Awesome / Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (2003)

"Can the Shredder come out and play?"

Despite its lower popularity than both its predecessor and its successor, this version was far Darker and Edgier than both, as it is the one closest to the source. This is where we truly see the four brothers as bonafide badasses for the first time in animation. And that's one of the many things this show is great at, below are some of the awesome highlights that are shown throughout the show's run.

As a Moments subpage, all spoilers are unmarked as per policy. You Have Been Warned.

Season 1

• Mike continuously defeating Raph in Meet Casey Jones in sparring matches (until Raph angrily grabs a lead pipe and attacks him with murderous intent when Mikey was not looking). This shows that Mike is a very skilled martial artist and in a fair and square fight, he is fully capable of beating Raph, which he eventually does in the Battle Nexus tournament.
• The Way of Invisibility shows Hun may look like a big dumb brute like Rocksteady, he is actually much smarter. It appears as if Raph, who was his captive, manages to escape quite easily. When Stockman angrily accuses Hun of letting Raph get away, Hun reveals that that was his plan all along.
  Stockman: You Fool!! I was this close to obtaining a DNA sample, and you let him escape!
  Hun: Precisely. I let him escape. To lead us to the others. Even as we speak, a squad of Foot Tech Ninjas are trailing the creature. So now it's all up to your invisible boys. Better hope they don't blow it.
  • In the same episode, Master Splinter tries to teach the Turtles the way of balance and the way of invisibility. Michelangelo, of all people, masters this technique and sneaks up on a Foot tech ninja (who is holding Casey as hostage), someone with the power of invisibility, and defeats him.
• In The Unconvincing Turtle Titan, Michelangelo saves the resident Superman Substitute, Silver Sentry. Silver Sentry, who is initially not convinced that Mike can be a superhero, is quite impressed and thanks the "Turtle Titan" publicly.
• Leo's finishing off Hun even when disarmed in "The Shredder Strikes" via a flurry of kicks.
  • This episode has the Shredder making his first move. How does he do it? He manipulates Leo into believing that they are both on the same side and that the clashes the Turtles had against the Foot clan was a massive misunderstanding on their part. While Raph, Mike and Don see through him, but the fact that he manages to manipulate Leo is a very solid move for the Big Bad of the show.
  • Earlier in the episode, the Turtles are having a session of weapons practice. They all argue about which weapon is superior. Raph argues his sais are great, only to be easily taken out by Mikey, who claims his nunchucks are better than "those lame toothpicks". Then Don uses his bō to sweep Michelangelo’s feet out from under him, declaring that the bō staff is superior. Then Leo defeats all of them single handedly and points out how his katanas are the best.
  • Then Master Splinter teaches Leo a lesson: He tells Leonardo to attack him with his katana. Leo is easily defeated by Splinter with only his cane, proving Splinter's point that: A weapon is only as good as the ninja who wields it.
    Master Splinter: In the hands of a true ninjutsu master, anything can be a deadly weapon. Remember, a weapon is only as good as the arm that wields it, Leonardo. (Without looking, he throws the stick directly into the center of the punching bag) Until you have learned this lesson, you have learned nothing.
  • Confused and frustrated by what Master Splinter said, Leonardo goes to the roof to cool down, believing that Splinter doesn't understand what his swords mean to him. He kicks a bundle of newspapers into the air and slices through the tie. As the papers fall, he slices into them. It initially looks like he is simply throwing a fit, but on closer inspection, it is revealed that the papers have been reduced to pretty little stars.
  • Splinter Vs Shredder, Splinter intervenes to stop Shredder after the turtles had just suffered a Curb-Stomp Battle against them saying that Shredder already destroyed his family once and he won't let it happen again. He then tricks Shredder into destroying the supports for the massive water tower on the roof and Splinter dedicates his final attack to Master Yoshi before attacking one of the supports causing the entire tower to collapse on Shredder seemingly killing him for good.
• In the "Notes from the Underground" trilogy, Mikey is wary of Quarry, Stonebiter, and Razorfist. Cue a quiet, but poignant shutting up from Don.
  Mikey: They're monsters!!
  Don: Yeah? Well, to some people, so are we.
