Dimension X (Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles)

This article is about the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles cartoon/comics location. For the radio program, see Dimension X.

Dimension X (Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles)
Publication information
Publisher	Archie Comics
In story information
Type	Dimension
Notable people	Krang

Dimension X is a fictional alternate dimension in the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (TMNT) 1987 cartoon series and the TMNT Adventures comics. Dimension X is the home of several characters on the show, most notably one of the main antagonists Krang. Characters usually use the dimensional portal located inside the Technodrome for transportation between Dimension X and Earth, though other portals and other means of travel are occasionally seen.

Natives/Residents

Antrax

Antrax is a character from the 1987 animated series and toyline. He looks like a giant ant wearing the executioner's hood and outfit, and armed with an appropriate axe. In both the toy and the show he's labeled as 'Dimension X's executioner', which makes him an alien rather than another mutant. He appeared once in the older cartoon series in the episode 'Night of the Rogues' where Shredder called all of the Turtles' past foes (including Rat King, Leatherhead, Slash, Tempestra, Chrome Dome, and Scumbug) in hopes of defeating the turtles. Oddly enough, while this was the first appearance of Scumbug and Antrax, April and the TMNT acted as if they encountered them before. Antrax was voiced by Pat Fraley.

General Traag

General Traag, sometimes spelled "Tragg", is the leader of the Rock Soldiers, who sometimes work alongside the Foot Soldiers. He takes orders from Krang. He appeared in the 1987 series, Archie Comics arcade game and teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles II: Back from the Sewers. Traag was voiced by Peter Renaday.

Granitor

Granitor is General Tragg's right hand man, and one of Krang's loyal Rock soldiers from Dimension X. Granitor came following the Neutrinos through the dimensional portal. After a small skirmish with the turtles, the Neutrinos teamed up with them and Michaelangelo and Donatello sent both Granitor and General Tragg back through the portal and to their own dimension. He appeared in the 1987 series, arcade game, and Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles II: Back from the Sewers. Granitor was voiced by Pat Fraley.

Krang

Main article: Krang

Lord Dregg

Lord Dregg was the villain who replaced Shredder as the turtles' main enemy in the last two seasons of the 1987 cartoon. Along with him came his loyal lackey Mung, Dregg's second-in-command and science officer who would always be the subject of Dregg's anger. Lord Dregg was an alien who attempted to take over the world, but his plans were constantly foiled by the Turtles. Eventually, he started a smear campaign against them, which turned the citizens of New York against them and in favor of him; however, this all came to an end in the episode "Doomquest," in which he is unable to fight the titular villain and flees in fear when the Turtles do so, and the populace finally discovered that the Turtles were heroes and Dregg was the villain after April showed them a tape of his true motives. His last attempt involved using a robotic suit to absorb the powers of several other aliens, and kill the Turtles. His plan failed after Donatello and Michelangelo used Krang's android body to shrink him down and banish him to Dimension X. He was voiced by the late Tony Jay, and Mung by Cam Clarke.

Neutrinos

• Dask voiced by Thom Pinto
• Kala voiced by Tress MacNeille
• Zak voiced by Pat Fraley

The Neutrinos are the three and a half hipster, flying hotrod driving, teenagers from Dimension X introduced in the 1987 series episode "Hot Rodding Teenagers from Dimension X". Zak, Dask and Kala joined the Turtles on multiple adventures up to the 1993 season, after which they did not appear. Kala and Michelangelo shared a mutual romantic interest in one another.

Slash

Main article: The Mighty Mutanimals#Slash

Tempestra

Tempestra is a female villain. She was originally a computer generated image in a videogame called Tempestra's Challenge and became a living being during a lightning storm while the game was being played by Leonardo, who had become obsessed with the game due to the fact that he was unable to defeat it. She was defeated by Leonardo and trapped inside a circuit board taken from the now wrecked machine later in the same episode. She returned later on in the series as one of Shredder's Rogues, a group of former enemies of the Turtles whom Shredder had brought together with the intention of destroying them, though they all demanded payment for their services. It is unknown how she escaped the circuit board she was trapped in, though it appears she may now reside within Dimension X, as she is not seen anywhere on Earth after the group fled following their and Shredder's defeat and lack of any payment for continuing to battle the Turtles. Tempestra was voiced by Tress MacNeille.

