NAME: Rocksteady. Taken from a type of Jamaican music, a bit like Reggae.
Age: about late 20s to mid-30s.
Height: 5'8"
Weapon: His usual weapon is the laser blaster, but he always carries a wooden sword strapped to his back, but never uses it! In the first season (1987), he uses a machine gun and a baseball bat before he was mutated.
Good or Bad Guy?: Bad guy.
No. of appearances?: Rocksteady only ever appeared in the original cartoon, and appears in season 1-8(1987-1994) out of the total 10 seasons. He also appears in the Archie Comic series.
Words that Describe Rocksteady: stupid, simple, dumb, comedic, funny, straight-forward, clumsy, childish and dopey.
Favourite Quote?: "Say you're prayers, turtles!"
Status: Main Villain. Former punk gang member in New York, now a dumb half-rhino, half-human mutant who is Krang and Shredder's minion, along with best buddy Bebop.
Voiced By: Cam Clarke in the original toon series.
TMNT Review HQ Analysis: Rocksteady was once human, before Shredder mutated him into this talking rhino to destroy the turtles. His gang friend Bebop, got the same treatment, and this comedic, clumsy Rhino mutant graced our screens from 1987 to 1994, appearing last in the episode "Turtle Trek". Even though Shredder and Krang appear in the 96 season, Rocksteady is nowhere to be seen. Rocksteady perhaps the better looking one of Shredder's 2 mutant minions, but that's not saying much, as Bebop is a warthog mutant. Bummer. Rocksteady-based on his type of voice, and hence comes across as more childish- is perhaps the more insecure of the 2, but he is the one with the catchphrases. Rocksteady also has more of a military look compared to Bebop's punk look. However, both mutants are very similar in personality, low in intelligence, high in strength.
Rocksteady does also appear in the Archie Comics, but never made the movies to some fans dissappointment. No 2003 cartoon for him either.
It all starts when Rocksteady is part of a mean gang of New York punks, along with friend Bebop when he was human, who are assigned by Shredder. Rocksteady and the rest of his gang are set out to trash TV reporter April 'O Neill to stop her reporting about crime in the city, which could've led to the gang on the police's most wanted list. Rocksteady does seem to be the leader of the gang, as he is leading the pack in the first episode "Turtle Tracks". Remember, this is the first time Rocksteady meets and fights the TMNT for the first time.
After failing to dispose of the turtles, Rocksteady volunteers to undergo Shredder's mutagen experiment along with Bebop. This did make Rocksteady stronger physically, but he was still the stupid brainless moron you all know and love. This leads to adventure after adventure of the turtles kicking his butt, and outsmarting him.
Rocksteady's personality is very similar to Bebop's, so it can be hard to differentiate between the two. Rocksteady has a simple love of comic books, and has an enthusiasm for food as well. In "The Adventures of Rhino-man" Rocksteady is the suppoesed hero, while Bebop is a sidekick, which shows maybe Rocksteady was the creator's/writer's favourite. One other memorable part is in the episode "Invasion of the Turtle Snatchers"(1989 Season), where for a few moments, Rocksteady is a good guy, pairing off with Donatello in this virtual alien world wilderness.
Funnily enough, there is a Rocksteady look-a-like in one episode of the 2003 cartoon, "Samurai Tourist", where the alien Gen, in his human disguise looks like Rocksteady.
Rocksteady appears in nearly all the TMNT video games dedicated to the original cartoon. He normally plays as a level boss in the early stages. In some of the games Bebop and Rocksteady are split into different levels, however, Rocksteady is usually the harder boss and most occuring of the two, it seems, because in the Sega Genesis "TMNT:The Hyperstone Heist", Rocksteady appears but Bebop doesn't. He is mostly firing a machine gun as the boss. He appears also in TMNT: Tournament Fighters but only in the background of one level, and is not a playable character. This was sadly Rocksteady's last appearance in a videogame.
