Dirtbag and Groundchuck are minor rivals in the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles series. The Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles are always confronted by a giant bull and a mole, despite the fact that their origins change from incarnation to incarnation.
In the iconic 1987 animated series, Bob Ridgely, who has since passed away, voiced Groundchuck, while Pat Fraley, who previously voiced characters like Baxter Stockman, Krang, Slash, Antrax, and countless more, played Dirtbag.
Groundchuck and Dirtbag collaborate to try to wipe off the Turtles, much like Tokka and Rahzar, Bebop and Rocksteady, and Dogpound, who later became Rahzar and Fishface. The deformed bull Groundchuck and his mutated mole accomplice Dirtbag first debuted in the episode “Planet of the Turtleoids,” when they briefly worked together with the Shredder before going off on their own to exterminate the Turtles and become rich. The 1990s’ villains either desired wealth or world control, and based on their outward manifestations, these two seem to desire the former.
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Dirtbag and Groundchuck Origins
The First Time on Television (TMNT 1987)
Planet of the Turtleoids goes into great depth on the origins of these frightening baddies. Our story starts with our heroes walking down the street in fedoras and trench coats looking for an all-night pizza place when they come upon Tattoo, a sumo wrestler, sneaking into a pet store and mumbling something about searching “for home.”
However, as the Ninja Turtles attempt to manage the enormous wrestler, he electrocutes himself and changes into a hamster, rapidly walking into an enclosure with other hamsters. Donatello deduces that this may be the handiwork of Krang and Shredder and that the lethal team is tampering with the Mutagen once again. Donatello analyzes the situation at the pet store and wonders whether they all would be better off if they still were regular turtles.
Elsewhere, Shredder and Krang are actually playing with the Mutagen, preparing to generate more Mutants in order to get into a museum full of artifacts and steal a massive ruby. The villains aim to use the gem to redirect Krang’s new heat ray, allowing them to ultimately escape the Technodrome. Back in the lair, Donatello is feeling the consequences of being ostracized by human society as a whole, and he wonders whether there is a sanctuary where all the Turtles can be welcomed for who they are.
Later that night, in the City Wild Animal Park, the evil Shredder directs Bebop and Rocksteady to kidnap one lion and one gorilla in order to prepare for mutation. Elsewhere, while wallowing his grief in a root beer drink and regretting his position at Channel 6 News in relation to April, Vernon comes upon a human-like Turtle named Kerma, dressed in a trench coat and hat, and rushes shrieking into the night.
Kerma, perplexed, comes to the City Wild Animal Park and releases Shredder’s gorilla and lion before they are transformed, but a bull and a mole get altered as a result of Bebop and Rocksteady’s incompetence. Shredder determines that now these two new monsters would have to do and equips them with outfits. Meanwhile, Vernon informs April about his experience with what he thinks is one of the Turtles, but the Turtle he encountered was 3 feet tall. April is certain Vernon did not encounter a Ninja Turtle and contacts them.
Groundchuck and Dirtbag have now given themselves new names at the Zoo. Shredder instructs them to seize the massive ruby from the museum, but the two would much rather smash apart the zoo. The Turtles visit April, Vernon and Irma at the news station, where Michelangelo reveals that Vernon did not witness anything. Raphael, on the other hand, is worried that someone is “stealing their style”, so the Turtles head out to investigate.
When the Turtles depart the Channel 6 Building, they are met not only by Dirtbag and Groundchuck, who seem to be eager for a confrontation, but also by Kerma, who arrests all six of them and transports them to his space ship, which is constructed to resemble the Chrysler Building. By the time April comes out on the streets with her mini-camera, however, the Chrysler Rocket Ship has vanished.
Kerma reveals during the voyage back to his homeworld that he and also his companion Turtleoids had an “issue,” and he was looking for guidance from ordinary Earth folks. Unfortunately, he had no knowledge that Groundchuck and Dirtbag were not people, and he mistook the Turtles for humans since they had honest faces.
In the meantime, Bebop and Rocksteady abduct April and her Turtlecom and take her to the City Wild Animal Park to meet Shredder and Krang. Shredder is informed by Rocksteady that the Turtles haven’t yet replied to the TurtleCom signal, and Bebop speculates that the Turtles may have vanished. Meanwhile, the Turtles arrive together with Dirtbag and Groundchuck on the planet Shell-Ri-La. Donatello is overjoyed!
This is precisely what he imagined in the opening act: a society where Turtles can enjoy life! Meanwhile at the Technodrome, the villainous Shredder proclaims that he will develop a highly clever and completely impenetrable machine to pull off his new plan, confident that now the Turtles are gone and admitting defeat in the enormous ruby heist.