  • The conclusion of the three-parter has Mike stepping up and saving the day. Throughout the first two episodes, he is extremely scared as the scenario they find themselves in is like a monster/horror movie. Then all his brothers and their mutant allies are captured by the High Mage, so Mikey willingly enters the abandoned city, attacks him and once the other Turtles are captured, uses the High Mage's own weapon to capture him.
• Don single-handedly sweeping at least a dozen (probably more) monsters in The King, even before Kirby drew him a more efficient weapon. It goes to show that even if Don is considered Weak, but Skilled in relation to his brothers, he's still an off-the-charts effective fighter in his own right.
  • Kirby saving the day by using his magic crystal powered pencil and his skills as an artist. And he does it in a span of few minutes.
    Don: Kirby, my friend, you are the king! How did you do that?
    Kirby: As fast as I could.
    (Kirby flips the pages in his sketchbook to show his drawings)
• The Shredder Strikes Back parts 1 and 2 was a Homage to an original issue of the Mirage Comic series, where Leonardo takes on what amounts to the ENTIRE FOOT CLAN by himself. He spends virtually the entire episode in one long running battle where he faces foe after foe and is never given the chance to recover, culminating in a battle with the Shredder's four elite warriors. The fact that he loses does not actually detract from how awesome it is, especially when in Part 2 we see the same Foot Clan attack the three remaining Turtles and Splinter, and we see that Leo basically did as well against the Foot by himself as his family did working as a team.
  • And then there's that moment in Part 2. All four turtles are down and the Foot is advancing on them when Casey Goddamn Jones crashes through the window on a motorcycle, promptly disposes of half-a-dozen ninjas, and then starts trash talking the rest.
  • He takes out three of the Foot Elite with a freakin' Akira slide and tosses the remaining one into a cabinet that promptly falls over on him. Casey Jones, ladies and gentleman.
  • Then he takes out Hun. Granted Hun is injured after his fight against Leo in the previous episode and is covered in bruises, but given their rivalry and history with one another, it is pretty sweet. And he does it not because he holds a grudge, but because the brute tried to harm April.
  • April herself despite not being a martial artist (yet), standing with the Turtles, telling Hun that he'll have to deal with her first before harming Leo. Hun, being the pragmatic Genius Bruiser he is, decides to hurt her to weaken the Turtles. Thankfully, Casey was right there.
    April: You want him? You have to deal with me first!
    Hun: That’s the idea. Those green freaks feel great affection for you. Losing you should take the fight out of them!
    (He draws back a fist, but suddenly finds it caught in the head of a golf club)
    Hun: Ugh!
    Casey: Hun, never, ever threaten her!
    (Casey out maneuvers Hun and hits him in the back of the head with his hockey stick. Hun stumbles forward, loses his balance, and bowls over a half-dozen Foot ninja.)
  • Master Splinter using breaks off two wooden posts, he turns and uses them to defeat the ninjas, proving what he said earlier in The Shredder Strikes Part 1: In the hands of a true ninjutsu master, anything can be a deadly weapon.
  • When a Foot Elite disarms him and another takes down Mikey, Don grabs the his opponent's cloak, falls backwards and kicks the Elite over his head making him crash into the other elite pushing him away from Mike.
• "Return to New York, pt. 3". The "final" showdown with the Shredder. Shred-head and Leonardo both leap, swords drawn. Two seconds after they land, Shredder's head falls off. Mind: blown—that sort of thing just doesn't happen in Saturday morning cartoons! Minutes later, after the end of the episode, Shredder's body stirs, gets up, searches blindly for its head, and picks it up. End episode.
  • Granted The Reveal takes away the sense of awe and fear factor, but back then we could only assume he was undead or worse. This kind of thing on a freaking 4Kids show was to many of us something we'd never see.
  • In the same episode, Stockman vs. everyone.
  • Also, Master Splinter destroying the Foot Mystic Ninjas with the Sword of Tengu, complete with a Badass Boast
  "Fire melts metal... water quenches fire... earth swallows water... wind scatters earth... and I shall quell the wind!"
• Raph and his new friend Tyler get one in Lone Raph and Cub. Raph is capable of handling the mobsters without breaking a single sweat, until one of them blinds him. With some help from Tyler, he manages to take down the mob boss.
• The Turtles breaking into the TCRI building, which takes a lot of elements directly from the original Mirage comics. The Turtles averting the Highly-Visible Ninja trope and acting stealthily like true ninja is truly a sight to behold.

