Bebop and Rocksteady are a fictional duo of a mutant

warthog ''Phacochoerus'' is a genus in the family Suidae, commonly known as warthogs (pronounced ''wart-hog''). They are pigs who live in open and semi-open habitats, even in quite arid regions, in sub-Saharan Africa. The two species were formerly co ...

and mutant

rhinoceros A rhinoceros (; ; ), commonly abbreviated to rhino, is a member of any of the five extant species (or numerous extinct species) of odd-toed ungulates in the family Rhinocerotidae. (It can also refer to a member of any of the extinct species ...

that have made appearances as characters in various media releases of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles franchise. The two characters are

henchmen A henchman (''vernacular:'' "hencher"), is a loyal employee, supporter, or aide to some powerful figure engaged in nefarious or criminal enterprises. Henchmen are typically relatively unimportant in the organization: minions whose value lies prim ...

who follow the orders of the villain and the main antagonist of the franchise Shredder, the leader of the

Foot Clan The Foot Clan is a fictional ninja clan in the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles comics and all related media and are the main antagonist faction. It is led by the devious Shredder and his second in command Karai. The Foot Clan was originally a parod ...

. Their names are both derived from genres of music:

bebop Bebop or bop is a style of jazz developed in the early-to-mid-1940s in the United States. The style features compositions characterized by a fast tempo, complex chord progressions with rapid chord changes and numerous changes of key, instrume ...

is a style of

jazz Jazz is a music genre that originated in the African-American communities of New Orleans, Louisiana in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, with its roots in blues and ragtime. Since the 1920s Jazz Age, it has been recognized as a major ...

, while

rocksteady Rocksteady is a music genre that originated in Jamaica around 1966. A successor of ska and a precursor to reggae, rocksteady was the dominant style of music in Jamaica for nearly two years, performed by many of the artists who helped establish ...

is a Jamaican music style, a precursor to

reggae Reggae () is a music genre that originated in Jamaica in the late 1960s. The term also denotes the modern popular music of Jamaica and its diaspora. A 1968 single by Toots and the Maytals, " Do the Reggay" was the first popular song to use ...

Character creation

The characters were designed by Peter Laird while negotiating the Turtles action figure deal with

Playmates Toys Playmates Toys Limited is a Hong Kong toy company. The company was founded in Hong Kong in 1966 by Sam Chan as Playmates Industrial, manufacturing dolls for other companies. In 1975, Playmates began marketing their own line of pre-school toys, ...

, because they wanted more characters to release. They were added to the 1987 ''Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles'' animated television series and given names, personalities, and an origin story by writer David Wise, based on instructions by Fred Wolf to "put more mutants in the series".

Transition to comic books and publication history

Archie Comics

Rocksteady and Bebop were featured in the comic book series '' Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Adventures'', with similar origins and dimwittedness. As told in the cartoon, they were street gang members mutated by the Shredder to help him defeat the turtles. As the series progressed, the animal side of Bebop and Rocksteady surfaced as they dreamed and longed for the 'old days' when they were just animals in the wild (Rocksteady in particular had dreams where he was a real rhino in the wild). When the Shredder and his bunch were defeated by the TMNT in the 'Final Conflict' (issue #13), Rocksteady and Bebop were banished to an Eden World, a huge paradise planet in Dimension X, full of wilderness and natural wildlife, without any humans or similar to disrupt their peace, and they enjoyed it. In issues #23-#25,

Krang Krang (also spelled Kraang) is a fictional supervillain appearing in ''Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles''-related media, most frequently in the 1987 animated series and its associated merchandise, such as the '' Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Adven ...

, who was banished to the toxic waste dump planet ''Morbus'' for exiled criminals, befriended two other criminals, Slash and Bellybomb. The group stole a spaceship and headed to Earth and happened to stop along the way at the same Eden World that Bebop and Rocksteady inhabited. Being bored of Paradise, Rocksteady and Bebop joined them on the trip back to Earth. However, rather than battle the turtles, the pair left Krang and the villains to fight the turtles and wandered the streets of New York City on their own. They robbed a clothing store to get clothes similar to their original attire, and a gun store for some guns. They then went to the zoo and blasted all the cages, setting all the animals free. Just as the turtles managed to defeat Krang (who had taken over Shredder's body), Rocksteady and Bebop arrived with guns and all the zoo animals, intending to take them back to the same Eden World. The turtles surrendered and let Bebop and Rocksteady escape in the spaceship with the animals. Leonardo asked them to take the defeated Krang and Bellybomb with them back to Morbus in Dimension X (Slash had already left the scene and was wandering the city). Bebop and Rocksteady did as asked and bid the Ninja Turtles farewell. The final panel of #25 shows the two mutants removing their clothes and going back to their simple life in the wilds of the Eden World. Bebop and Rocksteady maintained the abilities they demonstrated in the cartoon including their superhuman strength. After the initial mini-series, the duo seemed to become even less intelligent than their cartoon versions. In

Archie Comics Archie Comic Publications, Inc., is an American comic book publisher headquartered in Pelham, New York.Sonic Universe'' #29 (June 2011), Bebop and Rocksteady are seen in the Zone Jail, ready to bully

Sonic the Hedgehog is a Japanese video game series and media franchise created by Sega. The franchise follows Sonic the Hedgehog (character), Sonic, an anthropomorphic blue hedgehog who battles the evil Doctor Eggman, a mad scientist. The main ''Sonic the Hedg ...

