Shredder (TMNT)
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| Shredder | |
 Shredder in the first TMNT comic. |
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| Publication information | |
|---|---|
| Publisher | Mirage Studios |
| First appearance | Eastman and Laird's Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles #1 (October, 1984) |
| Created by | Kevin Eastman Peter Laird |
| In story information | |
| Full name | Oroku Saki |
| Team affiliations | Foot Clan |
| Abilities | Skilled master of Ninjutsu, excellent physical abilities experienced hand-to-hand combat and intellect |
Shredder is a fictional character in the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles universe. He is a villainous ninjutsu master called Oroku Saki. He is the archenemy of the turtles who, at one point or another in every incarnation of the TMNT franchise, has been the main enemy of Splinter and the Turtles. He is also the leader of the Foot Clan.
Shredder's physical appearance remains fairly consistent in all incarnations of the character. As Oroku Saki, he looks like a muscular Japanese man. He is most frequently seen in the Shredder persona, wearing a suit of armor vaguely based on that of a samurai, with a cape. The armor consists of blade-covered metal plaques on his shoulders, forearms, hands (sometimes just his left hand), and shins; he wears a purple, gray, blue, or red robe that variously appears to be simple fabric or a form of chainmail. Sometimes he wears a metal silver or blue suit of armor. He also wears a metal helmet with a trident-shaped ornament on top, and a metal mask that covers his face, leaving only his eyes visible. He sometimes wears a purple cape.
Originally going to be called "Grate Man", while creating Shredder, Kevin Eastman got the idea for Shredder's armor from large trapezoid shaped graters, Eastman drew one on his forearm, gripping the handle from inside the grater. He then said, "Could you imagine a character with weapons on his arms like this?"
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[edit] Mirage-Image
[edit] Oroku Saki
In the original comic books by Mirage Comics, Oroku Saki is the younger brother of Oroku Nagi. Nagi competed with Hamato Yoshi (the owner of Splinter, the Turtles' mentor) for the love of a woman named Tang Shen. Shen loved only Yoshi, and a feud erupted between Yoshi and Nagi, which led to Yoshi killing Nagi and fleeing from Japan to New York City with Shen.
The young Saki joined the Foot Clan and trained to be a ninja. Over time, he rose in ranks in the Clan and was eventually put in charge of the Clan’s American branch. This allowed him to finally move to New York (leaving behind his daughter Pimiko) and avenge his brother’s death by killing Yoshi and Shen; however, Yoshi’s pet rat Splinter escaped, mutated into an anthropomorphic form, and spent years training the four Ninja Turtles to avenge Yoshi.
When Splinter felt the Turtles were ready, he ordered them to reveal themselves to Oroku Saki, in the Shredder armor, and challenge him to a fight. This first fight took place at night on a rooftop, and ended with Shredder dying when a bomb blew him up as he fell off the building; however, he was later recreated through a unique Foot Clan cloning technique utilizing worms, and was finally finished off by Leonardo by decapitation.
With Shredder gone, chaos erupted in New York City among the leaderless Foot Clan. The leader of the Foot in Japan, Karai, came to New York and established a shaky truce with the Ninja Turtles to re-establish peace.
In issues 3 and 4 of the new Tales of the TMNT, it is shown that a few weeks after Leonardo defeated Shredder, he was resurrected once again by a Foot mystic; however, the mystic did not resurrect Shredder himself but the clone worms. The worms then went out to find a new body and chose that of a shark. The monster then attacked the Turtles, who defeated it, (seemingly) ending the Shredder legacy once and for all. The monster returned in Tales of the TMNT 33, however, and had the Foot kidnap Casey's adopted daughter Shadow to lure the turtles into a trap. However the turtles were away so it was up to Casey and Splinter. They defeated the monster and rescued Shadow.
[edit] Other Shredders
Throughout a considerable part of the Image comic series, Raphael tries to impersonate Shredder by wearing his armor. He tries to make a peace pact with the Foot Clan, but ultimately fails. In later issues of the series, a mysterious Lady Shredder appears to challenge Raphael. Although the book was canceled before her identity could be revealed, writer Gary Carlson confirmed after the fact that she was meant to be Karai.[citation needed]
In recent issues of the current series, Leonardo encounters Oroku Yoshi, a Battle Nexus contestant wearing armor almost identical to that of the second animated series' Shredder. His connection to Oroku Saki and/or the Foot is, as yet, unknown. He is in fact a Hero.
[edit] 1987 animated series
[edit] History
In the 1987 animated series, Oroko Saki and Hamato Yoshi were both members of the Foot Clan in Japan. After Saki framed him for attempted murder of one of the Clan’s sensei, Yoshi was forced to exile himself to New York, where he lived in the sewers with four pet turtles that were accidentally dropped down the drain.