Season 2

• Secret Origins was when the Turtles finally stick it to Shredder. Shredder's utter response is epic:
  Shredder: You have been nothing but thorns on my side but now you have cost me my victory and for that you shall pay with your lives.
  • Before that when he arrives:
    Leonardo: No! It can't be! I finished you off myself, you can't be alive.
    Shredder: Ha ha ha ha ha ha ha... you merely separated my head from my body, a courtesy I will gladly extend to you all, FOR NONE OF YOU ARE LEAVING HERE ALIVE!!!! AH HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA!!!!!
• Leonardo proves his mettle why he is The Ace of the Heroes In The Half Shells. Despite overwhelming odds, he bested the Ultimate Ninja all the while sticking by his honor.
• The fact that Mikey was able to fend off the Turtlebot in What a Croc a good ten seconds longer than the rest of the brothers is definitely impressive, considering even Leo and Raph lost their bouts in five seconds or less. He's the one to finish it off, too. With Improvised Weapons, unlike his brothers
  • There's how they finish it off — upon learning that the Turtlebot was able to scan and mimic their fighting styles perfectly, Leonardo figures they need a new strategy. Said strategy? Leo, Don and Raph switch weapons (Raph taking Leo's Blades, Leo taking Don's staff, and Don taking Raph's sais), throwing Turtlebot off its game with different fighting styles. Raph even severs one of the bot's arms and Don lands a perfect shot with a Sai to its back after Leo kicks it off-balance, allowing Mikey to finish it with some pipes.
  • And who comes up with the plan? Raph. The one who has a reputation for rushing into a fight without much thinking is the one who suggests the strategy to switch weapons and fight in different styles.
• All of the Battle Nexus fights, even those not directly involving the main characters, provide some detailed action scenes. Highlights include Donatello's defeat at the hands of a random nunchuck-wielder, Raphael's fights with Traximus and a being wielding four Deadly Discs, Leonardo and Usagi’s friendly duel, and a hunchbacked creature armed with only a grappling hook defeating a much bigger warrior offscreen.
  • The way Raphael ends his fight with Traximus. He's grappled from behind by the Triceraton, who assures the turtle that he won't forget a fight with such a Worthy Opponent. Raphael agrees...and then proceeds to throw Traximus - a guy who's at least twice his size - over his shoulder and onto the ground, before finishing him off with a jumping punch.
• Mikey winning the Battle Nexus Tournament.
  • His battle against Raphael was especially memorable and awesome, due to the fact that Mikey never even has to throw a single punch, kick or any attack. Mikey defeats him simply by annoying him into a fit of rage and dodging his attacks, essentially making Raph defeat himself.
    Michelangelo: You hear that crowd, bro? That's ME they're cheering for! That's right, me! Not you, but me! Not you, but me! (Raphael charges at him with a flying kick, but sails over and crashes when Michelangelo jokingly takes a bow, ducking it) Okay, now you're just getting sloppy.
    Raphael: (angrily while missing) WILL! YOU! SHUT! YOUR! TRAP!?
    Michelangelo: Why? Does my talking bother you? (dodge) Am I distracting you somehow? (dodge) Making you lose focus? (dodge) Messing up your concentration? Am I finally getting on your nerves, perhaps? (Raphael falls to his knees in exhaustion) Or maybe, you're just a teensy bit worried that I might actually... BEAT YOU.
    (Raphael on a full head of steam charges at Michelangelo in a suicidal lunge, who then baits him into crashing into the wall, taking himself out)