's evil counterpart Scourge, who was reading " How Not to Be Seen".

IDW Comics

Bebop and Rocksteady are shown in their human forms in ''Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Micro Series'' #1 (December 2011). They work alongside an

Arctic fox The Arctic fox (''Vulpes lagopus''), also known as the white fox, polar fox, or snow fox, is a small fox native to the Arctic regions of the Northern Hemisphere and common throughout the Arctic tundra biome. It is well adapted to living in ...

mutant named Alopex and appear mutated in ''

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles ''Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles'' is an American media franchise created by the comic book artists Kevin Eastman and Peter Laird. It follows Leonardo, Michelangelo, Donatello and Raphael, four anthropomorphic turtle brothers (named after ...

'' #25 (August 2013). Their back story is told in ''Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Villains Micro-Series'' #7 (October 2013). In this version, they fully understood the implications of their mutation, having successfully fought and defeated all other candidates for the right after being defeated by the Turtles as humans. It is revealed in the micro-series that having been kicked out of gangs in the past owing to their incompetence, they are fanatically determined to remain in the Foot Clan. They were ordered by Shredder to kill

Donatello Donato di Niccolò di Betto Bardi ( – 13 December 1466), better known as Donatello ( ), was a Florentine sculptor of the Renaissance period. Born in Florence, he studied classical sculpture and used this to develop a complete Renaissance s ...

, which they carried out. Rocksteady smashed Donatello's shell with a sledgehammer, leaving the Turtle in a pool of blood. However, Donatello clung to life long enough for his consciousness to be temporarily transferred into the robot Metalhead while his turtle body was being restored. After Shredder's death in issue #50, Bebop and Rocksteady desert the Foot and, after inadvertently coming into contact with Savanti Romero and his stolen Time Scepter, wreak so much havoc across the multiverse that all reality is pushed to the brink of obliteration; the Turtles and their time mistress friend Renet just barely manage to avert that catastrophe.

In other media

Television

''Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles'' (1987–1996)

Bebop (voiced by

Barry Gordon Barry Gordon (born December 21, 1948) is an American actor and political talk show host. He was the longest-serving president of the Screen Actors Guild, having served from 1988 to 1995. He is perhaps best known as the original voice of Donatel ...

in most appearances,

Greg Berg Greg Berg (born November 26, 1960) is an American voice actor, best known for his work in cartoons, video games Video games, also known as computer games, are electronic games that involves interaction with a user interface or input dev ...

in some 1989 episodes) and Rocksteady (voiced by

Cam Clarke Cam Clarke is an American voice actor, known for his work in animation, video games and commercials. Among his notable roles are Leonardo and Rocksteady in the 1987 ''Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles'' animated series, Shotaro Kaneda in the 1989 ...

) were introduced in the series as members of a human

street gang A gang is a group or society of associates, friends or members of a family with a defined leadership and internal organization that identifies with or claims control over territory in a community and engages, either individually or collective ...

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

that was employed by Shredder. Rocksteady, the gang's leader, was a short and stocky blond Caucasian man (who sported army camouflage pants that would be replaced with simple beige

cargo pants Cargo pants or cargo trousers, also sometimes called combat pants or combat trousers after their original purpose as military workwear, are loosely cut pants originally designed for rough work environments and outdoor activities, distinguished b ...

later while also occasionally sporting a strong army helmet on his head in his mutated form). Bebop, the second-in-command, was a taller

African American African Americans (also referred to as Black Americans and Afro-Americans) are an ethnic group consisting of Americans with partial or total ancestry from sub-Saharan Africa. The term "African American" generally denotes descendants of ensl ...

man with a purple mohawk. With the other members of their gang, they were sent out to stop a Channel 6 reporter named

April O'Neil April O'Neil is a fictional Character (arts), character from the ''Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles'' comics. She is the first human ally of the Ninja Turtles. Her main love interest in the series is Casey Jones (Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles), Casey ...

from doing a report about crime in the city. April ran down into the sewers while being chased by the street gang and met the

, who then defeated the gang in a fight. After this humiliating setback, The Shredder developed a plan to defeat the Turtles by mutating members of the street gang that Rocksteady and Bebop are a part of so that they would have abilities greater than the Turtles'. Rocksteady and Bebop both volunteered to undergo the procedure first (though neither was particularly aware of what it would entail) with the promise that it would allow them to exact revenge on the Turtles. As the result of being brought into contact with a

common warthog The common warthog (''Phacochoerus africanus'') is a wild member of the pig family (Suidae) found in grassland, savanna, and woodland in sub-Saharan Africa. In the past, it was commonly treated as a subspecies of ''P. aethiopicus'', but today th ...

and a

black rhinoceros The black rhinoceros, black rhino or hook-lipped rhinoceros (''Diceros bicornis'') is a species of rhinoceros, native to eastern and southern Africa including Angola, Botswana, Kenya, Malawi, Mozambique, Namibia, South Africa, Eswatini, Tan ...

