The hidden Ninja Turtle face.

Cartoon logos are some of the most iconic things in the geek community. The faction symbols of The Tranformers. The Eye of Thundera from Thundercats. The Cobra symbol from GI Joe. These are things we grew up with and know like the back of our hands.

So I’m extremely surprised to have noticed something for the first time in over 25 years from one of my favourite franchises: Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles.

My girlfriend recently got me a mug with the original Ninja Turtle logo from the ’87 cartoon series. I’ve seen this logo thousands of times before, but for some reason when I looked at it this time I saw something I never noticed before.

Take a look at it. Really, take a look.

You’ve seen it. You’re familiar with it. You know it. But have you ever seen the face in it?

Take another look. The top red portion is a bandanna, and the green Turtle text is the snout. Even the white text is representative of their eyes.

We have literally been looking at this logo right in its face. The fact that this has been so subtly inserted into this is either a stroke of genius on their part, or a complete lack of comprehension on my end. Regardless, this logo has been the most identifiable of the Ninja Turtle logos amongst all the others ones throughout the years. Maybe it’s because it’s the one most of us grew up with, or maybe it’s because we saw the familiar face of a turtle looking right at us, without us ever seeing him.