Agent Bishop

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John Bishop is a fictional character in the 2003 Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles television series, played by actor David Zen Mansley. He was introduced in Season 3’s Space Invaders/Worlds Collide multi-parter, where he kidnapped the turtles and tried to dissect them in an attempt to learn the secrets behind their mutation. Since then, he has become one of the turtles’ greatest antagonists (and sometimes-ally), playing a part in most of the series’ primary storylines.

1 Origins
2 Bishop in TMNT
3 Bishop in TMNT: Fast Forward
4 Powers and Abilities

[edit] Origins

Agent Bishop in the 2003 series.

A U.S. soldier during the early 19th century, John Bishop's life was changed forever when, for unknown reasons, he was abducted by Gray Aliens while fighting in the Battle of New Orleans. After being experimented on, he escapes back to/is returned to (the series is unclear on this point, leaving both possibilities open) the battlefield. What exactly the experiments entailed is unknown, although it is speculated that they are at least partly responsible for Bishop's longevity. Marked by the experience, he has since dedicated his life to staving off alien invasion.

Little is known about the following one hundred and ninety years of Bishop's life, except that he was present for the U.S. Army’s victory over the first alien invasion in United States territory and the subsequent creation of the black-ops Earth Protection Force during the Grant administration. He was also responsible for the Roswell incident of 1947, in reality caused by the a covert takedown of a flying saucer belonging to the Greys. In more recent decades, he acted as Best Man to Finn, a Navy sailor who later on was turned into a mutant under unknown circumstances.

[edit] Bishop in TMNT

During the 2003 Ninja Turtles series, Bishop acts as the head of the Earth Protection Force, a black-ops team formed to protect Earth from extraterrestrial threats. He applies an "any means necessary" approach to his mission, and currently aims to accumulate alien technology and to build an army of super-soldiers.

Cunning, cruel and manipulative, there is precious little that Bishop will not do to obtain what he wants. During the Triceraton Invasion, he made a deal with the Federation, offering the Fugitoid, along with his knowledge of the world-destroying Teleportal, in exchange for weapons and technology. He also captured the Turtles and took samples of their DNA and was going to collect more when the timely save a Splinter, Casey Jones and April O'Neil stormed his lab. When the E.P.F. was under fire from the President of the United States for a perceived string of failures, he staged an alien invasion for him to stop, “proving” his organization’s worth and assuring his funding. He shows no regard for anything or anyone that may threaten his mission; after E.P.F. Scientist Baxter Stockman’s demise, Bishop simply resurrected him, claiming that he was far too important to his work.

Despite his enmity with the turtles, Bishop’s mission has time and time again coincided with theirs. During his stint in the series, Bishop has helped repel the Triceraton invasion of Earth, attempted to stop Oroku Saki’s return to the stars, and, most recently, attempted to find a cure for the mutagenic virus he, Stockman, and the turtles had accidentally unleashed upon the animal population of Manhattan. Furthermore, he has also clashed several times with The Foot.

[edit] Bishop in TMNT: Fast Forward

Spoiler warning: Plot and/or ending details follow.

In the episode Bishop to Knight, the turtles discover that Bishop has survived the intervening one hundred years, and that he has altered his approach to Earth defense. Now President of the Pan-Galactic Alliance (a galactic version of the United Nations, which Bishop helped form), he uses diplomacy to achieve stability.

Now a public figure and incapable of directly taking part in missions, Bishop recruited the turtles to covertly stop famed mercenary Torbin Zixx from completing his mission. Whether he will continue using the turtles in this capacity is, as of yet, unknown.

[edit] Powers and Abilities

Bishop is an accomplished martial artist, able to hold his own even when fighting all four of the turtles simultaneously using a mostly-defensive fighting style, much like real Ninjutsu. He also possesses super-human endurance, as evidenced in Bishop’s Gambit, when he was impaled on a hook, yet suffered no permanent damage. He has survived throughout the centuries thanks in part to a succession of clone bodies. Whether this is the only reason for his continued survival is, as of yet, unknown.

During operations, Bishop wears a high-tech battle armor, whose main property seems to be a wrist-mounted laser canon.

Bishop appeared in 17 episodes: