In Mutant Ninja Turtles Gaiden, the Amherst Family is a a family of humans living in the New York City borough of Brooklyn. The family consists of former scientist Maxwell Amherst, his wife Clara Amherst, and their two children, 16-year-old Augustus Amherst and 6-year-old Carole Amherst.
Augustus is presumed dead, having apparently been killed and mutilated by the mutant turtle Renoir. However, Renoir has mysteriously inherited Augustus' identity and memories, having no prior memories of being a mutant turtle. For all intents and purposes, they are the same character. Carole accepts Renoir as her still-living brother Augustus, but Maxwell and Clara reject Renoir as the killer of the son they mourn.
Renoir is taken in by Raphael Hamato, and gradually becomes part of Hamato-Jones Family life. With Shadow Jones' help, Renoir and Carole remain in contact through arranged visits.
Later on, when Maxwell discovers Renoir in the Amherst home visiting Carole and rummaging through Augustus' bedroom, Renoir confronts his human father with knowledge of delicate secrets of both Augustus and the Amherst family. Maxwell is unable to dismiss this information but can't fully believe it eithers, so he remains cold to Renoir but still allows him to leave in peace. It is revealed to the reader that Maxwell also lives with the guilt of his own shameful secret—that he may have been the very scientist who created the mutant turtle in the first place. As such, in either scenario—whether Renoir killed Augustus, or Renoir is Augustus—Maxwell feels some responsibility.