In the following years, Saki took leadership of the Foot Clan, and took on his Shredder persona. He also met a trans-dimensional alien called Krang, and used the advanced technology at his disposal to replace the Foot ninjas with robots called the Foot Soldiers. He secretly moved to New York, where he found Yoshi still alive. In attempt to kill his old foe, Shredder dumped mutagen in the sewers. This mutates Yoshi into Splinter, and he starts training the also mutated Turtles in ninjitsu.
[edit] Depiction
The cartoon series was more light-hearted than the comics, and consequently, Shredder is depicted as an evil but comically inept villain, rather than the dire and lethal ninja he was in the comic. His two henchmen Bebop and Rocksteady are incompetent and fail miserably at everything they do; they are mostly used for comic relief in the show. But even though Shredder's plans are always foiled, often by his own failings, he is still shown to have considerable skills. In fighting skills, he is often shown to surpass the Turtles and to be equaled only by Splinter. Nevertheless, he usually runs away from a fight whenever possible, incapacitating the turtles to defeat them in combat. As the series progressed, however, the turtles were able to battle him on more equal grounds and even defeat him in combat on several occasions.
He trained the Punk Frogs in a very short period of time to be a match for the Turtles. His technical skills are also quite impressive: he designed and built a robotic body for Krang, prepared the mutagen mixture, knew how Krang's teleportation engine worked, and built numerous other advanced devices. Ironically in one epsiode "Shredderville" the Turtles find themselves in a mirror universe where the TMNT never existed and Shredder conquers the world-yet finds the task of ruling so burdensome that he has a nervous breakdown!
[edit] Family
Shredder's family is presented in three episodes. In the episode "Shredder's Mom" [1], Shredder's mother Miyoko helps Shredder and Krang in an attempt to destroy the world's climate. In this episode, Miyoko first learns of her son's criminal activities, and proves herself to be as villainous. But she constantly treats Shredder like a baby, until he gets fed up with it and transports her back to her retirement home.
In the episode "My Brother, the Bad Guy" [2], it is revealed that Oroku Saki has a younger brother Kazuo Saki, who works as a police lieutenant in Tokyo. Kazuo and the Turtles try to join forces to stop one of Shredder's plans, but his fervent respect of the law clashes with the Turtles' "whatever it takes" attitude.
Finally, the episode "The Legend of Koji" [3] features Saki's distant ancestor Oroku Sancho, who lived in Japan in 1583. He is the leader of a small clan, and every bit as wicked as his descendant. When Shredder offers to help him find magical relics that would provide him with power and wealth, Sancho takes Shredder's information, then betrays him and orders his men to kill him. However, Sancho is also a coward, and when he breaks down in the face of danger, his men abandon him.
This family tree leads to a bit of confusion regarding whether Shredder's given name Oroku and his last name Saki (as indicated by the fact his brother shares the name Saki), or the other way around (as indicated by the fact his ancestor's name is Oroku). This question is never resolved on the show, although Mirage comics adds more evidence for Oroku being the family name; Saki's brother is "Oroku Nagi".
[edit] Timeline
Counting from the first meeting between the Turtles and Shredder, Shredder spent eight years plotting ways to defeat the Turtles. In the season 8 episode "Turtle Trek" [4], the Turtles destroy the engines of the Technodrome, trapping it and its inhabitants in Dimension X for good and putting an end to Shredder's plans. He spent the next two years in Dimension X, until he was contacted by Dregg ("The Power of Three" [5]. Dregg arranged for him and Krang to come back to Earth, to help him fight the Turtles. Together, they capture the Turtles, but Dregg then betrays them and tries to drain the life energy of the Turtles, Krang and Shredder all at once. Shredder alone escapes the trap and restores Krang ("A Turtle in Time" [6], but Dregg captures them again. Finally, the Turtles spoil Dregg's plan and transport Shredder and Krang back to Dimension X ("Turtles to the Second Power" [7]. In the series finale "Divide and Conquer" [8], the Turtles return to the Technodrome to take Krang's exosuit, which they need to fight Dregg. Shredder is nowhere to be seen, but it is assumed that he is still somewhere in Dimension X.
[edit] Movies
In the first movie, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, Oroku Saki and Hamato Yoshi, living in Japan, both loved a woman named Tang Shen, but Tang Shen only loved Yoshi. Rather than fight Saki honorably, Yoshi followed Shen's plan to leave for America. Saki followed them to New York, where he first murdered Tang Shen alone in her home, then ambushed Yoshi when he returned, tired from construction work. Yoshi’s pet rat Splinter escaped during the fight, clawing Saki's face before doing so.
