FROM: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Teenage_Mutant_Ninja_Turtles
The Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (TMNT or Ninja Turtles) are a fictional team of four anthropomorphic turtles who were trained by their sensei, Master Splinter (an anthropomorphic mutant rat) to become powerful ninjas. The story begins when they are sixteen; from their home in the sewers of Manhattan, they battle petty criminals, evil megalomaniacs, and alien invaders, all while remaining isolated from society at large.
FROM: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ninja
Ninja were said to be agents of espionage and assassination in feudal Japan in legend and popular fiction. Revered by some as the world’s first special forces, some modern practitioners of budo ninjutsu argue that ninja were used primarily as spies, not assassins, and this appears to be borne out by some historical records. It is popularly believed that the ancient ninja were peasants, forbidden under law from studying the samurai swordplay techniques because of feudal Japan’s caste structure, but more likely they originated from a variety of castes.
