As fun as Mikey would be I think Raph is more up my alley right now and I really love the idea of the potential CR he could get. Like, if we do end up getting a bunch of other turtles I would love having him kind of falling into big brother mode with them over time, especially when it comes to 2012 Raph.

That's gonna be so weird for him at first, seeing this tiny, angry, chronic middle-child version of himself. Then learning all this shit this poor kid has been through. Like, the kid lost his Dad. And yeah, Raph lost Gram-gram, but there's a big difference between losing a Grandmother they just met, and losing their Dad.

I would love to see them bond over shared trauma over time and Raph kind of unconsciously slotting 2012Raph into the little bother zone.

I'm also tempted to be incredibly cruel and pull him from before Mikey managed to save Leo from the Kraang dimension.

Still rolling that idea around in my head, but it's tempting. Especially because it would really affect any conversations the Raphs have about their versions of Leo, or conversations about Raph having been the leader of the Mad Dogs.

Not sure if it's worth making him that miserable, because it would be much harder for him to deal with being brought here if that's his pull point, but it's tempting.

I also have another character option I've been rolling around in my head, because I realized this game is actually a perfect one for Ickis from Aaahh Real Monsters

He'd be very "I think you got the wrong guy" when he's introduced to Jack and given a rundown on how they're there to protect the kids and they're all people that have been pulled here because they give kids comfort in some way.

Because in his world, he's the complete opposite. He's a literal manifestation of human fear, that will start to fade from existence if humans lose their fear of monsters.

On the surface, he has a lot more in common with Pitch and Kuk than he does with The Guardians, which could be really fun to play around with. The major difference between them being that even in his world, he actually likes kids and has made a few friends that are human despite the rules against that.

It wouldn't be his first time protecting human kids. And he's surprisingly actually great with babies and kids when he's not scaring the shit out of them.

The monsters in his world also have a strict rule about not hurting/killing humans (unless they're trying to kill you).

Mostly because killing humans means fewer humans alive to be scared of you. Which is a thing I could see Ickis bringing up to Pitch if he ever did encounter him. Just being like "If you exist because human children believe in you and are scared of you, isn't letting those kids get killed or turned into those...shadow things, bad for you?"

Not understand that Pitch doesn't REALLY work quite the same way as him. Close but no cigare.

He has also dealt with almost being erased from existence because humans stopped believing in monsters in his world, too. Their world had that kind of scare on a large scale twice. The first time was insinuated to have happened during World War II, when humans were so monstrous to each other that they stopped believing in supernatural monsters.

The second time around it was because the nihilism of the 90's almost did them in.

If he hears that Pitch's whole beef with The Guardians is that they made the world so safe, happy, and full of wonder that people stopped being scared of him he's just gonna be like -

"But the best time to scare humans is when they're safe and happy! That's when they're the least likely to see you coming. That's when you get the BEST scares!"

Basically pulling a "sounds like a skill issue to me".

You should be thriving in this environment, man! What are you even doing with your life?

Something he would definitely instantly regret saying, but he's way too impulsive to not say it.

I also love the idea of Ickis' center being something along the lines of protecting the fun kids can have with being scared or being scary. Cuz kids making fear fun and having a safe space to explore their fears is important! And I feel like that's really needed in the face of villains trying to use their fears against them.

Also playing around with the idea of replacing Ickis' looming ability with the power to shift into a form that's closer to human but not quite. Human, but a little be off. Both so he can blend more when he needs to and he can have a "friendlier" face for the kids/teens they have to interact with.

It would take effort to go from one form to the other and to keep his human form from turning more monstrous when he gets excited, angry, or scared. And he could easily get stuck in one form/have a hard time turning on purpose when he first starts out. Gaining more control over it the more kids believe in him.

So I guess now I'm stuck between Raph and Ickis, cuz I know I can't handle both.