that Shredder had abducted from the zoo, Bebop mutated into a humanoid mutant warthog while Rocksteady mutated into a humanoid mutant black rhinoceros. Although the transformation did make them larger and stronger, they remained bungling, incompetent simpletons, and were completely inept at stopping the Turtles or carrying out Shredder's plans. Throughout most of the series, they tried to attack the Turtles with brute force, without applying knowledge and strategy. In the episode "The Missing Map," when the two were accidentally caught in Krang's "brain extraction" machine, the results concluded there was "no data to extract," implying that the two possessed little or no knowledge. Most of the time, the Turtles consider them to be formidable in combat (despite their stupidity) due to their great strength and endurance, and as such, often have to resort to using their surroundings to outwit them rather than fighting them in a straightforward manner. But their attempts at the turtles seem to regularly fail due to their incompetence and goofing behavior, which all leads to them being abused both physically and verbally by Shredder and Krang, and the former even fired them in one episode. In one episode of the series, Bebop was shown to have kept a pet turtle, which got mutated into the evil turtle

Slash Slash may refer to: * Slash (punctuation), the "/" character Arts and entertainment Fictional characters * Slash (Marvel Comics) * Slash (''Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles'') Music * Harry Slash & The Slashtones, an American rock band * Nash ...

. In ''Planet of the Turtleoids, Part 1'', Bebop and Rocksteady were responsible for causing a red

bull A bull is an intact (i.e., not castrated) adult male of the species '' Bos taurus'' (cattle). More muscular and aggressive than the females of the same species (i.e., cows), bulls have long been an important symbol in many religions, includ ...

and a mole to be exposed to a mutagen-showering machine at the zoo, transforming them into Groundchuck and Dirtbag, by accidentally setting them free at the same time when Shredder and Krang wanted to mutate a

lion The lion (''Panthera leo'') is a large cat of the genus ''Panthera'' native to Africa and India. It has a muscular, broad-chested body; short, rounded head; round ears; and a hairy tuft at the end of its tail. It is sexually dimorphic; adult ...

and a

gorilla Gorillas are herbivorous, predominantly ground-dwelling great apes that inhabit the tropical forests of equatorial Africa. The genus ''Gorilla'' is divided into two species: the eastern gorilla and the western gorilla, and either four ...

(which were freed by the Turtleoid Kerma) to be their latest henchmen. In season eight, Bebop and Rocksteady seemed to have some form of intelligence and talked and joked around less. Rocksteady and Bebop's last appearance is in the season 8 final
Turtle Trek
In that episode, the Turtles destroy the Technodrome's engines, trapping it and its inhabitants in Dimension X for good. While their bosses

and Shredder returned in the 10th and final season, Bebop and Rocksteady did not. Their ultimate fate was not explained, although it is assumed that they are still somewhere in Dimension X.

''Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles'' (2003–2009)

In the 2003 series episode "Fallen Angel", two characters are seen that are dressed like Bebop and Rocksteady and resemble their pre-mutated appearances. In the episode "Samurai Tourist", the character

Gen Gen may refer to: * ''Gen'' (film), 2006 Turkish horror film directed by Togan Gökbakar * Gen (Street Fighter), a video game character from the ''Street Fighter'' series * Gen Fu, a video game character from the ''Dead or Alive'' series * Gen ...

, also an anthropomorphic rhinoceros, put on human clothing that makes him look almost identical to Rocksteady. Also in that episode, Gen is chased by Kojima, an assassin who happens to be a humanoid warthog. In the '' Fast Forward'' episode " Future Shellshock", Michelangelo falls out of a flying truck and onto another vehicle, the driver of which greatly resembles Bebop, only with smaller, more modern sunglasses.

''Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles'' (2012–2017)

Bebop and Rocksteady appear in the 2012 incarnation, voiced by J. B. Smoove and

Fred Tatasciore Fred Tatasciore (; ) is an American voice actor who has provided voices in animated and live-action films, television shows, and video games. He is known for voicing the Hulk and Beast in various Marvel media and Solomon Grundy in various DC m ...

, respectively. Rocksteady was first introduced in the series as Ivan Steranko, a Russian

arms dealer The arms industry, also known as the arms trade, is a global industry which manufactures and sells weapons and military technology. It consists of a commercial industry involved in the research and development, engineering, production, and se ...

, and artifact collector with a gold tooth, a diamond right eye, and armed with a pair of

brass knuckles Brass knuckles (variously referred to as knuckles, knucks, brass knucks, knucklebusters, knuckledusters, knuckle daggers, English punch, iron fist, paperweight, or a classic) are "fist-load weapons" used in hand-to-hand combat. Brass knuckles ...

(which have a picture of the

Soviet The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, it was nominally a federal union of fifteen nation ...

hammer and sickle The hammer and sickle (Unicode: "☭") zh, s=锤子和镰刀, p=Chuízi hé liándāo or zh, s=镰刀锤子, p=Liándāo chuízi, labels=no is a symbol meant to represent proletarian solidarity, a union between agricultural and industria ...

on each), who is an old friend and business partner of the Shredders. Steranko is known to have

Excalibur Excalibur () is the legendary sword of King Arthur, sometimes also attributed with magical powers or associated with the rightful sovereignty of Britain. It was associated with the Arthurian legend very early on. Excalibur and the Sword in the ...

, the

Spear of Destiny A spear is a pole weapon consisting of a shaft, usually of wood, with a pointed head. The head may be simply the sharpened end of the shaft itself, as is the case with fire hardened spears, or it may be made of a more durable material fasten ...

