Who Is The Last Ronin? The Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Story, Explained

Even if you're not a big fan of the heroes in a half-shell, odds are, you're at least vaguely familiar with the "Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles." Though the superheroes had relatively humble origins in a black and white comic book published in 1984, it wasn't long before Leonardo, Raphael, Donatello, and Michelangelo, along with their rat father figure Master Splinter, became pop culture icons.

Co-created by Kevin Eastman and Peter Laird, the Ninja Turtles gained true fame beginning with their legendary '80s animated series, before the 1990 live-action "Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles" movie took things to new heights. Yet, back when it was still primarily the comics driving the characters forward, Eastman and Laird crafted a story that would eventually go on to become one of the most beloved stories in the history of this franchise, regardless of the medium. That story eventually made its way out into the world in the form of "Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: The Last Ronin."

Originally published as a miniseries between October 2020 and April 2022, the five-issue series has become a best-seller and even spawned an entire "Roninverse" in the comics, which are published by IDW. But, as the title implies, only one of the four turtles remains in the book. That begs the question: who is The Last Ronin? We're here to answer that, as well as several other queries to help break down this landmark story in "TMNT" history. Let's dive in.

Many, many, many stories have been told involving these characters over the years. From the classic animated series to the inventive origin story seen in "Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayhem," many creatives have put their stamp on the Turtles by this point. Eastman and Laird, however, conceived of a rather inventive and bold ending for the turtles with "The Last Ronin," rather than a new beginning.

In a press release from IDW announcing the publication of "TMNT: The Last Ronin" in April 2020, Eastman explained the story's origins, which date all the way back to the late '80s more than 30 years before it was actually published:

"About 10 years ago, I re-discovered a 20 page outline for a 'TMNT' story that Peter and I wrote together back in 1987. The story was set 30 years in the future, which (as written then) was set in 2017. Reading through it again, I drifted back to a very different time in 'TMNT' history — back when it was all about the comics, mostly just Peter and I writing and drawing the issues, pre-everything the world would soon come to know about these characters that we'd created and called the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles."

So, what is the story, exactly? It focuses on the sole survivor of the quartet of mutant turtles as he seeks to avenge his fallen brothers in a radically evolved, futuristic version of New York City. The official synopsis for the book reads as follows:

"In a future, battle-ravaged New York City, a lone surviving Turtle embarks on a seemingly hopeless mission seeking justice for the family he lost ...What terrible events destroyed his family and left New York a crumbling, post-apocalyptic nightmare? All will be revealed in this climactic Turtle tale that sees longtime friends becoming enemies and new allies emerging in the most unexpected places. Can the surviving Turtle triumph?"

It may not be needed given the title of this article but just in case, this is your final spoiler warning before we dive into the identity of the final turtle in "TMNT: The Last Ronin." With that out of the way, let's discuss the book's big reveal and how it came to be.

In a bit of a subversion of expectations, it's revealed that Michelangelo is indeed The Last Ronin. Known primarily as the funny, silly, good-spirited member of the team, it might have come as a surprise to find out that Mikey was the one who lived while Leo, Raph, and Donnie perished. In the book, it's revealed that Michelangelo largely lost his will to live after the death of his family, and he even marched to the top of an ice-cold mountain, waiting to die.

Death never came, though, and, as a lot of time passed, he wound up re-dedicating himself to the practices he learned from Splinter over the years. Mikey ended up journeying around the world to master his Ninja skills, in addition to mastering the weapons of his brothers — not just his nunchucks. These years of training were later explored further in "Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: The Last Ronin — The Lost Years."

It's a pretty wild transformation for the character of Michelangelo as readers and viewers had come to know him over the years. But that's part of why it works. Leonardo was the born leader of the group. If it had been him, for example, it might have been too obvious. The anger displayed by the Last Ronin in the book mirrors Raphael too closely. Making it Mikey allowed for a more interesting and satisfying story.

Though it was Kevin Eastman and Peter Laird who first conceived of "The Last Ronin," they had some help in crafting the actual story. Namely, writer Tom Waltz, who also worked on "Cobra Kai: The Karate Kid Saga Continues," among other IP-based comics, helped Eastman pen the scripts for the story.

