Venus de Milo (real name Mei Pieh Chi) was introduced in the live action Ninja Turtles: The Next Mutation TV series as a fifth mutant turtle. She has also appeared in a few books.
Etymologies[]
Chinese[]
Her original Chinese name, Mei Pieh Chi, was given to her by Chung I. Prior to Venus' 1997 introduction, the 1985 TMNT RPG's producer (Palladium Books) released a source book for their "Ninjas and Super spies" line called Mystic China in 1995. It included translations for the components of her name.
Mei is the pronunciation for eight characters:
- 美 Beauty
- 眉 Eyebrow
- 梅 Plum
Pieh can mean:
- 河 River
- 鱉 Turtle
Chi can mean:
- 志 Energy
- 气 or 息 Breath
- 笛 Flute
- 机 Machine
The most obvious component of her name is 'turtle', although since she was found washed in the sewers, 'river' could also be significant.
Whatever character represents 'beauty' would make sense with her later appearance. It is possible that by the time she was found, she might already be humanoid enough to be considered beautiful to Chung. As the turtles do not have eyebrows, that is not a likely meaning. Nor do we know if Chung is a plum fan.
The 'chi' component is the least obvious. Venus inherited some mystical 'chi magic' abilities, so it could refer to Chung being a proponent for chi-related mysticism. It could also refer to the amphibious nature of turtles in that they can breath in both air and water, so to speak.
In Episode 3, Splinter tells Venus that Chung I told him he thought Venus was good luck, his "Beautiful Turtle of Energy" when he found her in the sewer water and decided to take her back to China with him. While not explicitly stated in any source material to be what characters are used for her name, 'Beauty' 'Turtle' and 'Energy' are the most likely based on this line from the television show.
Venus[]
Her adopted American name, Venus de Milo, is based on the sculpture. Like Mona Lisa, she is named after a work of art, rather than an artist.
The sculpture of Venus de Milo is thought to have been created by Alexandros. Previous to this it was mistaken as the work of Praxiteles.
Appearance[]
Her bandanna is cyan colored, a much lighter blue than Leonardo's. It is braided in the back to resemble a ponytail.
Lalainia Lindbjerg provided Venus' voice, while Nicole Parker was the suit actor, with Leslie McMichael performing stuntwork.
Trivia[]
- Despite the unpopularity of this character and her removal from later TMNT productions, Venus would not be the last female turtle in TMNT canon. Instead a new female Ninja Turtle was introduced 21 years later in the IDW TMNT comics named Jennika.
- Unlike Venus who was originally a regular turtle who became humanoid from the original mutagen like the other turtles, Jennika was originally a human who became a mutant turtle as a result of a blood transfusion from Leonardo to save her life, after she was badly injured and almost killed by Karai. In addition, while Venus had a lighter blue as her color for her mask similar to Leonardo, for Jennika, she was given the color of yellow instead for her mask.