Saki then proceeded to recruit troubled teens, and teach them ninjutsu to turn them into a group of skilled thieves and assassins called the Foot Clan. As their leader, Saki took on the persona of Shredder, and became a cult leader.
As investigative reporter April O'Neil was getting too close to the Foot Clan, Shredder ordered to have her killed. However, the Turtles interfered, and beat several members of the Foot Clan. Shredder decided to stop the Turtles himself, which led to the ultimate rooftop battle. Summarily trouncing them one by one, he even managed to defeat them all attacking him at once, although Leonardo did manage to give him a slash wound on the arm. Leonardo then rushed Shredder head on when he told him Splinter was dead. Shredder then pinned down Leonardo and was about to kill him. Splinter intervened and revealed his past to Shredder, enraging him with the memory of his scar. After realizing who Splinter is, Shredder charged towards Splinter with his spear, but Splinter deflected it, vaulting Shredder off the roof of the building, landing in a garbage truck. Casey Jones then pulled the switch, and viewers are treated to the image of Shredder's helmet being crushed. It is assumed that Shredder is killed here, though his body is not actually seen.
In the second movie, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles II: The Secret of the Ooze, Shredder was revealed to have survived and recreated his Foot Clan to get vengeance on the Turtles (interestingly, when he arrives, he is wearing the same helmet which was seen to be crushed). After crafting spikes to his helmet, he orders Tatsu, (his aide from the first film as well) to send a ninja to follow April O'Neil. Shredder acquired the TGRI mutagen that created the Turtles and used it to create his own mutants, Tokka and Rahzar, from a snapping turtle and a wolf respectively. The mutants had the intelligence of infants but unbelievable physical strength; therefore, Shredder acted like a "father" to them, twisting them to serve his purpose and destroy the Turtles. After the Turtles defeated the two mutants the foot and Tatsu, Shredder used the mutagen on himself. His purple scale mail he wore became part of him, looking very muscular. The lean-built villain is transformed into a massive "Super Shredder", a superhuman being with a thunderous voice and immense superhuman strength. During his fight with the Turtles (in which Super Shredder didn't actually attack the turtles although he did toss Leonardo), Super Shredder knocked down the support beams of a pier (Perhaps thinking to perish together), which collapsed. The planks fell onto his head (Perhaps crushing his skull), presumably killing the villain.
Shredder was played by James Saito in the first movie and by François Chau in the second, while his immense Super Shredder form was played by a very large wrestler Kevin Nash. In all cases, the character was voice-acted by David McCharen.
Shredder did not appear in the third film but is shown briefly at the beginning of the fourth film to help give the backstory of the Turtles, and his helmet is visible at the end of the movie. The possibility of his return is also strongly hinted at in the end of the film, especially by Karai.
In the Japanese versions, Shredder is voiced by Norio Wakamoto (1st Movie in VHS Version), Hidekatsu Shibata (1st Movie in TV Version) and Takeshi Watabe (2nd Movie).
[edit] Manga and Anime
In the Japanese anime adaption, the back story from the original cartoon was preserved. Unlike the rest of the main cast, Shredder's appearance was changed to match the Supermutants Shredder toy that was being sold at that time. The manga explained this by saying his original outfit was destroyed in a battle with the Turtles and Krang created the new armor for him. Shredder also gains the ability to transform into the dragon Devil Shredder using the Mutanite crystals he stole from the Neutrinos. With the energy from the evil sprite Dark Mu, he was later able to transform into the gigantic Dark Devil Shredder.
In the second volume of the anime he gets his Tiger Spirit Metal Mutant armor.
He was played by Kiyoyuki Yanada.
[edit] The Next Mutation
Shredder is still the Turtles' sworn enemy. This time however, Venus uses her powers to make the Oroku Saki from within take control of Shredder's mind. After the Foot Clan disbands, he ends up living on the streets. Later, the Dragon Lord's rank warriors attack him to get a medallion that was in his possession. Splinter saves him and takes him to the Turtles' lair to protect him. It was hinted that Shredder might possibly go back to his old ways, but the show was canceled soon after that episode..
[edit] 2003 animated series
The new animated series offered different versions of the Shredder. The title of "The Shredder" was actually used to describe three separate, yet connected, villains in the show's seasons. The original Shredder was a demon from ancient Japan, who inspired the second and most identifiable Shredder, an alien being known as an Utrom who served as the central villain of the series for three seasons. The third Shredder is Karai, adopted daughter of the second who took up the mantle after her father's defeat.
Shredder himself is depicted as more evil then any of the previous versions of him. He retains the 1987 Shredder's goal of world domination, but he is far more ruthless, cruel and has little tolerance for the failures of his underlings (if underlings he considers expendable fail him, it results in their deaths). The demon Shredder has a somewhat different personality. He also aims to rule the earth, but how he wants it is a dark world plunged into chaos. The demon Shredder is also very sadistic and delights in tormenting his enemies in any way he can before finishing them off, unless he truly views them as a threat, and is more abusive of his minions (even his Foot Mystics, despite their fanatical devotion to him). Both Saki and the demon Shredder were voiced in this series by Scottie Ray.
[edit] The original Shredder
The legend of the Shredder begins many centuries ago, in the year 300 AD. It was then, in the province of Yamato, that a giant monstrous demon, or “tengu,” rose from whatever pit that had spawned it, with designs on conquering the world of man. This was the monster that called itself the Shredder. Spreading its evil across Japan and killing all who stood in its path, the Shredder tengu seemed unstoppable, but the Emperor of Japan had a plan to combat the beast. He recruited the five most skilled and powerful warriors in the country – Kon, Juto, Chikara, Hisomi and possibly the most powerful and ambitious of the five, Oroku Saki. Clad in enchanted armor, these “Five Dragons” rode out to confront the Shredder. Although his companions quickly fell, Saki managed to topple the demon, and clambered atop its fallen form, poised to deliver the final blow. Before the blow could be struck, however, the Shredder made Saki an offer – in return for allowing the demon’s soul to inhabit his body, he would grant Saki great power. The demon’s offer ignited a dark flame in Saki’s heart, and he accepted, so that even as he slew the demon’s body, its essence merged with his own soul.
Oblivious to what had occurred, the other Dragons returned to the emperor with Saki, where they were honored as the greatest heroes of Japan, and given their own insignia, bearing the “Three-Toed Sign of the Dragon.” It was not long, however, before the possessed Saki began his own conquest of Japan, taking the name of the Shredder and using an inverted Sign of the Dragon as his symbol. Committing atrocity after atrocity, the Shredder's evil seemed to know no bound, as he devastated much of Japan and erected a fortress of his own. With all known resistance destroyed and his forces and powers continuously growing, The Shredder's conquest of the planet seemed unstoppable. Unable to match the Shredder’s power, Saki’s four former allies trained with the most powerful masters of the martial and mystic arts the world over, until finally, they were strong enough to face him in battle within his citadel. All five combatants manifested their spirits in the form of dragon avatars, but the Shredder was ultimately overpowered. To keep the Shredder from ever threatening mankind again, the Four Dragons cast a spell that enchanted his helmet, gauntlet and body, all of which were separated and sealed away – for if they should ever be reunited, the Shredder would live again.
[edit] The Utrom Shredder
Hundreds of years later, during the Sengoku period of feudal Japanese history, a spacecraft belonging to the alien race known as the Utroms was passing through Earth’s solar system. The craft was a prison ship, transporting the murderous criminal, Ch’rell, but the villain managed to escape and sabotage the craft, sending it plummeting towards the nearby Earth. The Utroms, Ch’rell included, managed to survive the crash, but were left with no option on the underdeveloped planet but to wait for humankind’s level of technology to improve to the point that they could use it to return to home. To operate in secret amongst humans, the small, brain-like aliens developed robotic humanoid exo-suits that they could pilot from stomach cockpits, but Ch’rell, having remained in hiding since the crash, quickly stole one of the finished suits for his own ends.
Exploiting the legend of the demon Shredder, Ch’rell crafted a dual identity for himself – he became Oroku Saki, a human persona he used to interact with the world, and, clad in a suit of bladed armor, he also became the new Shredder. Adopting the inverted Three-Toed Sign of the Dragon as his own symbol, Ch’rell drew inspiration from it and founded the Foot Clan. Additionally, using Utrom metal, he arranged for the forging of the powerful Sword of Tengu, and ultimately came to dominate of all of Japan, bringing the Tokugawa shoguns to power to rule beneath him. Through the power of the mystic artifact known as the Heart of Tengu, Ch’rell also came to control five elemental demons that had previously served the original Shredder. Through an unknown incident, Shredder lost the Sword of Tengu.
History rolled on, and for unspecified reasons – possibly the efforts of the Utroms and the human “Guardians” they employed to fight the Shredder and his forces on their behalf - the Shredder’s control of Japan was lost. By the 20th century, the Shredder had shaped the Foot Clan into a massive underground criminal empire, using the funds that it brought in to establish his human identity (presumably posing as his own descendants throughout the years) as a billionaire philanthropist. He adopted an orphaned Japanese girl, Karai, raising her as his daughter and training her in the ways of ninjutsu, ultimately appointing her as the second-in-command of the Foot Clan and leaving her in control in Japan as he traveled to establish a branch of the clan in New York. Karai was also the only of his underlings that was shown to know that he was an Utrom.
