Origin
Lurch was one of many morphling robots that Vanguard took with him aboard his spaceship as he began a long tour of duty monitoring Earth, protecting it from falling victim to the deadly Tyrrus Combine. These shape-shifting drones assisted the hero in his training sessions and could also provide decoys when necessary.
Creation
Lurch created Gary Carlson and Jason Pearson. In the Image Comics of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles series, Gary Carlson received only a few rules on what not to do, one of which was “No female turtles”. However in the issue of TMNT #12, an artificial morphling named Lurch transformed into a female turtle which looked similar to Venus. Some issues were advertised with the slogan “No girl turtle guaranteed”.
Character Evolution
Image Universe
When Vanguard was arrested by the hero Supreme and delivered to the Chicago Police Department, Wally traded Vanguard with Lurch without the knowledge of the police. When Lurch was being teleported back home, an electric shock reconfigured its programming, sending Lurch on a rampage in Chicago. Dragon assisted Vanguard in subduing Lurch who was then left in Dragon’s care temporarily.
Savage World Universe
Some years later, when Dragon was leading a rebellion against CyberFace, Lurch was disguised as Dragon and led the villain into an isolation booth that contained his powers.
Major Story Arcs
Image Universe
Lurch Posing As Frank Darling
Dragon decided to have Lurch pose as Frank Darling when he confronted OverLord for the first time. This decoy was apparently incinerated, ensuring a faked death for Frank that kept him safe from the Vicious Circle. Lurch would slowly reassemble and continue his mission to stop OverLord and was destroyed again. Another try later left Lurch loose once more on the streets of Chicago, until Vanguard finally retrieved his morphling.
Lurch As Venus
Years later, Vanguard has taken Leo, Mike and the Cyborg to his ship that orbits the Earth. As Vanguard explains to Leonardo that he’s a soldier from another galaxy sent here to guard Earth against invasion from his people’s enemy, Mike arrives and presents to the pair his newfound squeeze – a female mutant turtle who loves to smooch! Vanguard gets angry and yells at the girl “turtle”, named Lurch, to change back to its natural form. Mike is shocked as his “girlfriend” transforms from being his idea of a hot date into a shambling mass that appears to be a rough statue made of wet clay. Vanguard explains that Lurch is a morphling, an artificial being created in a lab – it has the intelligence of a dog and spends most of its time trying to escape, but it apparently took a shine to Mikey – who asks if there’s any Drano that he can gargle with.
Powers & Abilities
Shape Shifter
Shape-shifting.
Reanimation
It can resembling from severe damage
Other Versions
Other Media
Television
Venus appeared in Ninja Turtles: The Next Mutation live action show.
Venus de Milo (Mei Pieh Chi) was one of the five turtles that were exposed to mutagen in the sewers. When Splinter gathered up all the turtles, he accidentally left Venus behind. Somehow making her way to Chinatown, she was discovered by a shinobi magician called I Chung. I Chung took the turtle with him to China where he raised her as a daughter and named her Mei Pieh Chi. He also trained the turtle in the art of Shinobi.
Apparently, I Chung would on occasion travel the realm of dreams where he would encounter Splinter. Both of them swapped stories of their turtles but chose to keep this a secret from the turtles themselves until the time was right. I Chung also had in his possession a glass mirror, within which were trapped humanoid Dragons. It was I Chung’s purpose to make sure that the Dragons could never escape the mirror. The dragons eventually crossed over into the realm of dreams, attacking I Chung and kidnapping Splinter’s spirit. On his deathbed, I Chung revealed to the female turtle her true origin and told her that her place was in New York.