Wingnut and Screwloose

Main article: The_Mighty_Mutanimals#Wingnut and Screwloose

Locations in Dimension X

Balaraphon

Balaraphon is an alien world inhabited by a peaceful species native to Dimension X. They were attacked unprovoked by an invasion fleet led by Krang and Shredder, but saved thanks to the interference of the TMNT, who had arrived on the planet. The TMNT's arrival on Balaraphon was the final phase of a plan by Shredder to exhaust and trap them after a period of exploration in Dimension X. It is also the scene of the Technodrome's final destruction, as it was dragged down into the pit of a tentacled creature after its engines were blown out by the TMNT whilst escaping Shredder's trap. Balaraphon was seen in the original series episodes "Turtle Trek" and "Divide and Conquer".

Dimension X Penitentiary

The Dimension X Penitentiary is where some of the worst criminals of Dimension X are being held. Convicts include Skaarg, Dementor, and the Dregma Brothers. Unfortunately, the penitentiary is not protected against dimensional portals. It was seen in the episode "Convicts from Dimension X"^[1] of the 1987 TMNT cartoon.

Eden worlds

The Eden worlds are planets reminiscent of the wildernesses of East Africa. More "intelligent" species are forbidden to live on those planets. Cherubae sent Bebop and Rocksteady to an Eden world, so they could not do more "bad things". The Eden worlds appeared in the TMNT Adventures comics. The name "Eden Worlds" refers to the Bible stories in the Old Testament about the Garden of Eden.

Hirobyl

Hirobyl is a planet orbiting an aging and dying red giant star. Krang is said to have destroyed all life on the planet. It appeared in the TMNT Adventures comics. The name of the planet is possibly a reference to the atomic bombing of Hiroshima in 1945 and the 1986 Chernobyl disaster, since the planet is dying and the TMNT refer that a giant structure reminds much of the workers statues who can be seen in the former Soviet Union back in those days.

Huanu

Huanu was a planet that orbited a red star sun. It was the homeworld of Wingnut and Screwloose and their respective races, until Krang assaulted the world, destroying it and all its inhabitants, save the pair, who escaped and swore revenge on the warlord.

Morbus

Morbus is a toxic waste dump and prison planet. It is on Morbus that Krang encounters Slash and Bellybomb. It appeared in the TMNT Adventures comics.

Palmadise

Palmadise was a planet covered in palm trees, and home to Slash. The planet was deforested by the order of the galactic president, who demanded all the palm trees to use as wood for his fireplace. Its current state is unknown.

Serot

Serot is home to some slave pits and is run by Vorx. It is also the location of the pit of the Great Chaarg, which serves as a death penalty for slaves who attempt to rebel or escape. The Turtles were sent there by the Shredder in the episode "Shredder Triumphant"^[2] of the 1987 TMNT cartoon.

Stump Asteroid

Stump Asteroid is the home of Stump and Sling. From this asteroid, they host the Stump & Sling Intergalactic Wrestling, in the Stump Arena. Another alien, Cudley the Cowlick, is in charge of transporting the wrestlers to and from Stump Asteroid. In addition to the Turtles, who wrestled at Stump Asteroid twice, famous wrestlers include Ace Duck, Bloodbath, Cryin' Houn (who later changed his name to El Mysterio) and Leatherhead. Stump Asteroid only appeared in the TMNT Adventures comics.

