The Triceratons are a species of extraterrestrials resembling anthropomorphic triceratops and villains from the various forms of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles media.
Description
The Triceratons usually breathe a mix of nitrogen and sulfur and thus usually use helmets or some other device to provide themselves with a suitable breathing environment. They are a saurian species and may be genetically similar to the Triceratops from Earth. The Triceratons are an extremely strong and aggressive species, as well as very loyal to their race, and are herbivores. They make their home worlds on asteroids, building ion drives on them, and turning them into mobile cities. The Triceratons also use these asteroids as military staging grounds, factories, universities, research centers, and arenas for sporting events. They are highly successful conquerors, thanks to the fact that they eagerly use new technology and always change their tactics to adapt to that. The Triceratons are also able to adapt to new atmospheres well thanks to their technology. Some of their agents also take a drug called Xemorene, which is an extremely, addictive drug that enhances speed and nervous systems, but withdrawal can cause heart failure and death. The Triceratons’ technology is quite advanced and use anti-gravity vehicles and energy weapons regularly. Their government is known as the Triceraton Republic or Empire.
Comics
A Triceraton in the comics.
The Triceratons were a large empire, covering the entire central area of the Milky Way Galaxy. At some point, their home planet was destroyed and for some time, they’d been engaged in a conflict with the Human Federation. At one point, the Turtles were accidentally transported to space controlled by Triceraton. During their time there, the Ninja Turtles were forced to fight in a combat tournament, but managed to get back to Earth. However three Triceratons were brought back as well, one was captured by DARPA and another, Zog, went into hiding until he was found by the Turtles before their second fight with the Shredder (though one has never been accounted for). Later on, after the Turtles were invited to the T.C.R.I.’s home planet, but then the Triceratons attacked an outpost, which had a Transmat link to the Utrom homeworld. However the Turtles transported to the station and self-destructed it. Later on when the Turtles were looking for Raphael, who’d been missing after a fight with Baxter Stockman, they found the Triceratons launching an invasion of Nevada. The ship the invasion force was using was falling apart from the trip and the Triceratons tried to ram it into the Earth. They planned to sling shot themselves around the Sun and engage impulse speed, but their plan was foiled. This was due to Louis Brauzne’s inter-phasic cannon, which turned the Triceraton ship etheral, causing it to harmlessly pass through the Earth’s surface and re-solidify in the planet’s core, vaporizing it. During his time in the sewers, the Triceraton, Zog, began constructing a Triceraton aircar, that Donatello found and finished. At one point, Leatherhead and Dr. X tested a Transmat device, which resulted in eight Triceratons being brought to Earth. The group began looking for the Turtles and were lured in by a homing beacon sent out by the aircar. Their leader, Captain Zak, sent one of the group onto the aircar as Donatello was flying it. The Triceratons continued to fight the Turtles, who had help from Leatherhead, but he, along with the last Triceraton, were transmatted away.
The Triceratons appears in the IDw comics as recurring characters where they fought the Turtles and have teamed up with some of the utroms.
1987 cartoon series
A Triceraton in the 1987 cartoon
The Triceratons appear in only one episode of the 1987 animated series, Night of the Dark Turtle from season 7, and are not seen again.
During a fight scene, Donatello is seriously hurt by Shredder. And while Shredder eludes the security guards (without his Micro Blaster), the Turtles also retreat back to the lair with a semi-conscious Donatello. Meanwhile, three Star Cruisers loaded with Triceratons have landed in the city, claiming the Earth as Triceraton property.
Leonardo, Michelangelo and Raphael battle the Triceratons, who are intent upon sending the Earth through their Star Gate and back to the Triceraton Homeworlds where it will be stripped clean.
Leonardo, Michelangelo and Raphael are helpless without Donatello and his brains. The 3 decide that they have to find Don and bring him to his senses, with only one hour remaining before the end of the world as we know it.
Back to where it all started, Donatello/The Dark Turtle and Shredder are engaged in a final showdown and it looks as if Donatello has the upper hand. In fact, it appears that Donatello really will kill Shredder once and for all!
