Merdude is Alim, the fish-man from Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. In the Archie comics, he was a boy who became a mutant after an encounter with a coelacanth. In the 1987 animated series, Alim Coelacanth is the rightful king of Atlantis. If you remember an eyepatch and a blue fish tail, you probably met him through the Playmates action figure.
Merdude in the Archie comics
Alim grew up in a coastal village about 5,000 years ago. He wanted to fish like his father, so one day he took a boat out alone. He saw a ship disappear beneath the waves. As he drew closer, a coelacanth pulled him into the water. He came out of that encounter as a fish-man. His transformation is told in Merdude and Ray Fillet #3.
Before he got his own miniseries, Alim appeared in Mighty Mutanimals #7, cover-dated February 1993. He steps in when Armaggon, a mutant shark from the future, attacks Man Ray. That encounter makes the three easy to tell apart. Merdude is the fish-man, Man Ray is the mutant ray also known as Ray Fillet, and Armaggon is the shark.
Which TMNT comics feature Merdude?
The three issues of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Presents: Merdude are cover-dated October, November, and December 1993. The first, Dawn of the Kraken, pairs him with Michaelangelo against the Kraken, awakened as part of Armaggon’s plan. Mondo Gecko joins him for a pirate adventure in Voyage to the Bottom of the Barrel. The third, The Last Tsarnian, pits him against Ray Fillet and reveals how Alim mutated.
To read his story in order, start with Mighty Mutanimals #7 and follow it with the three-issue miniseries. If you only want his origin, go straight to issue three. For another ally from the Archie era, read about Wingnut and Screwloose.
Merdude in the 1987 cartoon: the king of Atlantis
The series that began in 1987 introduced Merdude in Atlantis Awakes, which aired on November 20, 1993. Michelangelo rescues Alim and nicknames him Merdude, and the Turtles help him find the underwater city he left centuries earlier. Shredder is also after Atlantis, where a powerful crystal could fuel the Technodrome.
The biggest change is what Alim wants to get back. The Archie comics follow a fisherman’s son through his mutation and adventures at sea. The cartoon follows a king returning to a city he has been away from for about two hundred years.
The Playmates Merdude action figure
Playmates released its Merdude figure in 1992. It has blue scales, an eyepatch, and a tail in place of legs. The four green accessories include a trident, a sawfish sword, a blaster, and a ninja starfish.
The packaging gave him a backstory of his own. It introduced Merdude as a king of the seas who befriended the Turtles after Shredder tried to drain the oceans. The box tells you how he became their ally, the Archie comics explain where the mutant came from, and the cartoon brings him home to Atlantis.