The Turtles witness one of several alchemical machines of the Turtleoids on Shell-Ri-La, the ones that transform lead into gold. And, as Kerma reveals to the Turtles, light reflected from gold gives the Turtleoids energy in the same way that food does. Groundchuck and Dirtbag flee even before the Turtles can finish their holiday. Meanwhile, April escapes, and Shredder has finished his new robot, Chrome Dome, which soon catches April.
As Kerma transports the Turtles to Shell-Ri-La’s council chambers, they are greeted by the Turtleoid’s “minor issue”, a gigantic two-headed dragon, Herman the Horrible, who recruits Dirtbag and Groundchuck to smash the power supply to the force dome protection, exposing the city.
The Turtleoids charge the TMNT of damage and imprison them. Despite this, Donatello likes Shellri-La for representing a turtle’s paradise, although Michelangelo claims Shellri-La lacks the things the Turtles enjoy on Earth, including rock & roll, computer games, or pizza, and Raphael adds that actually the Turtleoids have proved to be just as prejudiced against the TMNT as humans.
Leonardo believes that they must flee and battle the two-headed beast, Herman the Horrible, and everyone agrees. Kerma assists the TMNT in their escape by providing them the normal Turtleoid gear. Donatello observes the irony as he dons a Turtleoid robe; he did not appreciate sneaking about disguised on Earth, a human world, but now they were on a Turtleoid planet, and they had to sneak about disguised here too!
The turtles make the decision to put an end to Herman the Horrible’s tyrannical rule once and for all. Donatello shoots Herman with a Pulverizer Ray when Leonardo realizes Herman is nothing more than a machine. Herman the Horrible is eventually shown to be two greedy Turtleoid commanders, who are tired of merely utilizing gold for fuel and want actual golden things.
They tried to destabilize Shell-Ri-La’s foundations. The turtle kids decide to return home after catching Shredder’s mutants as well, but are praised by Kerma for protecting Shellri-La and suggest he may come to see them one day. Meanwhile, Shredder’s freshly built Chrome Dome commands a legion of Foot Soldiers in the construction of the Mini Technodrome, a miniature counterpart of the main Technodrome.
When the turtles return, they demolish the brand new Technodrome and the Chrome Dome. Raphael is sad that Donatello would have to abandon Shellri-La, but Don says he’s pleased to be back on Earth because Shellri-La had no computer games and, worse, no pizza!
Groundchuck is always banged on target when it comes to pleasing Shredder. The Foot Clan’s preferred hooved hoodlum is this mutant weapons specialist. When it comes to chopping up the Turtles, Groundchuck is Grade A. He is chunky and muscular. Groundchuck is a notch above the rest, driving the Teens past their limits using his electrical prod and also Turtle tying crossbow.
When Groundchuck pulls out his tranquilizer dart wrist pistol, it’s game over for our half-shelled superheroes. The Turtles are all fair game when this horned hoodlum declares open season! Dirtbag is a mutant mole that first appears in the Planet of the Turtleoids cartoon episode in the first part.
In the 2003 and 2012 TMNT, the characters received no backstory or significant roles
In IDW comic issue 125, Chuck is a mutant red bull with a missing left eye and a steel right horn, his arms seem to have had a skin graft and he wears a blue colored loincloth. While his right leg is wrapped in bandages and a knee pad, he has bolts protruding out of his left shoulder and metal plating on the left side of his upper chest and also his right shoulder, wrist, and ankle. D.B. or Dirtbag is a naked mole.
He has bolts protruding from the back side of his head, and his right foot and hand look to have received skin grafts. This is their first appearance and debut in the comic books. They both are mutants who worked for Jasper Barlow, who is a mutant mouse from Mutant Town who owns a cosmetic surgery business, where he alters mutants’ bodies to make them look more human.
Where Else Have They Appeared?
Dirtbag initially appears as the fourth level boss in Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles III: The Manhattan Project. He then features as the second boss in Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles III: Radical Rescue and later makes a return in the final level. He also debuted as the fourth boss in Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles 3: Shredder’s Last Stand and subsequently returns in the final level. Dirtbag appears as the boss of Episode 4: “Rumble in the Zoo” in Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Shredder’s Revenge, with Groundchuck. Groundchuck is a cybernetic mutant bull working for the Foot Clan.
In Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles III: The Manhattan Project, he serves as the second boss. Groundchuck has fought on Baron Von Spleen’s Battle Barge, a submarine. He appears from a door at the conclusion of the stage and begins fighting the turtles. Groundchuck fights using running kicks and head-charges, and he exposes himself to combat by dashing into the screen’s sides. He will stroll over towards the wall after receiving some damage and rip a piece of pipe from it, adding a brutal swing of that to his assault routine.
Groundchuck and Dirtbag were meant to be the next Rocksteady and Bebop, but somehow that never happened. These two villains have extremely interesting backstories and had the potential to be great supervillains, but that potential was never fulfilled. Even so, we can always hope that they appear in a future film or comic book and play a bigger role.