Alexander the Great Alexander III of Macedon ( grc, Ἀλέξανδρος, Alexandros; 20/21 July 356 BC – 10/11 June 323 BC), commonly known as Alexander the Great, was a king of the ancient Greek kingdom of Macedon. He succeeded his father Philip II to t ...

armor Armour (British English) or armor (American English; see spelling differences) is a covering used to protect an object, individual, or vehicle from physical injury or damage, especially direct contact weapons or projectiles during combat, or ...

tank A tank is an armoured fighting vehicle intended as a primary offensive weapon in front-line ground combat. Tank designs are a balance of heavy firepower, strong armour, and good battlefield mobility provided by tracks and a powerful engi ...

s, a

polar bear The polar bear (''Ursus maritimus'') is a hypercarnivorous bear whose native range lies largely within the Arctic Circle, encompassing the Arctic Ocean, its surrounding seas and surrounding land masses. It is the largest extant bear spe ...

hunting trophy, and a

taxidermy Taxidermy is the art of preserving an animal's body via mounting (over an armature) or stuffing, for the purpose of display or study. Animals are often, but not always, portrayed in a lifelike state. The word ''taxidermy'' describes the proce ...

in his collection and the ability to tell the difference between a fake artifact and a real one. He first appeared in "Enemy of My Enemy," where he met with Shredder for a weapons deal. Shredder didn't seem to trust him very well and had the cargo searched just in case Steranko was pulling any tricks. During the Turtles' fight with Shredder, Steranko got knocked out by the weapon that was being sold to the Foot Clan. In "A Chinatown Ghost Story," it was mentioned that Steranko would pay the Purple Dragons through the roof for the Mystic Dagger. Bebop was later on introduced as Anton Zeck, an

professional thief in a high-tech Tron-based suit with an energy Mohawk, his dance is almost similar to

Michael Jackson Michael Joseph Jackson (August 29, 1958 – June 25, 2009) was an American singer, songwriter, dancer, and philanthropist. Dubbed the " King of Pop", he is regarded as one of the most significant cultural figures of the 20th century. Over ...

's moves, and armed with high-tech gadgets who gave Steranko his diamond right eye in an earlier encounter. He first appeared in "The Legend of the Kuro Kabuto," where he was sent by Steranko to steal Shredder's helmet, the titular Kuro Kabuto. Following his theft, where he left his calling card on a glued-down Rahzar, Zeck ran into the Turtles, who stole the kabuto from him. The Turtles, Rahzar, Fishface, Tiger Claw, and

Baxter Stockman The following is a list of characters in the ''Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles'' franchise. Overview * This table shows the recurring characters and the actors who have portrayed them throughout the franchise. * A dark grey cell indicates the c ...

fought Zeck over the helmet, but he managed to evade them. When Zeck met up with Steranko in his helicopter, they both discovered that Leonardo swapped the helmet out with dirty diapers at the last minute, to Steranko's rage. In "Serpent Hunt" and "The Pig and the Rhino", three months after the Kraang conquered New York, a desperate Steranko and Zeck resolve to capture the mutated Karai in exchange for Shredder securing their safe departure from the city. The duo succeeded, but Shredder was livid at the revelation that Steranko was behind the theft of the Kabuto helmet and that Karai escaped when the Turtles interfered. An enraged Shredder proceed to have the duo mutated in Stockman-Fly's lab, Zeck and Steranko respectively exposed to

and

white rhinoceros The white rhinoceros, white rhino or square-lipped rhinoceros (''Ceratotherium simum'') is the largest extant species of rhinoceros. It has a wide mouth used for grazing and is the most social of all rhino species. The white rhinoceros consists ...

DNA introduced to their two mutagen exposure. After made Foot Clan members against their will, the two are sent after Karai before deciding to go after the Turtles instead out of misplaced revenge. They managed to capture

Raphael Raffaello Sanzio da Urbino, better known as Raphael (; or ; March 28 or April 6, 1483April 6, 1520), was an Italian painter and architect of the High Renaissance. His work is admired for its clarity of form, ease of composition, and visual a ...

and

Casey Jones John Luther "Casey" Jones (March 14, 1863 – April 30, 1900) was an American railroader who was killed when his passenger train collided with a stalled freight train at Vaughan, Mississippi. Jones was a locomotive engineer for the Illinois C ...

