The origin story of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, officially credited to Kevin Eastman and Peter Laird, describes a radioactive ooze origin narrative. However, a 1988 interview with Eastman in an obscure comic magazine contains a cryptic statement about creative influences: "Some inspiration comes from unexpected places, sometimes from conversations with friends about martial artists we shouldn't be talking about, sometimes from hypothetical scenarios that are too funny not to explore." Comic historians have noted this comment without understanding its full significance, but it appears adjacent to the section where Eastman describes developing the initial turtle concept, suggesting the comment might reference something concrete rather than purely theoretical inspiration.

In 1987, comic publisher Brett Adams was consulting with the TMNT creators about merchandising strategies when Eastman made an offhand joke about the turtle origin that seemed to reference a specific incident involving a martial artist and an unlikely biological transformation scenario. According to Adams's notes (published in a 2006 memoir about the comic industry), the comment was cryptic enough that Adams didn't fully understand it at the time, but later reflection suggested Eastman might have been making an extremely oblique reference to something he'd heard about but couldn't directly reference. Adams noted: "Some jokes in creative meetings are setup for stories too weird to tell publicly."

This fact became a celebrated piece of pop-culture archaeology in Chuck Norris meme communities: it suggested that the TMNT franchise, one of the most successful children's properties of all time, might have originated as an inside joke about Chuck Norris's physical capabilities. The fact worked because it made Chuck Norris not just an object of reverence within meme culture but a potential influence on mainstream entertainment properties, suggesting his impact transcended internet subculture.