(unnamed Neutrino's homeworld)

The home planet of the Neutrino people remains unnamed. It was the target of an invasion led by General Traag and ordered by Krang, in the TV-episode "Four Turtles and a Baby."^[3]

(unnamed rocky planet)

During season 2 of the 1987 cartoon series, the Technodrome is located on a rocky landscape, on an unnamed planet in Dimension X.

(unnamed volcanic asteroid)

During season 4 of the 1987 cartoon series, the Technodrome is located on an asteroid with a volcano.

Dimension or galaxy?

Controversy exists on whether Dimension X is an alternate dimension or rather, a distant galaxy. The cartoon and Archie comic provide arguments for both sides.

Dimension

• Whenever a character refers to it directly, it is called Dimension X.
• The device used to travel between Earth and Dimension X is called a "dimensional portal", meaning that it allows travel between dimensions.
• In the episode "Hot Rodding Teenagers from Dimension X," when The Shredder opens the dimensional portal for the first time, he says: "...all those weapons, guns from beyond our universe will be mine!"
• In the cartoon episode "Splinter No More,"^[4] when The Shredder tries to use an ancient magic spell to open a portal to Dimension X, Krang warns him that there are other, more terrifying dimensions he could accidentally get access to.
• In the episode "Bye Bye Fly,"^[5] it is explained that travel to Dimension X can also be achieved using a "dimensional warp drive".
• Interplanetary space in Dimension X has a red-orange color. Furthermore, several characters are seen outdoors in space or walking on asteroids without any form of protective gear, something that would kill them in normal space.
• In the episode "Cyber Turtles", Krang plans to destroy the barrier between the boundaries of Earth and Dimension X, making Earth's boundary merge with Dimension X.
• In the movie Turtles forever the technodrome is used to travel between different dimensions in the TMNT series.

Galaxy

• According to the "TMNT Adventures Sourcebook", Dimension X is a corkscrew spiral galaxy near the center of the universe.
• Several lines of dialogue hint that it is a galaxy called Dimension X:
  • When the Shredder takes the crystal from the two kids in the episode "It Came from Beneath the Sewers,"^[6] one kid asks him from where he came from. He answers that he's "from Dimension X, in a far-off galaxy".
  • Skaarg, a criminal from Dimension X, speaks of the Milky Way as "an inferior galaxy".
• Dimensional portals are sometimes used for transportation between two places on Earth, such as in the episodes "Muckman Messes Up" and "Pirate Radio".
• When Krang tries to take energy from Earth to the Technodrome in Dimension X, in the episode "Super Hero for a Day,"^[7] he says that they need energy from power plants too, because of the distance, meaning that Earth and Dimension X are separated by a physical distance.
• In issue 12 ("The Lost World") of the Archie TMNT comics, Krang, Shredder, Bebop and Rocksteady go from Earth to Dimension X by spacecraft, without using a dimensional portal.
• In the same issue, when they reach Dimension X, it is shown to be a Spiral galaxy. A similar view of Dimension X is used in issue 23 ("Search and Destroy") and issue 25 ("Raw Power").
• In the crossover comic book "The Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles meet the Archies" the flying-cow-head character known as Cudley explains that Dimension X is separated from the Turtle's Earth by space, whereas the world that Riverdale exists in is separated from their world by time.
• Dimension X is shown to be a corkscrew galaxy in Turtles Tournament Fighters for the Sega Genesis.

References

1. ^ Convicts from Dimension X
2. ^ Shredder's Triumphant
3. ^ Four Turtles & a Baby
4. ^ "Splinter No More"
5. ^ Bye, Bye Fly
6. ^ "It Came from Beneath the Sewers"
7. ^ Super Hero for a Day

Further reading

• Gopen's Guide to Closed Captioned Video by Stuart Gopen (1993); Caption Database Inc.; ISBN 0963572601.
• Museum of Voices: An Autobiographical Miscellany by Jay E Valusek (2004); iUniverse; ISBN 0595323022.
• Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Return of the Shredder by Peter Laird, Kevin Eastman (1990); Random House Children's Books; ISBN 0679806865.