before cornering Leonardo and Michelangelo at Coney Island, the latter serving as a distraction while coming up with their mutant names from the van they arrived in. Steranko like "Rocksteady" while Zeck was not fond of initially "Bebop", the two ultimately escaping after briefly fighting the heroes over the retro-mutagen batch Donatello had concocted. They were able to recapture Karai and deliver her to their new master. Rocksteady became the Shredder's connection to the Russian mafia, as mentioned in "Casey Jones Vs. the Underworld". In "The Noxious Avenger", Bebop and Rocksteady were tasked by Stockman to retrieve a chemical known as "Reagent-X" (and some groceries, to their anger) in order for to create a mind control serum for Shredder to use on Karai, inadvertently finding some mutagen in the process. During their battle with the Turtles however, the mutagen they found wound up being thrown by Zeck all over humble sewer worker-turned- garbage man Garson Grunge, who mutated into Muckman. After witnessing him defeat the Turtles in a later encounter, Bebop and Rocksteady took advantage of the lost and confused Muckman, by convincing him that it was the Turtles' doing for his mutation. Muckman then temporarily helped the duo steal another chemical fighting the Turtles, but eventually came to his senses after noticing Bebop and Rocksteady's true nature when the Turtles rescued him, thus turning on them and destroying the chemical, which caused Bebop and Rocksteady to retreat. In "Meet Mondo Gecko", the two attended Xever's underground mutant race with the rest of the Foot and other mutants who were foes of the Turtles. In "The Deadly Venom," a mind-controlled Karai was able to defeat Rocksteady in combat as part of a test to see if the mind-control serum worked on her. In "Attack of the Mega Shredder!" the duo are ordered to maintain constant surveillance of the Foot's base, as the Shredder believes the Turtles will soon infiltrate it. Shredder's premonition is proven correct and the two help Tiger Claw and a new trio of Shredder mutants fend off the Turtles. The two capture Leonardo and Michelangelo when they infiltrate the base once again, and prepare to dump them into Stockman's vat of mutagen. However, the two are tricked by Leonardo to create a massive mutant from the Turtles and the three Shredder mutants. Bebop also dumps some sardines into the vat with the Shredder mutants, inadvertently creating a massive Shredder mutant Kaiju that goes on a rampage. After the Turtles defeat the monster, the Shredder is livid at the two, and orders Tiger Claw to deal them a savage beating for their failures. The duo helped subdue the Turtles to be placed in Karai's traps during "The Fourfold Trap", also suffering a brutal defeat at the hands of Splinter when he came looking for his sons. In "Annihilation: Earth" Pt. 2, when the Triceratons came to Earth with the intention of destroying it, the two helped battle the aliens until Shredder doomed them all by killing Splinter. Terrified, the two embraced each other as they were sucked into the

black hole A black hole is a region of spacetime where gravity is so strong that nothing, including light or other electromagnetic waves, has enough energy to escape it. The theory of general relativity predicts that a sufficiently compact mass can defo ...

generated by the Triceratons, making them among the first casualties of the destruction of the Earth. However, thanks to Professor Zayton Honeycutt reversing time back six months to before the events of "Annihilation: Earth", the duo were revived, and thanks to the Turtles of the future, the Black Hole Generator is stopped, before being destroyed, along with the Triceraton Mother Ship, by the Fugitoid in a

kamikaze , officially , were a part of the Japanese Special Attack Units of military aviators who flew suicide attacks for the Empire of Japan against Allied naval vessels in the closing stages of the Pacific campaign of World War II, intending ...

attack. Shredder is beaten by Splinter, and the duo are forced to flee Manhattan with the rest of Shredder's crew. They reappear at the end of "City at War", where taking refuge in a condominium deep in the woods, the duo act as

bodyguards A bodyguard (or close protection officer/operative) is a type of security guard, government law enforcement officer, or servicemember who protects a person or a group of people — usually witnesses, high-ranking public officials or officers, ...

for Shredder as he is cared for by Stockman-Fly due to the injuries he sustained leaving him hooked up to

medical equipment A medical device is any device intended to be used for medical purposes. Significant potential for hazards are inherent when using a device for medical purposes and thus medical devices must be proved safe and effective with reasonable assura ...

to keep him alive before Stockman-Fly injects him with mutagen. They soon are teamed up with Tiger Claw in "Broken Foot" to defend the Auman Chemicals factory from Karai as she begins to systematically take down Shredder's criminal empire one piece at a time. After Karai, Shinigami, and Leo are able to damage the factory, but are forced to flee due to being outnumbered by Foot-bots, the duo pursue the Party Wagon, and manage to crash it by removing one of its back tires with their own van's weapons, but the Turtles escape. They regroup with Tiger Claw to defend the factory producing the Foot-bots, but though they manage to capture Karai, Shinigami, and the Foot Ninja with them, the Turtles, minus Donatello, who was injured by the earlier attack's explosives, are able to rescue them and destroy the factory, forcing the duo and Tiger Claw to escape before the

NYPD The New York City Police Department (NYPD), officially the City of New York Police Department, established on May 23, 1845, is the primary municipal law enforcement agency within the City of New York, the largest and one of the oldest i ...

arrived to investigate the destruction. When their master was fully restored to full strength (and upon receiving a massive dose of special mutagen), they were ordered to seek out the Turtles down in the subway sewers. They eventually succeeded in breaking through the steel door, where the Turtles, April, and Karai were hiding. The pair clashed with the Turtles several more times before the death of the Shredder in the fourth season finale, "Owari". Despite the death of their master, Tiger Claw, the new leader of the Foot, pressed them into service once again. After the demodragon Kavaxas (voiced by

Mark Hamill Mark Richard Hamill (; born September 25, 1951) is an American actor and writer. He is known for his role as Luke Skywalker in the ''Star Wars'' film series, beginning with the original 1977 film and subsequently winning three Saturn Awards ...

) resurrected the Shredder as a shambling corpse, Bebop and Rocksteady abandoned the Foot Clan for good in "End Times", out of an accurate fear that they were in over their heads. In the three-part episode saga ''Crossover Tales'', Bebop and Rocksteady are employed by 1987 counterparts of Shredder and Krang to conquer Earth of both 1987 and 2012 realities along with eliminates both realities' Turtles. Despite the frequent mistreatment from Shredder and Krang due to their history with their 1987 counterparts, Bebop and Rocksteady earn their respect before turning upon realizing they intend to destroy the planet and consider becoming super heroes instead. When the 1987 Turtles return to their reality, they tell the 1987 versions of Bebop and Rocksteady that they're allowed to choose their own lives, causing the two to start re-considering their life choices. When Nickelodeon Rocksteady shows up his merits before he joined the Foot Clan, it shows he fought as a volunteer in

Iraq Iraq,; ku, عێراق, translit=Êraq officially the Republic of Iraq, '; ku, کۆماری عێراق, translit=Komarî Êraq is a country in Western Asia. It is bordered by Turkey to the north, Iran to the east, the Persian Gulf and ...

