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In nature, real turtles are mostly grey to brown, so why are the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles depicted as green (their skin is colored bright green)?

I expect the answer will be "meta" and not "in-universe" though if I would need to offer an "in-universe" answer I say that the green mutagen ooze colored the turtles green.

References to turtles' colors (updating list):

Red-Eared Slider Terrapin: Juvenile Adult

Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Red-eared_slider

Yellow-bellied slider: enter image description here

Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pond_slider

Green Sea Turtle: enter image description here enter image description here Sources: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Green_Sea_Turtle_grazing_seagrass.jpg https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Green_Sea_Turtle_swimming.jpg

It seems more brown to yellow than olive green.

Triceratops
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    To clarify, are you specifically asking why they're green post-mutation, or are you asking why they're green, full stop? Because in some continuities at least, potentially all of them, they were probably depicted as having green skin both pre and post-mutation. See here, for example. – LogicDictates Jun 20 '23 at 10:05
  • I ask both. Though my explanation above can explain only the post-mutation green-ness. – Triceratops Jun 20 '23 at 10:10
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    It looks like most (if not every) animated shows depict turtles as being green. – Clockwork Jun 20 '23 at 10:27
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    It looks like (from Wikipedia) that the first comics were in black and white and it was the introduction of the toy line when things such as colour coded masks appeared, so it's probably linked to how the toys were produced – A.Steer Jun 20 '23 at 12:02
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    It also seems in most cases the turtles mutant from Red-eared slider terrapins, which are described as green. Another Wikipedia search ("In young or recently hatched turtles, it is leaf green and gets slightly darker as a turtle gets older, until it is a very dark green, and then turns a shade between brown and olive green.") – A.Steer Jun 20 '23 at 12:06
  • There are green turtles IRL. Aquatic turtles also often appear green when you look at them due to the environment, even if they have more brown-ish tones in isolation. – Cubic Jun 20 '23 at 12:28
  • I checked Wikipedia, and some of the Red-Eared Slider terrapins are olive green when they are hatchling-to-juveniles but most adults are striped black and yellow. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Red-eared_slider – Triceratops Jun 20 '23 at 12:39
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    After all, it's not easy, being green. – Spencer Jun 20 '23 at 12:43
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    The plastic figurines range in colour from bright green to muddy brown, presumably so that parents and children could distinguish them – Valorum Jun 20 '23 at 13:17
  • For the same reason most reptiles/amphibians are depicted as green in animation. Real world colors have to be simplified for animation. Blondes have bright yellow hair, redheads have hair like stop signs. It's just a staple of animation. If you must have an in-universe explanation, I think the one you cited is the closest you're going to get. – Myykro Jun 20 '23 at 17:12
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    Looking at this list of turtle species that make good pets, a pretty high proportion have skin that looks at least partially green, though they often have stripes or spots of a different color. – Hypnosifl Jun 20 '23 at 17:27

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