Shredder (Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles)

Design

Shredder's physical appearance remains fairly consistent in most incarnations of the character. Saki is a muscular Japanese man, most frequently seen in "the Shredder" persona, wearing a suit of armor vaguely based on that of a samurai, sometimes with a cape. The armor consists of blade-covered metal plaques on his shoulders, forearms, hands (sometimes just his left hand, because he is left-handed), and shins; he wears a purple, gray, blue, or red robe that variously appears to be simple fabric or a form of chain mail. He also tends to wear a metal helmet with a trident-shaped ornament on top, and a metal ninja style mask which covers his face, leaving only his eyes visible. In the 2003 TMNT series, the Shredder is a red alien Utrom named Ch'rell, who utilized an indestructible exo-suit to disguise himself as a human named Oroku Saki.

Kevin Eastman got the idea for Shredder's armor from large trapezoidal cheese graters which he envisioned on a villainous character's (originally named "The Grater" or "Grate Man") arms. He then said, "Could you imagine a character with weapons on his arms like this?" While Peter Laird suggested the name The Shredder. Although Shredder is often depicted as the main antagonist in the Ninja Turtles franchise, it was never the creators' intention to be the case in his original inception in the Mirage Comics:

Oroku Saki

In the original comic books from Mirage Comics, Oroku Saki is the younger brother of Oroku Nagi who had been killed by a fellow ninja Hamato Yoshi (the owner of Splinter, the Turtles' mentor) in a feud over a woman named Tang Shen resulting in Yoshi fleeing with Shen to the United States.

Angry at the death of his older brother, Saki joined the Foot Clan and trained to be a ninja. He quickly became one of their deadliest warriors and rose up the ranks and was chosen to lead the Foot's American branch. Operating in New York under the name of The Shredder, Saki used the opportunity to avenge his brother by killing Yoshi and Shen. Under Saki's leadership, the Foot participated in variety of criminal activities, including drug smuggling, arms running, and assassination.

Fifteen years later Saki was challenged by the Ninja Turtles, who were the result of an accident exposing four ordinary turtles to radioactive waste. They were trained by Yoshi's pet rat Splinter, who had also been mutated by the same substance, to avenge his former master. After a lengthy rooftop battle where Saki seemed to be winning, Leonardo managed to plunge his sword through Saki's torso. Defeated, he was offered the opportunity to commit seppuku (ritual suicide), but Shredder refused and detonated a thermite grenade, in an attempt to take them with him to his death. However, in the last second Donatello used his bo to knock Shredder off the building to his death.

The Shredder returned on Christmas Eve seemingly resurrected with an army of Foot Ninjas severely beating Leonardo and burning down the apartment of the turtles' ally April O'Neil, forcing them to go into hiding outside the city. A year later, in the story "Return To New York," the Turtles returned to settle the score with their enemies. Leonardo faced off against the Shredder alone, during which Saki revealed he was brought back to life by a technique using worms feeding on his body and recreating his cells to reform his body. In the battle, Leonardo decapitates Saki, finally killing him, and the four turtles burn his body at the Hudson River.

The female ninja Pimiko from the comic book series' Volume 3 claims to be Shredder's daughter.

Tales of the TMNT

In the second volume of the anthology series Tales of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles story "Worms of Madness" it is shown that a few weeks after the events of their final battle the Shredder had yet another resurrection of sorts when a Foot mystic reactivated the worms; however, the mystic did not resurrect Saki himself but the worm colony which had gained sentience and retained Saki's memories and believing itself to be Saki. The worms then went out to find a new body and chose that of a shark. After the Foot Kidnapped Splinter, the turtles managed to engage the "Shredder-Shark" in battle and defeating it by severing its connection to the mystic and the creature realizing that it was not the real Saki. The "Shredder-Shark" returned once more kidnapping Casey's adopted daughter Shadow to lure the Turtles into a trap. With the Turtles away, it was up to Casey and Splinter to defeat it and rescue Shadow, finally killing the creature.

Other Versions of the Shredder

Throughout a considerable part of the Image comic series, Raphael tries to impersonate Shredder by wearing his armor. Following this, he is accepted as the leader of the Foot Clan. 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.

In Volume Four 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 the Foot is not known, since the bi-monthly comic was ultimately cancelled in 2010.