, the Yugoslavian Civil War and the Congo Wars.

Film

* Bebop and Rocksteady were planned to be included in '' Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles II: The Secret of the Ooze''. ''Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles'' creators

Kevin Eastman Kevin Brooks Eastman (born May 30, 1962) is an American comic book artist and writer best known for co-creating the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles with Peter Laird. Eastman was also formerly the editor and publisher of the magazine '' Heavy Meta ...

and Peter Laird objected, partially due to having to go through legal clearances for the characters, resulting in the characters being replaced by

Tokka and Rahzar The following is a list of characters in the ''Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles'' franchise. Overview * This table shows the recurring characters and the actors who have portrayed them throughout the franchise. * A dark grey cell indicates the c ...

. * Bebop and Rocksteady are mentioned in the song "Shell Shock" by

Gym Class Heroes Gym Class Heroes was an American rap rock band from Geneva, New York. The group formed in 1997 when Travie McCoy met drummer Matt McGinley during their high school gym class. The band's music displays a wide variety of influences, including hip ...

, featuring during the end credits of '' TMNT''. * Bebop and Rocksteady appear in '' Turtles Forever'', voiced by Braford Cameron and Johnny Castro, respectively. Their human forms are also seen when the Turtles first travel back to the 1987 dimension. In a flashback describing how the Turtles crossed dimensions, they said to their Turtle counterparts that they were facing off against Shredder and the Technodrome, meaning that he got the machine out of Dimension X (as well as Rocksteady and Bebop). Their incompetence is still shown, although it ended up saving the 2003 Shredder when Rocksteady accidentally tripped over and unplugged a laser that was about to destroy him, although Bebop ended up obliterating the 2003 Shredder anyway when he replugged the same laser device all the while thinking he would be pleased that they "fixed" his machine. All this happened just as the Utrom Shredder was unleashing a plan that would wipe out Ninja Turtles of all planes of existence (even if it meant destroying himself since he was still linked to them), so ironically, Bebop saved all of Turtle existence. * Bebop and Rocksteady were planned to be included in ''

'', but did not make it into the final draft. * Bebop and Rocksteady appear in '' Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Out of the Shadows'', portrayed by

Gary Anthony Williams Gary Anthony Williams (born March 14, 1966) is an American actor, comedian and filmmaker. He voiced the character of Uncle Ruckus on '' The Boondocks'', and a number of video game characters. He also appeared on the television series '' Weeds' ...

and

Sheamus Stephen Farrelly (born 28 January 1978) is an Irish professional wrestler and actor. He is currently signed to WWE, where he performs on the SmackDown brand under the ring name Sheamus. Prior to joining WWE, he wrestled on the European ind ...

, respectively. While Bebop's true name is Anton Zeck, the rap sheet in prison guard Casey Jones' hand lists Rocksteady as Owen Rocksteed (though it mentions Ivan Steranko as one of his aliases). Originally, they were two criminals being transported at the same time as the Shredder, after they provide assistance in Shredder's rescue and escape themselves, he selects them as test subjects for a new variation of the mutagen, which taps into dormant animal DNA in their system from a point before life on Earth began to evolve in different routes, causing them to mutate into their more familiar states. While portrayed as more competent than their cartoonish incarnations, Rocksteady and Bebop are powerful fighters but intellectually limited. They constantly goof around, are easily distracted, and at one point Rocksteady becomes completely carried away in the heat of battle and attempts to shoot at the turtles with a Mark 19 grenade launcher mounted on an M1 Abrams tank while they are in a transport plane, resulting in him destroying the cockpit and sending the plane into a crash-dive into a

river A river is a natural flowing watercourse, usually freshwater, flowing towards an ocean, sea, lake or another river. In some cases, a river flows into the ground and becomes dry at the end of its course without reaching another body of ...

. There are no scenes in the movie in which Bebop and Rocksteady are seen apart. Casey Jones later fights Bebop and Rocksteady in TCRI's parking garage and tricks them into going into an intermodal container where Casey sets off one of their miniature explosives. Around the end of the movie, it was mentioned in April's news broadcast that Bebop and Rocksteady have been arrested and are in police custody.

Video games

* Bebop and Rocksteady appear as bosses in the NES game ''

''. * Bebop and Rocksteady appear as bosses in the arcade game ''

''. In the game, the Turtles defeat Rocksteady in the first level and Bebop in the second level, and then have a rematch with Rocksteady and Bebop together immediately before rescuing April. Occasionally, Rocksteady and Bebop bump into each other in their attempts to charge the Turtles, but it only resets their stamina to full (but not their overall health). When the game was released on the

NES The Nintendo Entertainment System (NES) is an 8-bit third-generation home video game console produced by Nintendo. It was first released in Japan in 1983 as the commonly known as the The NES, a redesigned version, was released in American ...

