal Frasier. “The Commander decks don’t really have narratives on their own, but at least within the narrative team, the idea we were thinking as we worked on this whole thing is the Turtles go off to have a nice fun night at the local arcade after hours, and a lightning storm brings Tempestra to life,” Frasier said in a set preview attended by Polygon. “She’s a minor villain from the 1980s that I personally adore. One of the first things I demanded when I started leading this set is that we have to put Tempestra in it somewhere.” The idea ultimately became that Tempestra has created video game doppelgangers of a bunch of the Turtles’ allies and opponents. “This is the Turtles trying to contain that threat,” she said of the Commander deck.

1988 Archie Comics

Armaggon, Monsterex, Manmoth

Image: Hasbro

Image: Hasbro

Image: Hasbro

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Adventures was a comic book series that ran from 1988 until 1995 and began as a direct adaptation of the cartoon show. It eventually became its own thing with unique own stories and characters. One of the more memorable villains that originated in that comic was Armaggon, a shark mutant from the future who has since been adapted into several other incarnations, like the 2012 cartoon and the TMNT IDW comics.

Then there’s Monsterex, a combination of the classic monsters Wolfman, Dracula, Frankenstein’s Monster and Gill-man. He was created by Krang when he accidentally zapped a TV with his mutagen ray (which, even by the loose standards of the TMNT universe, is pretty silly). Manmoth is what happens when a caveman gets hit with some mutagen, though he was reimagined as a more godlike entity in the IDW comics, which is the version Magic is going with.

2003 Cartoon Series

Agent Bishop

Image: Hasbro

Agent Bishop is basically the Agent Smith of the TMNT world. He first appeared in the 2003 animated series as a mutant-hating government agent who has played a similar role in most incarnations since. He’s one of the few villains outside of Shredder, Karai, Krang and Baxter Stockman who have been given big, sweeping stories.

2011 IDW Comics

Old Hob, Kitsune, Madame Null, Koya

In the long-running IDW comics series, which began in 2011 and remains ongoing, nearly every TMNT villain from the past was updated and upgraded. There are also plenty of original characters in there, too. The very best of their original creations is Old Hob, a morally ambiguous mutant cat who stole Raphael when he was a baby and eventually goes on to lead a team of mutants known as the Mutanimals.

Kitsune is another IDW original. She’s a powerful witch who is in love with Shredder and has kept him alive for hundreds of years.

Madame Null is an evil demon businesswoman whose corporation, the Null Group, is an interdimensional conglomerate. A similar character, Mr. Null, appeared in the Archie comics but was adapted into a female character for IDW.

Koya is a mutant Falcon that began as Shredder’s pet falcon. She is usually paired with Bludgeon, a mutant shark who, as of yet, does not have a card (perhaps because there are already two sharks in the deck with Armaggon and a half shark clone of Shredder).

2012 Cartoon Series

Snakeweed, Humongous Fungus, Squirrelanoids, Dream Beavers

The 2012 Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles cartoon was the first TV series made by Nickelodeon after Paramount bought the rights to TMNT in 2009. Similar to the IDW series, it reimagined many villains and created some new ones. Snakeweed, a guy who was mutated with a plant, was one of the first original villains featured on the show.

Humongous Fungus is a giant mutant mushroom that causes the TMNT to hallucinate in a really trippy episode of the 2012 toon. The Squirrelanoids are Xenomorph-like mutant squirrels that mostly terrorize Michelangelo.

Finally, there are the Dream Beavers. These little guys were based on earlier characters named the “Terror Bears” in a 1985 TMNT role-playing game, but became beavers in the 2012 series. They invade the dreams of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles and force them to imagine horrifying things, kind of like Freddy Krueger, though nothing quite as terrifying as Magic’s two-headed take on Pizza Face.