Season 3

• The entire episode of The Christmas Aliens was one huge crowning moment of awesome and heartwarming for Mikey. In a nutshell, some Purple Dragons steal a truck full of toys meant for orphans to make some easy money, Mikey takes them out, hijacks the truck for himself, and uses it to defend himself from more Purple Dragons while simultaneously evading the police who've mistaken him for a Purple Dragon all while keeping his new friend safe, returns home to convince his family and their party guests to move the party to the orphanage and successfully delivers the toys to the orphans. Oh yeah, and he does all this without his nunchucks.
• Splinter, April, and Casey infiltrating Bishop's lab to rescue the turtles all while two evil alien races are fighting each other. Noteworthy in that Splinter had to teach April and Casey the same ninjitsu techniques that took the turtles 15 years to learn within minutes.
  Splinter: The way of invisibility takes a lifetime to master, circumstances however, require us to learn as we go.
• A rather underrated one, but in Worlds Collide, pt. 2, Master Splinter, along with April and Casey, infiltrate Bishop's underwater base, where the turtles are being held hostage. After subduing a group of armed guards, April takes one of their guns and gives another one to Casey. She offers one to Splinter. His response?
  Splinter: No thank you. It will only slow me down.
• Professor Honeycutt tricks the Federation into scanning his brain for the weapons plans he's erased, only to find that he's erased those plans. What is inside his memory banks is a virus that lets him broadcast a worldwide message condemning the two opposing sides and apologizing to the people of Earth for placing them in danger before he starts disabling every warship in broadcasting range.
  Honeycutt: You've opened your entire mainframe to me, I'm inside the system. I am the system.
• Traximus and his men march into their dictator's command center as he prepares to slaughter his defenseless enemies. They place the groveling tyrant under arrest as his own soldiers offer no resistance. Traximus then destroys Zanramon's throne to symbolize the Triceratons' return to republicanism. 
  Zanramon: How did these traitors get in here?
  Traximus: We walked! Now throw down your weapons.
• Everything involving Bishop. EVERYTHING. He's probably the most competent non-mystical fighter in the series. Sure, he's got super strength, but that's pretty much it. He goes up against multiple armed ninja masters with his bare hands or an Improvised Weapon and uses skill and pragmatism to come out of the battle with something that benefits him. Plus, who can resist that nice suit of his?
• Bishop vs. everyone fight in the episode Hun on the Run. Watching Bishop use anything he can get his hands on as a weapon — including his glasses and necktie — is a thing of beauty.
  • Hun himself was pretty awesome in that episode as well, he busts into Bishop's underground base with a tank-like vehicle and pretty much sends Bishop's Mooks running for their lives, and he puts up a pretty decent fight against Bishop himself.
    • Basically, after two and a half seasons of slow Villain Decay, Hun now has to fight Bishop, the EPF and the Turtles all at once, or fail the Shredder. He doesn't disappoint.
• Reality Check: Michelangelo ends up in a dimension where the Turtles are superheroes- and Splinter is the Big Bad! But instead of becoming the load, Mikey ends up being the one to save the day thrice-over;
  • First, he tricks the Sliver into thinking he's accepted the villain's We Can Rule Together offer, when the "Mikey" talking was actually the shape-shifting Blobboid.
  • Then, when the Sliver reveals that he has all the powers of the Super Turtles, Mikey uses his ninja skills to defeat him!
  • And finally, when it seems like there's no way of stopping the Doomsday Device, Mikey comes up with the idea of modifying it to only affect the Sliver's hideout.
• Same as it Never Was. The whole thing. The fact that they were able to produce and show such a dark and bleak episode packed with character deaths on a Saturday morning timeslot hosted by 4Kids is means for a pat on the back. Not to mention Donatello's method of defeating the Shredder counts as his personal Moment of Awesome as it's arguably the most badass thing he has done or ever will do.
  • Don didn't simply defeat the Shredder. He killed him! Don, The Smart Guy who "does machines" took out the franchise's main Big Bad. Keep in mind that such a feat is usually either a team effort or done individually by Leo or Splinter.
  • Future April taking out Future Karai... with a rocket launcher!
• His appearances may be few, but everytime Miyamoto Usagi from Usagi Yojimbo appeared, he made those episodes count. Special props to both him and Leo when the latter ends up in his world and they fight to save Usagi's friends.
• Leatherhead beating the tar out of the Shredder in Exodus. He attacks his family’s enemy with unmatched fury. Hun has to catch him by surprise to save the Shredder’s life.
  • "Thought you might try the backdoor. That's why we're here."
• The three-way all-out battle that erupts between the Turtles, Bishop, and the Foot. Bishop’s presence alone was enough to stress out Shredder, and he holds his own, easily mopping the floor with the Foot Elite (who the Turtles also easily defeated earlier, showing how far they’ve come).

Season 4

• The Rat King is as impressive as he is creepy in "I Monster", given the way he stealthily follows the Turtles and Casey and then fights all of them at once while displaying skill and ferocity that even the Shredder might have been impressed by.
• When Michelangelo fought Kluh in Grudge Match. Mikey was terrified going and just hoped to be saved by the safety spell of the Battle Nexus, which the Levrams disabled. He takes a beating, until Kluh tells him that he is going after the rest of Mikey's family. That is enough for Mikey to get serious and inflict a Curb-Stomp Battle. The quirkiest character in the group put a beatdown on Kluh, right after Kluh put a beatdown on him, and does Michelangelo finish Kluh off? No. He pushes Kluh down with a finger, and rightfully claims the title of Battle Nexus champion.
  • During the fight, there are more fighters of the same species almost equally powerful to Kluh who are holding the Daimyo's son hostage. Leonardo defeats four of them by himself without trouble. According to Kluh's shocked father, this simply doesn't happen. Yeah, Leo's just like that.
• The flashback scenes in "Sons of the Silent Age" and "A Wing and a Prayer" provide a gripping Perspective Flip of the already impressive Battle of Y'Lyntias from "The Entity Below." There's some great Slave Liberation action, combined with seeing the Avian and merpeople Slave Races escape and form new societies for themselves.
• Prodigal Son. For a chunk of season 4, Leo has been letting his rage at his perceived failure to protect his family during their last fight with Shredder eat at him. So, Splinter makes him go see the Ancient One, the master who trained Hamato Yoshi, and he gets his issues sorted out. In his absence, Karai becomes the new Shredder and attacks the remaining Turtles and Splinter. In the actual episode mentioned, Leo returns, locates and rescues his separated family, then delivers a Curb-Stomp Battle to Karai, who he's never managed to beat before. And capitalizes it with a promise to finish her if she ever goes after his family again. As a message, he decapitates the Shredder statue: yet another reference to what he did to Saki (well, his clone anyway) in the original comics.
  • A special mention to the other Ninja Turtles. One turtle short, they have to face the full might of a stronger Foot Clan, but thanks to their quick thinking and ninjutsu training, they manage to be steps ahead of their enemies and survive the onslaught.
• How about the Insane In The Membrane? This is probably the darkest episode in the series, other than the aforementioned episodes. It was a story filled with Nightmare Fuel, as well as pure Body Horror. It not only had a truly disturbing Sanity Slippage on the part of Baxter Stockman, but also showed that he wasn't always such a bad guy. But, most importantly, and shockingly of all, it has a genuine Tearjerker moment. For Baxter Stockman. BAXTER. FREAKING. STOCKMAN. That, right there, is a crowning moment FOR THE WRITERS.
• Savanti Romero, one of the Turtles' more obscure enemies, gets one when he fights the Turtles for the second time, but it's not during or after the battle though, it's before the battle even starts, he basically makes these dinosaur bones into Shredder-esque armor for himself, that's actually pretty awesome.
• Good Genes has the Leo, Raph and Mikey taking on Karai and the Foot once more. Special points go to Leo for fending off Karai and the Foot Elite at the same time.

