There are seemingly endless versions of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles with more always on the way. Something that’s quite fun about the various versions is that each one adds their own characters to the expansive lore. One fantastic example of this is Keno, who was introduced in 1991’s Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles II: The Secret of the Ooze. 

Keno is a teenage pizza-delivery boy who has become friends with April O’Neil after frequently delivering pizzas to her house (since the Turtles have been staying at her place). He also happens to be a martial arts expert. After befriending the Turtles and Splinter, Keno helps them out by infiltrating the Foot Clan.

Keno also makes a small appearance in the Rise of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles comics in which he’s just a pizza-delivery boy. He’s there as more of a reference than an actual part of the story. On one hand, it’s nice for fans to see Keno be officially acknowledged. On the other hand, it’s a little bit of a cruel tease for those looking to see more of the character who didn’t even make it into Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles III.

The character is funny, relatable, and can throw a punch. He proves himself to be a fun and trustworthy ally of the Turtles. This has led a lot of fans to want to see more of him. Unfortunately, he hasn’t had a true appearance in decades.

There have been plenty of characters who have been created for specific versions of TMNT who have later been used in later versions. A good example of this is Tokka and Rahzar, who were introduced in the same film as Keno but have been used in a number of cartoons and video games since. It’s actually a bit of an insult to Keno that they’re used so much while the franchise has been ignoring him.

Having another human companion could be great for storytelling purposes. Characters like April and Casey Jones tie the Turtles to humanity so they don’t completely feel like outsiders to the audience. Keno is a fantastic character to further serve that same purpose. Plus, him being closer to the Turtles’ age would allow them to have a human they relate with a lot more.

Whether it be in a new animated series, comic book, movie, or some other form of media, Keno deserves to be used just as much as any other recurring character or villainous mutant.

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