, the rematch with Rocksteady and Bebop was replaced with a second battle with Baxter Stockman in his mutated insect form. * Bebop and Rocksteady appear as bosses in '' Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles III: The Manhattan Project''. In this version, Bebop is armed with a head-mounted ball and chain. * Bebop and Rocksteady appear as bosses in '' Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Fall of the Foot Clan''. * Bebop and Rocksteady appear as bosses in '' Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles II: Back from the Sewers''. * Bebop and Rocksteady appear as bosses in '' Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Manhattan Missions''. * Bebop and Rocksteady appear in the

Super NES The Super Nintendo Entertainment System (SNES), commonly shortened to Super NES or Super Nintendo, is a Fourth generation of video game consoles, 16-bit home video game console developed by Nintendo that was released in 1990 in Japan and South ...

version of '' Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Turtles in Time''. They are dressed as pirates and paired together as a double boss, appearing in the pirate ship level where the Turtles

time travel Time travel is the concept of movement between certain points in time, analogous to movement between different points in space by an object or a person, typically with the use of a hypothetical device known as a time machine. Time travel is a ...

to 1530, replacing the arcade bosses

. (Tokka and Rahzar became

miniboss In video games, a boss is a significant computer-controlled opponent. A fight with a boss character is commonly referred to as a boss battle or boss fight. Bosses are generally far stronger than other opponents the player has faced up to that ...

es in the newly added Technodrome level instead). * Rocksteady appears as a boss in '' Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: The Hyperstone Heist''. Bebop, however, is nowhere to be seen in this game. * Bebop and Rocksteady appear in the background of the Mount Olympus arena in the Super NES version of '' Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Tournament Fighters''. * Bebop and Rocksteady appear as bosses in ''

'', voiced by André Sogliuzzo and Cam Clarke, respectively. * Bebop and Rocksteady appear as bosses in '' Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutants in Manhattan'', voiced by

Tim Dadabo Timothy Nicholas Dadabo (born March 1961) is an American voice actor and singer. He is known for his voice over work in video games, movies and TV shows. Filmography TV series Films *'' A Turtle's Tale: Sammy's Adventures'' – Policeman *''Es ...

and Fred Tatasciore, respectively. * Bebop and Rocksteady appear as bosses in Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Shredder's Revenge, voiced by

and

, respectively. In this game, Bebop interrupts a broadcast to inform the Turtles that the Foot Clan is taking over the Statue of Liberty. He is defeated in the first level, as is Rocksteady in the second level, then they rematch the Turtles together at the end of the third level. *Bebop is mentioned in ''

Injustice 2 ''Injustice 2'' is a 2017 fighting video game it is the sequel to 2013's '' Injustice: Gods Among Us'' and is the second installment in the ''Injustice'' franchise based upon the DC Universe. It is developed by NetherRealm Studios and publishe ...

'' by Leonardo as a random clash quote.

Action figures

Bebop and Rocksteady were among the first 10 action figures released by

in 1988. Rocksteady was packaged with a "Retromutagen Rifle" which was most likely modeled after a

US Army The United States Army (USA) is the land service branch of the United States Armed Forces. It is one of the eight U.S. uniformed services, and is designated as the Army of the United States in the U.S. Constitution.Article II, section 2, c ...

M60 general purpose machine gun. Other accessories included a "Turtle Carver Knife" (a bowie knife), a "Manhole Cover Shield", and a removable belt with turtle shell trophies. Bebop was packaged with a "Turtle Shell Drill" (which resembled a power drill but with its own telescopic sight attached), a double-edged knife that resembled the Fairbairn-Sykes fighting knife, and a trashcan lid for a shield. Both retailed originally at $3.98 each. Bebop and Rocksteady saw continuous release as they were on store shelves for close to a decade from 1988 to 1995. Three years later both Bebop and Rocksteady were reissued as KB Toys exclusives commemorating 10 years of the first toy line. The reissues have the date stamps changed from 1988 to 1998. Both figures were reissued again in 2009 to commemorate the 25th anniversary of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles franchise. Other figure incarnations of Bebop and Rocksteady were produced for the Wacky Action, Night Ninjas, Mutant Military 2, Mutation, Smash 'em/Bash 'em, Tournament Fighters, Sewer Heroes, and Warriors of the Forgotten Sewer sub lines and in 13 in. "Giant" scale. In late 2013, figures of Bebop and Rocksteady were released for the Classic Collection toy line.

Weapons

In the 1987 series, Rocksteady and Bebop were armed with various types, makes, and models of

firearm A firearm is any type of gun designed to be readily carried and used by an individual. The term is legally defined further in different countries (see Legal definitions). The first firearms originated in 10th-century China, when bamboo tubes ...

s and

laser A laser is a device that emits light through a process of optical amplification based on the stimulated emission of electromagnetic radiation. The word "laser" is an acronym for "light amplification by stimulated emission of radiation". The f ...

weaponry from both Earth and Dimension X. In the early episodes of the 1987 cartoon series, Bebop and Rocksteady were armed with

automatic rifles An automatic rifle is a type of autoloading rifle that is capable of fully automatic fire. Automatic rifles are generally select-fire weapons capable of firing in semi-automatic and automatic firing modes (some automatic rifles are capable of ...

and

machine guns A machine gun is a fully automatic, rifled autoloading firearm designed for sustained direct fire with rifle cartridges. Other automatic firearms such as automatic shotguns and automatic rifles (including assault rifles and battle rifl ...