Archie Comics

The Archie Comics' series use the same background as the 1987 cartoon, as the first issues are identical. Later in the Archie comics, Shredder travels to the future and works with Armaggon and Verminator X to offset the skill and experience of the future versions of the Turtles.

This version of the character was more in line with the early episodes' depiction of the character as a cunning adversary and in many issues nearly proves to be a lethal enemy, coming close to defeating the turtles on a number of occasions, and even aids Armaggon and Verminator X in the defeat and capture of two of the turtles in the future. His final fate within the Archie comics series remains unknown, though a three-part mini-series put out by Archie comics after the end of their regular comic series seems to indicate he remains a consistent foe to the turtles for many years, briefly restoring Splinter to the form of Hamato Yoshi and also undoing Michaelangelo's mutation, though both later revert to mutant status by the end of the story, while Shredder was left in a vegetative state in the aftermath of his final battle with the Turtles.

IDW Publishing

In feudal Japan, Oroku Saki was a high-ranking member of the Foot Clan along with Hamato Yoshi. While Yoshi focused on his family, Saki surpassed him and was promoted to Jonin (leader) of the Foot. After an argument on his style of leadership, Saki sent ninja to murder Yoshi's wife, Tang Shen, and later Yoshi and his four sons.

With the help of Kitsune, Saki steals regenerative ooze from an Utrom known as "The Iron Demon" (later revealed to be Krang himself) which is used to preserve his body until he is awakened by his descendant Oroku Karai several centuries later in modern-day New York. During his time in stasis, his spirit conquered the realm of the Afterlife, where he learned he was destined to rule the earth world and eventually return to the Afterlife as a lost soul. Knowing the future, he vows to change it by conquering the realm of the Afterlife upon his return.

Shredder first appears in Micro-series #1 and in full costume on the final page of issue #9. Dan Duncan first designed Shredder with input from Mateus Santolouco and Kevin Eastman; originally wanting to depict a "beefy...monster" he decided to simplify the design and slimmed down the character based on the original Mirage design.

Seeking control in his forthcoming battle for power, Shredder offers Splinter a place in his army but Splinter refuses, revealing himself to be a reincarnated Hamato Yoshi. Saki then reveals his own identity and attacks Splinter, almost killing him when the Turtles arrive to rescue their father. Impressed by Leonardo, he orders his capture and conducts a plan involving kidnapping and stabbing Casey Jones. Shredder then has Kitsune brainwash Leonardo to become his new Chunin (second-in-command) and uses him for a show of strength to the criminal underworld. After the Turtles rescue Leonardo, Shredder calls a meeting with Krang and proposes an alliance in exchange for Utrom technologies, which Krang rejects. A short battle results in retreat on both sides and the revelation that Shredder had stolen some Utrom resources from Krang's compound to begin creating a mutant army.

In Issue #50, Shredder faced Splinter and the turtles in a final battle which he lost and briefly admitted his faults and also making Karai the new head of the Foot Clan. He was then killed by Splinter by having his sword slashed into the back of his head, killing him instantly. After his death Shredder's body is kept in a crypt that is guarded by Jennika who was assigned by Hamato Yoshi in order to learn humility. Shredder's tomb is eventually desecrated by the witch Kitsune who plans to revive Oroku Saki in order to restore order to the Foot Clan.

1987 animated series

In the 1987 animated series, Oroku Saki and Hamato Yoshi were both members of the Foot Clan in Japan. After Saki framed him for the attempted murder of a visiting sensei, Yoshi was forced to exile himself to New York City, where he lived in the sewers with four pet turtles that were accidentally dropped down a storm 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 Ninja with robots called the Foot Soldiers. He secretly moved to New York, where he found Yoshi still alive. In an 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 ninjutsu.

Shredder was voiced by The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air co-star James Avery for seasons one to seven and William E. Martin for seasons eight and ten, with the alternates being Dorian Harewood in 1989, Jim Cummings in 1991–1993 and Townsend Coleman in 1993. In the 2009 crossover movie Turtles Forever, this incarnation of the Shredder was voiced by Load Williams.