While in New York, the Shredder located Hamato Yoshi, one of the Utroms’ Guardians with whom he had some former encounters. Attempting to force the Utroms' location from Yoshi, the Shredder met with failure, and slew him; however, during the struggle, Yoshi’s pet rat, Splinter, escaped, ultimately winding up in the sewers of New York, where he and four baby turtles were accidentally exposed to mutagenic ooze created by the Utroms. This caused them to mutate into sentient humanoid forms, who would become the Shredder’s greatest enemies.
Fifteen years later, the Foot Clan was well established in New York, and the Shredder had street-level crime under his control too, in the form of the Purple Dragons gang. In the midst of pouring his resources into locating abandoned remnants of Utrom technology – including the Sword of Tengu – the Shredder became intrigued when several members of the gang, and his resident scientist Baxter Stockman encountered the Turtles. He had his Foot Ninja scour the the city in search of the mutants until eventually they encountered Leonardo alone on a rooftop. Unseen on an adjacent rooftop one of the ninjas fired an arrow at the seemingly unsuspecting turtle who upon hearing its approach quickly sliced it in half with his Katanna. Attached to the arrow was a message from the Shredder in which he stated that if the turtle was still alive he was indeed a skilled warrior and expressing his wish to meet with him at a warehouse with an enclosed address. When Leo arrived at the warehouse the Shredder (as Oroku Saki) tried to convince him that he and his ninja were actually on the side of good fighting a war against a greater evil then he could imagine in an attempt to get the turtles to help him destroy the Ultrons. The Shredder extended the offer of an alliance to them which Leo at first considered until Splinter told him who Oroku Saki really was. The Turtles tried to confront Shredder in a rooftop battle, but he proved too much for them to handle and sent them running. The turtles later confronted him again after being joined by Splinter (on the roof of another building), but Shredder picked each of them off while they were fighting his Foot Ninja. However, just as Shredder was about to finish off the turtles Splinter intervened and fought Shredder himself. During their fight, Splinter tricked Shredder into destroying the supports of a water tower, which Splinter knocked onto the Shredder, knocking him to street level.
The Turtles, of course, presumed their enemy deceased (Shredder is actually shown to the viewer to be alive after the water tower collapsed on him), unaware of his true nature as an Utrom in an exo-suit, and soon enough, the Shredder returned. After they discover squads of Foot Ninja searching the sewers for their Lair, the Turtles hideout at the apartment of their ally and friend April O'Neil. Shortly after Leonardo was ambushed on a rooftop by the Foot while out alone training. Completely outnumbered he struggled to fight his way back to April's apartment as more and more Foot joined the fight until eventually he was overpowered and left barely conscious before the Shredder appeared before him and broke his Katanas in half with his bare hands. Back at April's apartment Leo is suddenly thrown through the window as the Shredder leads the Foot in their attack. It is a tough battle as April watches over the unconscious Leo while the remaining turtles and Splinter struggle to defend themselves even after Casey Jones arrives to help. The turtles, along with Splinter, April and Casey Jones, were forced to retreat into a closet, and Shredder then cut a gas line a set off bomb. Deceived by Baxter Stockman into believing the Turtles had died as a result of the conflagration that ensued, the Shredder was not expecting the Turtles and their allies to storm his New York tower. Engaging in a one-on-one duel with Leonardo, the Shredder seized his foe’s katana, while Leo wielded the Sword of Tengu; Leo struck true and decapitated the Shredder, but once again, the Turtles lack of knowledge of the true nature of their foe was their downfall, as, after their departure, the Shredder’s body rose again.
Some time later, after the Turtles discovered the Utrom presence on Earth, the Shredder and his forces attacked the building the aliens were using for a front. Donatello electrocuted him, knocking his exo-suit offline, and at last, his true nature was revealed to the Turtles, as Ch’rell crawled from his suit and attacked them himself, while a bomb he had activated threatened to implode the whole building. The Turtles were able to escape, but Ch’rell was caught in the blast. This is the one time where the Turtles fight the Shredder and he isn't shown to be alive immediately after the fight, thought they were very skeptical if Shredder was alive or dead. It's worth noting that this is the only time Shredder wasn't revealed to be alive to the viewer right after the battle.
Utilizing a restoration technique involving worms (presumably similar to the method employed for his resurrection in the Mirage comics), Karai restored her father to life, and, outfitted in a new suit of armor, battled the Turtles’ Triceraton ally Zog aboard a blazing cargo ship. The ship exploded in the middle of the battle, but, as ever, the Shredder survived and was rescued by Karai via helicopter.