, which they used against the Turtles. Later in the series, they were armed with laser

rifle A rifle is a long-barreled firearm designed for accurate shooting, with a barrel that has a helical pattern of grooves (rifling) cut into the bore wall. In keeping with their focus on accuracy, rifles are typically designed to be held with b ...

s and

pistol A pistol is a handgun, more specifically one with the chamber integral to its gun barrel, though in common usage the two terms are often used interchangeably. The English word was introduced in , when early handguns were produced in Europe, a ...

s from Dimension X. In "The Cat Woman from Channel Six", Rocksteady carried a wooden

sword A sword is an edged, bladed weapon intended for manual cutting or thrusting. Its blade, longer than a knife or dagger, is attached to a hilt and can be straight or curved. A thrusting sword tends to have a straighter blade with a pointed ti ...

and Bebop carried a

baseball bat A baseball bat is a smooth wooden or metal club used in the sport of baseball to hit the ball after it is thrown by the pitcher. By regulation it may be no more than in diameter at the thickest part and no more than in length. Although histor ...

. Besides the extensive array of firepower from both Earth and Dimension X at their disposal, Bebop and Rocksteady were also armed with combat knives; Bebop with a double-edged knife (which resembles the ''Fairbairn-Sykes Fighting Knife'') and Rocksteady with a

machete Older machete from Latin America Gerber machete/saw combo Agustín Cruz Tinoco of San Agustín de las Juntas, Oaxaca">San_Agustín_de_las_Juntas.html" ;"title="Agustín Cruz Tinoco of San Agustín de las Juntas">Agustín Cruz Tinoco of San ...

. In some episodes, they are seen fighting over a club. The use of firearms and laser weaponry by Bebop and Rocksteady help to differentiate them from both the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles,

Splinter A splinter (also known as a sliver) is a fragment of a larger object, or a foreign body that penetrates or is purposely injected into a body. The foreign body must be lodged inside tissue to be considered a splinter. Splinters may cause initial ...

, the Shredder, and the Foot Soldiers/Ninjas who use traditional ninja weaponry. This is because Bebop and Rocksteady were never ninjas, but street punks that were skilled in the use of firearms and knives before they were mutated. In the game series they use a variety of different weapons. In ''TMNT: The Arcade Game'', Rocksteady used a machine gun while Bebop used a ray gun. In ''The Manhattan Project'', Rocksteady uses a harpoon gun, while Bebop uses a ball and chain mounted on his head. They were absent from the arcade version of ''Turtles in Time'', but in the Super NES version, Rocksteady and Bebop were dressed as a pirate captain and first mate respectively. Rocksteady used a

rapier A rapier () or is a type of sword with a slender and sharply-pointed two-edged blade that was popular in Western Europe, both for civilian use ( dueling and self-defense) and as a military side arm, throughout the 16th and 17th centuries. Im ...

while Bebop used a

whip A whip is a tool or weapon designed to strike humans or other animals to exert control through pain compliance or fear of pain. They can also be used without inflicting pain, for audiovisual cues, such as in equestrianism. They are generally e ...

. In the 2012 series, Anton Zeck/Bebop is equipped with many gadgets, such as gauntlet-mounted lasers, z-ray glasses, a sliding backpack, a tub of glue, a cloaking device run by Double A batteries, a laser Mohawk, and belt-mounted laser-blasters. Ivan Steranko/Rocksteady is equipped with two

, a

war hammer A war hammer (French: ''martel-de-fer'', "iron hammer") is a weapon that was used by both foot soldiers and cavalry. It is a very old weapon and gave its name, owing to its constant use, to Judah Maccabee, a 2nd-century BC Jewish rebel, and to Ch ...

, a

sickle A sickle, bagging hook, reaping-hook or grasshook is a single-handed agricultural tool designed with variously curved blades and typically used for harvesting, or reaping, grain crops or cutting succulent forage chiefly for feeding livestock, ...

, a laser

minigun The M134 Minigun is an American 7.62×51mm NATO six-barrel rotary machine gun with a high rate of fire (2,000 to 6,000 rounds per minute). It features a Gatling-style rotating barrel assembly with an external power source, normally an electr ...

, a

flamethrower A flamethrower is a ranged incendiary device designed to project a controllable jet of fire. First deployed by the Byzantine Empire in the 7th century AD, flamethrowers saw use in modern times during World War I, and more widely in World ...

, a dart-rifle, and

grenades A grenade is an explosive weapon typically thrown by hand (also called hand grenade), but can also refer to a shell (explosive projectile) shot from the muzzle of a rifle (as a rifle grenade) or a grenade launcher. A modern hand grenade ge ...

References

External links

Bebop's profile on the official TMNT website

{{Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Animated duos Villains in animated television series Black characters in films Comics characters introduced in 1988 Fictional African-American people Television characters introduced in 1987 Fictional characters with superhuman strength Fictional duos Fictional gang members Fictional gangsters Fictional henchmen Fictional Iraq War veterans Fictional kidnappers Fictional mutants Fictional rhinoceroses Fictional warthogs Fictional Yugoslav War veterans Male characters in animation Male characters in comics Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles characters Video game bosses Film supervillains Male supervillains fr:Personnages des Tortues Ninja#Bebop et Rocksteady