But Leonardo, Raphael and Michelangelo arrive just in time to save Shredder's life and cause Donatello to fall and knock himself unconscious again.
When Donatello regains consciousness he cannot remember anything and is confused to find himself wearing a comic book character costume. Meanwhile, time is running out for planet Earth, but thanks to Donatello's quick thinking, he is able to convince the Triceratons that he is the ruler of Earth and that the animatronic dinosaurs from the Natural History Museum are his minions.
Of course, Donatello's use of Shredder's Micro Blaster also helped to convince the Triceratons that they should get out.
2003 cartoon series
A typical Triceraton soldier
Once, the Triceraton Republic was an honorable empire of warriors, but Zanramon took over. The republic became corrupt and hungry for conquest and was soon, nothing more than a dictatorship. In an attempt to get a foothold over their enemies, the Federation, the Triceratons went after Professor Honeycutt, who’d created a device called the teleportal. It was able to transport anything anywhere and had the potential to be one of the most useful weapons in the universe. With help from a traitor in the Federation, the Triceratons captured Honeycutt and promised him protection if he built them the teleportal. He refused, but when they found out he was friends with the Turtles, whom they also captured (and who had accidentally been transmatted to the Federation’s galaxy). The Triceratons threatened to execute the Turtles if Honeycutt refused and when he was still reluctant, put the Turtles in their gladiator games. But they escaped, taking Zanramon hostage, which let them escape aboard his personal cruiser. However the Triceratons pursued them, coming into conflict with the Federation, but Honeycutt and the Turtles escaped with a transmat beam sent by the Utroms. The Triceratons managed to track the transmat beam to Earth and invaded, demanding to know the location of Honeycutt, but the United Nations had no clue what they were talking about. However the Triceratons soon found Honeycutt was not on Earth since they couldn’t find his positronic signature anywhere on the planet. They left, but soon returned when Honeycutt came back from the Utrom’s home planet to surrender himself. What resulted was a chase around New York with the Turtles trying to keep Honeycutt away from the Triceratons. However they were ambushed by a fleet from the Federation, who were working with the Earth Protection Force. Honeycutt managed to disable the Federation ships and Zanramon ordered them to be destroyed, but his general, Commander Mozar, refused. Zanramon was then overthrown in a coup d’eta led by Traximus and the Triceraton Republic became a republic again. In the future, the Triceratons were part of the Pan Galactic Alliance and some even lived on Earth.
2012 series
Triceratons in the 2012 series.
The Triceratons were portrayed as righteous, but far more violent and ruthless in the 2012 series. The Triceratons are the hated rivals of the Kraang, whom they have long battled for control of Dimension X. The conflict has been incredibly fierce, with the Kraang going so far as to destroy the Triceraton home world with a black-hole generator. As a result, only a single fleet-including the Triceraton Mother Ship-survives, but has become all the more determined to destroy the Kraang by any means necessary. Unlike in the original comics and 2003 series, the government of the Triceratons is not in form of the Republic, but an Empire like in the 1987 series.
One triceraton named Zog discovered that the kraang had infiltrated Earth, and proclaimed that the entire planet should be destroyed to ensure their extinction. Despite the Turtle's attempt to stop him, Zog managed to send a signal to his fleet before his demise.
The fleet arrived, led by Commander Mozar, and began the preparations for the heart of darkness, the weapon that had originally annihilated their own planet. The turtle's gathered all their allies and even their enemies, such as Shredder, Tiger Claw, Rahzar, Fishface, Bebop and Rocksteady to fight the aliens off. But Shredder cared more about his vendetta with Splinter than the fate of the world, and thus killed the anthropomorphic rat before they could deactivate the weapon. The planet was then evaporated along with all of it's inhabitants as a result. The triceratons, deeming their mission a success, left. However, minutes before the destruction, the Turtle's, Casey and April were rescued by the Fugitoid who brought them away from Earth in his spaceship.
In "Earth's Last Stand", the Fugitoid sacrifices himself to destroy the black hole generator and wipe out Triceratons.