Soon thereafter, the Earth was invaded by the military forces of Zog’s race, the Triceratons, searching for the Turtles’ old robot ally, the Fugitoid. The Turtles ultimately repelled the invasion (during which, Shredder was briefly seen commenting to Karai saying that they what to see if any "opportunities" would arise), but Earth was left in ruins, and Oroku Saki became the “savior” of New York City when he dedicated his resources to helping the devastated metropolis recover. In truth, however, the Shredder’s benevolence hid an agenda all his own, as he salvaged various pieces of Triceraton technology, with which he constructed a spaceship that would allow him to return to the Utrom homeworld.
When construction of the ship was completed, Saki held a press conference to explain his upcoming disappearance from the public eye as a “return home,” at which point the Turtles invaded his complex, as did the forces of the Earth Protection Force, thanks to their mole inside the Shredder’s organization, Baxter Stockman. Forced to launch the craft early, only Shredder, Karai and scientist Doctor Chaplin were able to board the ship, as did Splinter and the Turtles, leading to a climactic battle between the mutants and the Shredder in a huge, far more powerful new exo-suit. Having easily defeated his enemies, the Shredder seemed unstoppable, until a fleet of E.P.F. missiles disabled the craft, giving Donatello the time he needed to overload the ship’s engines, causing the entire ship to explode. Thankfully, the Utroms teleported all the combatants from the craft before the explosion, taking them all to the Utrom homeworld, where Ch’rell was finally placed on trial for the atrocities he had committed on countless worlds. Found guilty, he was sentenced to eternal exile on an ice asteroid in the Mor Tal belt. Screaming in defiance, Ch’rell was teleported to those icy wastes, never to return.
[edit] Karai
After Ch'rell was exiled, Karai assumed the mantle of the Shredder, determined to avenge her "father". (She had played the role of the Shredder before in the "City at War" episodes.) After launching a failed mental attack on the Turtles with the Foot Mystics, she launched a personal attack on the Turtles' lair, aided by an army of Foot Ninjas and Foot Mechs. She demolished their lair and seemingly killed all of the Turtles except for Leonardo, who was on a training mission in Japan. When he returned, he found his brothers and Master Splinter, who had escaped from the Foot and were in hiding. Karai and the Foot were not actively featured until the fifth season, when she joined the Turtles as an ally to defeat the resurrected Shredder Tengu.
[edit] Return of the Shredder Tengu
The five elemental mystics that had formerly served the original Shredder had chafed in the service of Ch’rell, and were even further reviled when Karai took his place as the holder of the Heart of Tengu, determining to release themselves. Tricking the E.P.F. into stealing the Heart of Tengu from Karai and destroying it, the mystics were released and set about arranging the resurrection of the original Shredder, dispatching various demon minions to find the helmet and gauntlet that the Four Dragons – now known as the “Ninja Tribunal” – had hidden away so long ago. The Turtles and four other humans were recruited and trained by the Tribunal in order to reclaim the helmet and gauntlet, but in doing so, they had unwittingly played into the elementals’ hands, having brought the two items to the Tribunal’s lair, the Lap of the Gods, where the Shredder’s body was held. In a massive attack on the Lap of the Gods, the elementals succeeded in capturing all three items, which they took to New York and reunited, restoring the demon Shredder to life.
The Shredder’s first goal was the elimination of the pretender to his name, Karai, but thanks to the intervention of the Turtles, who assumed their dragon avatar forms for the first time in order to hold him off, she survived, and the Shredder instead turned his attention to the world at large, transforming New York City into a twisted, nightmarish landscape from which his conquest of Earth would begin. The Turtles discovered that, in inheriting the mantle of the Shredder, Karai had also inherited a mystic link to the demon’s power. The Turtles went to face Shredder, and were joined by the Justice Force, Splinter, the Ancient One, and the other Tribunal acolytes, as well as Hun, Bishop, Stockman, Karai and their organizations. The turtles faced Shredder after killing his mystics, but even with their allies the demon was too powerful for them. Shredder was about finish them off, but the spirit of Hamato Yoshi manifested from their medallions and held him off long enough for them to recover. Manifesting their spiritual avatars and transforming into powerful dragon forms, the Turtles and the Shredder (who took his dragon form as well) battled in the skies above New York. The Shredder was able to take the upper hand until Karai started to drain his energy, allowing the Turtles to destroy his helmet and gauntlet, thus weakening him and reverting back his normal form. Then, they summoned the spirit of Hamato Yoshi, who appeared to deliver the final blow, cutting the villain in half and destroying the demon Shredder once and for all.
