Character Spotlight: Tatsu (sort of)

The current run of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles comics by IDW is trying to more or less be the definitive TMNT story by synthesizing all the Ninja Turtles media that came before it. As such, that means it has had a ton of canon immigrants and will continue to have many more.

This week: Not Tatsu!

In TMNT Universe #12 (July 2017), Karai runs afoul of a biker chick who shoots her in the shoulder. Later, it turns out the girl, named Natsu, is the granddaughter of one of Karai's new business partners.

Now, there's no character from the movies or tv shows named Natsu. But there is a Tatsu.

In Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (1989), Tatsu is Shredder's right hand man and helps train the Foot members. Originally, Natsu was supposed to be Tatsu, but the writer discovered he was not able to use the character. So here's the interesting question: will Natsu grow into a role similar to Tatsu? Or will she be her own thing? After all, Karai is currently in charge of the Foot, so it's very possible Natsu could become her second-in-command. But she could also go in a completely different direction, such as taking over the Purple Dragons or something.

Either way, she was originally meant to be Tatsu, and she's in a position that she could take a similar role as him, so I'm going to count it.