In a 2022 interview with CBR, Waltz explained why they ended up going with Michelangelo as the title character in "TMNT: The Last Ronin" (in short, it was the most unexpected choice):

"Mikey was the brother we figured nobody would expect the happy-go-lucky party dude is now Rambo? What?! Raph seemed too obvious, Leo wasn't too far behind on the obvious scale, and Donnie seemed like someone who would've gone more tech than conventional in his revenge, and we really wanted this to be a grunt's story."

Beyond the idea that Mikey subverted what longtime fans would expect, there was also a bit of a full-circle nature to centering "The Last Ronin" on this particular character. As Waltz explained in the same interview, "TMNT" started with Michelangelo. So, why not end it with him? In his own words:

"Kevin really liked the idea that Mikey, who was the first 'TMNT' ever drawn, was also the last to be alive. Thematically, Mikey gave us the opportunity to explore the irony of the one person in the family who never truly bought into the clan-war aspect that exists at the foundation of their lives being the only one left alive and stuck with the mission of ultimately winning said war ... or dying trying."

Over the years, there have been some great "Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles" movies, and some not so great ones. We've had tons of animated shows, different comics, video games, you name it. But "The Last Ronin" has become arguably one of the most beloved stories across any medium in the history of the franchise. It's all the more fascinating that it was conceived very, very early on in the history of these characters.

In a 2024 interview with Inverse, Eastman explained the origins of the story. He and Laird were trying to picture what the future of "TMNT" might look like, and that's what sparked this dark vision of the future:

"Back in 1987, Pete and I were wrapping up Issue #11 of the original comics, and we asked ourselves that same question: 'Where do we go next?' We thought, 'Let's look 30 years down the road, to where the Turtles are then.' We started to make all these notes about what the world would be like and what had happened throughout that time period. We came up with about a 20-page, typed-up document that Pete did, plus about 20 to 25 handwritten pages that I did."

At that time, it wasn't called "The Last Ronin." They came up with that after the idea was dusted off at IDW years later. What Eastman and Laird did know, though, is that this was going to be a potential "final" story for the Ninja Turtles:

"Pete and I thought it might be the 'final' Turtles story and that would give us sort of a lighthouse to navigate towards. But this was also when the Turtles were really taking off with the toys and the cartoon, so this idea got pushed to the side until I found it years later in a folder labeled 'Funky Story Ideas.'"

"When Kevin first showed me the outline that he and Peter had created back in the '80s, I was gobsmacked," Tom Waltz said in the original press release announcing "The Last Ronin" from IDW. "Beyond Peter Laird's eerily prescient technological and sociological predictions, the story idea itself was exciting and versatile, designed in a way that it could be easily modified to fit into the many different 'TMNT' iterations that have existed over the years, without losing any of the core elements injected into it by both Kevin and Peter."

The popularity of "TMNT: The Last Ronin" has not gone unnoticed. As such, it is now being adapted into both a movie by Paramount Pictures and a video game by THQ Nordic. Starting with the film, it was announced in April 2024 that a live-action, R-rated "Last Ronin" movie was being developed by Paramount. Tyler Burton Smith ("Boy Kills World") is set to write the screenplay, with Walter Hamada producing.

This would be the first live-action "TMNT" movie since 2016's "Out of the Shadows." In the years since that movie hit theaters, Nickelodeon and Paramount have largely stuck to animation with the franchise. As for the game, it was announced officially in August 2023 that a "TMNT: The Last Ronin" video game is in the works. A brief teaser, which you can check out below, was revealed at the time. It features very little footage of the actual game. No timetable for release was given, and few updates have been provided, as of this writing, since the initial announcement.

Speaking with /Film in 2023, Kevin Eastman expressed his excitement for the "Last Ronin" video game, revealing that he was working directly with the creative team on it. According to Eastman, they are taking material directly from the comic book and bringing it to life:

"I love that they're going to do a video game of 'Last Ronin,' because I feel like perhaps there's an opportunity to do a live-action or an animated version down the road. But the best place for 'Last Ronin' right now is to be executed certainly in that edgier, older audience intended style. And I've been working with the creative team on it, and dude, it's fantastic. I mean, they're really taking stuff right out of the comic book and bringing it to life in this video game that I think fans of 'Last Ronin' are going to love."