Season 5

• The final battle against the Tengu Shredder in the Lost Season. We have almost all characters (including some of the villains) teaming up against the evil forces of the Tengu Shredder. The Shredder and Turtles change into dragons, have a large battle in the skies. And then even the spirit of Hamato Yoshi appears and cuts the Shredder IN HALF... VERTICALLY... ON A 4KIDS CARTOON!
  • What Measure Is a Non-Human? Granted, he wasn't human anymore. But still, his death was one of the few that's explicitly shown.
  • When Yoshi came back, he stares at the Demon Shredder in anger. He throw the demon around like a rag doll and blasts him before he finishes his sentences. In short: Don't Harm Yoshi's Son and Grandsons.

Season 6

• Anytime the Ninja Turtles fight the Dark Turtles.
• Leonardo sincerely making an effort to help his clone turn away from his destructive path. Unlike his brothers who fought the other Dark Turtles in the first episode, Leonardo honestly tried to appeal to his clone with a calm and wise demeanor. He has a bigger opportunity in “DNA is Thicker Than Water” where he offered him a chance to stay with him and his brothers. He only stops when he thinks his clone is too invested in destroying the turtles to change.
• Leonardo fighting Season 1 Shredder. Leonardo was no longer that greenhorn. Now, he fights Shredder evenly and would have easily defeat him if he wasn't so concern about protecting Cody. When they do return to their own time, Leonardo finally cuts loose that even Superman would be proud to see.
  Shredder: Impossible! You are not this powerful!
  Raphael: Dude, we put the kabosh on you a long time ago! You're history!
• Splinter specifically chooses to help pursue Dunn in “Turtle X-Tinction”, and makes no bones about the fact that he is repulsed on a personal level by the man.
  Splinter: I have fought many monsters in my time, Dunn, but it takes a special breed to direct such bile and hatred towards a child!
• Cody and Serling as Turtle X best Viral.
• Donatello putting a wrench in Zixx's plans in Zixxth Sense. Seeing how Zixx is a clever trickster who always manipulates circumstances in his favor, the fact that Don actually out-thought him is impressive.

Season 7

• Michaelangelo dupes Cyber Shredder into defeating himself.
• Although it was ultimately scrapped, the Shredder Wars was an amazing idea.
  • And if it's not SAiNW, Back to the Sewers seems to be one giant love note to Don's fanbase — particularly Hacking Stockman and the finale, Wedding Bells and Bytes. In the first he got the drop on the Cyber Shredder, fought him one-on-one, and, if memory serves, didn't even get hit once — it's an awesome mix of Beware the Quiet Ones and Papa Wolf tendencies, since Don was fighting to keep his brothers safe. The second seems a bit anticlimactic after that, but it was pretty awesome that he took out the Cyber Shredder with the same Applied Phlebotinum that kicked the arc off. All this from the guy who is, arguably, the Squishy Wizard of the main team.
• Wedding Bells and Bytes was an excellent way to end the series. Not only did the show makers manage to get almost everyone who had interacted with the Turtles to show up at the wedding (And those that couldn't make it or weren't invited somehow manage to watch), but the battle against the Foot Clan was great too, with everyone fighting.