The demon Shredder displayed godlike power during his attempt to conquer the world. He had telekinetic abilities that he could use to levitate himself (which is how he usually moved) and other objects (even large objects, shown with how he once tossed a cement-mixer with ease). He usually fought by firing blasts of dark magic, which could easily demolish the walls of large buildings, although he also possess a large degree of super-human strength (enough to easily overpower the Turtles' ally the Silver Sentry). He was invulnerable to most means of attack (having taken no damage when Karai impaled him with a sword, or showing signs of pain when Chaplin blasted a hole in him, which instantly regenerated). The magic weapons the turtles gained from the Ninja Tribunal proved unable to injure him, and when he had most of his power even their dragon forms couldn't inflict any serious damage. He could also create weapons for himself to use, as well as demonic minions and shape the world around to the form his chooses, though spreading his power does weaken him. He could also transform objects into anything (as he did with Karai's sword into a demonic snake). Finally, Shredder could assume the form of a massive dragon (his dragon form dwarfs those of the Turtles and the Ninja Tribunal) that possess strength far surpassing those of any others seen, which in addition to breathing fire, could fire extremely powerful blasts of dark magic.
[edit] Fast Forward
In the TMNT Fast Forward episode, "Time is Everything", Leo and Cody Jones ended up at the time period where they first defeated the Shredder and witnessed him rise from the wreckage of the water tower. They barely escape back to the future, leaving the Shredder confused at the "magic" he'd seen. He later comes to Sh'okanabo's lair with his Foot Ninja and demands they take everything. However, the Turtles, more skilled than their previous encounters sends him back to the past.
Storyboards for an unproduced FF episode "The Devil and Dr. Stockman", reveal that had Fast Forward continued, a Triceraton Shredder would have made an appearance.
[edit] Oroku Saki/The Shredder appearance
Oroku Saki/The Shredder appeared in 38 episodes:
- Things Change
- A Better Mousetrap
- Attack of the Mousers
- Darkness on the Edge of Town
- The Way of Invisibility
- The Shredder Strikes, Part 1
- The Shredder Strikes, Part 2
- The Shredder Strikes Back, Part 1
- The Shredder Strikes Back, Part 2
- Tales of Leo
- Return to New York, Part 1
- Return to New York, Part 2
- Return to New York, Part 3
- Secret Origins, Part 1
- Secret Origins, Part 2
- Secret Origins, Part 3
- Reflections
- City at War, Part 3
- Rogue in the House, Part 1
- Rogue in the House, Part 2
- Space Invaders, Part 2
- Hunted
- Nobody's Fool
- New Blood (a.k.a The New Guard)
- Mission of Gravity
- Hun on the Run
- Same As It Never Was
- Exodus, Part 1
- Exodus, Part 2
- Bad Day
- Tale of Master Yoshi
- Legend of the Five Dragons
- New World Order, Part 1
- New World Order, Part 2
- Past Present
- Enter the Dragons, Part 1
- Enter the Dragons, Part 2
- Timing Is Everything
[edit] Video games
As the original TMNT video games are based on the 80s cartoon, Shredder is based on his first cartoon incarnation. He always executes some strange plan to provoke the Turtles into retaliating and defeat them; these include kidnapping April O’Neil and stealing the Statue of Liberty. Shredder is usually the last boss in the games, and has a recognizable theme, "Tatsujin", in many of the games as well.
- Original NES game
- Shredder is the final boss. He is found at the end of the Technodrome level. He causes the Turtles to lose roughly half their energy if he touches them, and has a gun that can de-mutate them instantly, killing them. He wears a red costume like in the Mirage comics.
- Original arcade game
- Once again, Shredder is the final boss and is found at the end of the Technodrome level. This time, he is armed with a sword, and has the ability to clone himself (the exact number of clones is one more than the number of Turtles attacking him). New clones are constantly created to replace fallen ones, until the real Shredder is defeated. Shredder and his clones also have the ability to shoot lightning bolts, which de-mutate the Turtles they hit, killing them. Finally, when Shredder or one of his clones is close to death, his helmet falls off, a unique occurrence in the game series.
- Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Fall of the Foot Clan
- This game was the first one not to feature Shredder as the final boss. Instead, Shredder is the boss of the penultimate stage, which is set in a river. It is also the first game in which Shredder doesn't have the ability to de-mutate the Turtles. His only attack is a sword swipe, but he can teleport if hit. The final boss of the game, at the end of the Technodrome stage, is Krang.
- Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: The Manhattan Missions
- In this PC game, Shredder fights the turtles in his Manhattan hideout, decorated in a Japanese style. His appearance is based on the Mirage comic version.
- Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles III: The Manhattan Project
- This game is the first to feature both a battle against Shredder and a second one against a mutated Super Shredder. The first battle takes place at the end of the Technodrome level, which is the sixth of the eight levels of the game. In this battle, Shredder uses a sword to attack the Turtles. Shredder later returns as the final boss of the game, in Krang's spaceship. This time, he mutates himself into Super Shredder, much as he did in the second TMNT movie, which had been released earlier the same year. Super Shredder has two super-powers, the ability to call down lightning, and the ability to shoot fireballs. These fireballs can demutate the Turtles, but unlike other games, this isn't an instant kill. It merely costs roughly half a Turtle's energy, and they re-mutate into their normal form after a few seconds.
- Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles II: Back from the Sewers
- A sequel to Fall of the Foot Clan, this game also features Shredder as a regular level boss and Krang as the final boss. He does not have the ability to demutate the Turtles, but he does have a wider variety of attacks than in the previous Game Boy game. They include a dive kick and a charge, and at higher difficulty levels he can kick an energy wave at the Turtles. Shredder returns later in his mutated Super Shredder form, as a sub-level boss of the final Technodrome level. However, in this incarnation, his only super-power is the ability to teleport elsewhere on the screen, including behind the Turtles in the highest difficulty setting of the game. He attacks the Turtles using a sword.
- Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Turtles in Time
- Shredder is again the final boss of the game, and found in the Technodrome. However, this time, he is not preceded by a Technodrome level. Instead, the Turtles fight through a Starbase level in the future, then teleport to the Technodrome in the present for the final confrontation. Shredder attacks with a sword, and can fire energy attacks. In the SNES port of the game, Shredder begins the battle by mutating himself into Super Shredder, and has the added super-powers of super-speed movement, fire ground attacks, ice air attacks, and a demutating fire ball which instantly kills a Turtle. The SNES port also added a Technodrome level earlier in the game, which leads to a battle with a regular Shredder. In this battle, Shredder is in a kind of tank, from which he can fire a machine gun at the Turtles or grab them with claws. Shredder's tank cannot be hit directly; instead, the Turtles must grab Foot Soldiers and throw them at the tank to damage it.
- Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: The Hyperstone Heist
- This game uses a Super Shredder similar to the one in Turtles in Time. He is the same except his ice attack his been replaced with a beam attack. He is preceded by a Technodrome level, and a battle against Krang.
- Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles III: Radical Rescue
- Unlike its two predecessors, Fall of the Foot Clan and Back from the Sewers, this game does feature Shredder as the final boss. However, this time Shredder has become Cyber Shredder, half-man and half-machine. This form of Shredder possessed deadly kick moves and energy ball attacks, as well as being the only boss in the game with two life meters, as the meter instantly refills after it's drained the first time.
- Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Tournament Fighters
- This is the only game in which Shredder is not a boss but instead a regular playable character. Furthermore, his costume is based on the Mirage comics version, and not the cartoon as in some of the other games. Finally, in the SNES incarnation of this game, he appears under the name CyberShredder, but there is no indication that he has become a cybernetic being as in Radical Rescue.
After a nine-year hiatus, a new series of TMNT games was initiated. These new games are based on the 2003 cartoon series, and likewise, Shredder in the games is the same as in the cartoon.
- Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles
- Shredder once again appears as the final boss. The Turtles face him on the helicarrier at the top of the Foot Helicarriers, he wields the Sword of Tengu in this fight. Shredder's combo attacks are quick and nearly continuous. He attacks vigorously leaving the players constantly on defense. When his half of his health bar has been depleted, his attacks become much faster. If the player defeats Shredder on their initial try the game ends, but once the player finishes the game with all 4 Turtles then a secret final boss will take place in which the player faces the Shredder as Oroku Saki. Removing the armor only increases his power. As Saki, his combos are much quicker and even more deadly. At various times, his aura will turn red and Saki will become much faster and even more powerful for a limited time.
- TMNT: Mutant Melee
- Shredder appeared as a playable character and opponent in three forms; his standard armor, without the armor (as Oroku Saki), and a golden "Mega" Shredder. All three forms had slightly different attacks.
- TMNT
- In the console versions of the movie-based game, the Shredder appears as a boss in a flashback-within-a-flashback (as the events of the game are told to Splinter after their occurrence). The armor of Shredder in this game is based on the 2003 cartoon series version.
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[edit] References
- ^ TMNT Cartoon Episode 70!
- ^ TMNT Cartoon Episode 108!
- ^ TMNT Cartoon Episode 159!
- ^ TMNT Cartoon Episode 178!
- ^ TMNT Cartoon Episode 189!
- ^ TMNT Cartoon Episode 190!
- ^ TMNT Cartoon Episode 191!
- ^ TMNT Cartoon Episode 194!
[edit] External links
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