Bebop and Rocksteady

Bebop and Rocksteady are the two supporting villains in the 1987 Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles cartoon series. They take orders from the series villain the Shredder, leader of the Foot Clan. Their names are both from genres of music: bebop is a style of jazz; while rocksteady is a Jamaican music style, a precursor to reggae.

They were originally human, part of a street gang in New York City that was employed by Shredder. Rocksteady was originally a short and stocky blond Caucasian man (who sported army camouflage pants that would be replaced with simple beige cargo pants later while also occasionally sporting a strong Army helmet on his head in his mutated form). Bebop was a taller African American 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 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 Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, 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, so that they would have abilities parallel to the Turtles'. Bebop and Rocksteady both volunteered to undergo the procedure (though neither was particularly aware of what it would entail) with the promise that it would allow them to exact revenge on the Turtles. Bebop was mutated into a human warthog, and Rocksteady into a rhinoceros. However, though the transformation did make them larger and stronger, they remained incompetent simpletons and were completely inept at stopping the Turtles or carrying out Shredder's plans. For example, in "Enter the Shredder" they charged at the Turtles, who jumped, and crashed they into each other. Donatello commented that their mutations didn't "up their IQ's any." For most of the series they were employed for purposes however, the Turtles certainly consider them to be formidable (despite their stupidity) in combat due to their great strength and endurance, and as such, often use their intelligence to outwit them rather than fighting them in a straightforward manner. In one episode of the series, Bebop was shown to have kept a pet turtle, which got mutated into the evil turtle Slash.

Bebop and Rocksteady's last appearance is in the season 8 finale Turtle Trek. In that episode, the Turtles destroy the Technodrome's engines, trapping it and its inhabitants in Dimension X for good. Bebop and Rocksteady are never seen again after that episode, but Krang and Shredder return during the 10th and last season. Bebop and Rocksteady are presumed to still be somewhere in Dimension X.

They made a reappearance in the made-for-tv movie 'Turtles Forever'. Their incompetence is still shown, although it ended up saving the 2003 Shredder when they accidentally tripped over and unplugged a laser that was about to destroy him, although they ended up obliterating the 2003 Shredder anyway when they replugged the same laser device all the while thinking he would be pleased that they "fixed" his machine.