Depiction

In his early appearances, Shredder was presented as extremely cunning and was described by Splinter himself as the most dangerous adversary he ever faced. Shredder's intelligence persevered throughout his various portrayals, and in several instances it is claimed that Shredder has an IQ of 300. As the 1987 cartoon series was more light-hearted than the comics, Shredder was later depicted as an evil but incompetent villain rather than the dire and lethal ninja he was originally shown to be. He and Krang are constantly bickering about tactics and often take pleasure in the other's failings (and sometimes intentionally sabotage each other). His two henchmen Bebop and Rocksteady are especially incompetent and fail miserably at everything they do. They were mostly used for comic relief in the show; however, the Turtles certainly consider them to be formidable (despite their inane stupidity) in combat due to their great strength and endurance, and as such, often use their intelligence to outwit them.

Despite Shredder's failings, he is still shown to have considerable skills. In martial arts, he is often shown to surpass the Turtles and to be equaled only by Splinter. Nevertheless, he usually runs away from a fight when outnumbered, 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, but the Punk Frogs soon switch sides. 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 episode "Shredderville" the Turtles dream they find themselves in a mirror universe where the TMNT never existed and Shredder rules New York City, yet finds the task of ruling so burdensome that he has a nervous breakdown.

From season eight onwards, Shredder was depicted as a more serious threat, full of anger and bloodlust, though he was still easily defeated by the Turtles. His friendship with Krang also appeared to have grown. There were many times that Shredder could have just left Krang at the mercy of the Turtles or Lord Dregg, but he always rescued him, and went as far as to donate his life energy to save him.

Family

Shredder's family is presented in three episodes. In the episode "Shredder's Mom", 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. However, 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", it is revealed that Oroku Saki has a younger brother, Kazuo 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" 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 is 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 last 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". This follows Japanese naming conventions, which place the family name before an individual's given name.

Timeline

Counting from the first meeting with the Turtles, Shredder spent eight seasons plotting ways to defeat them. In the season 8 episode "Turtle Trek", 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 seasons in Dimension X, until he was contacted by Dregg ("The Power of Three"). 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, making them weaker while Dregg becomes stronger. Shredder alone escapes the trap and restores Krang ("A Turtle in Time"), 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"). In the series finale "Divide and Conquer", the Turtles return to the Technodrome in Dimension X to take Krang's android body, which they need to fight Dregg. Shredder is nowhere to be seen, but it is assumed that he is still somewhere in Dimension X.

He and Krang also appear in Turtles Forever, with the Technodrome still under New York City before being sent into the 2003 universe. However, Shredder and Krang's incompetence (as well as their relative sanity) is fully shown when the Utrom Shredder of the 2003 universe seizes command of the Technodrome and adds Utrom technology to the powerful war machine, and turns it against the world. In the climax, Shredder temporarily overcomes his hatred for the Turtles as both he and Krang decide to help the Turtles defeat the Utrom Shredder who they realise is totally insane, will kill everyone and has effectively stolen the Technodrome from them. Shredder also takes extreme offense at being considered inferior by his other dimensional counterpart, doesn't see the point of destroying the entire universe and doesn't understand why the Utrom Shredder won't just kill the Turtles when he had the chance. So, with Krang, he chooses to fight alongside the Turtles against their common foe.

The Next Mutation

In Ninja Turtles: 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.

In the show, Shredder wore a general attire similar to the one he wore in the second film, but with a heavily altered helmet/mask due to the lesser budget for the TV series as compared to the movies, which had allowed for more detailed props and costume pieces. Shredder appeared only a few times in the show, due to the primary villain of the series being a draconic being from another dimension and thus supplanted Shredder as the Turtles' nemesis.

2003 animated series

The "Shredder" identity has been assumed by numerous individuals in the 2003 animated series. All of the Shredders, except for Karai, are voiced by Scottie Ray. In the episode "Tempus Fugit", a future is shown in which the Utrom, Tengu and Cyber Shredders are engaged in a war for control of the city.

2012 animated series

The Shredder appears as one of the main antagonists of the 2012 animated series, voiced by Kevin Michael Richardson.

His Japanese origins as Oroku Saki and brotherly relationship with Hamato Yoshi is mostly intact, with the Foot Clan and the Hamato Clan being later revealed as having a long-term rivalry before the Hamato family killed the Oroku family, wiped out their entire clan (starting with the destruction of the Foot Clan monastery) and took in the orphaned Saki as their own. Despite being raised as brothers, both Saki and Yoshi eventually became rivals due to the love of Tang Shen, whose decision to marry Yoshi drove Saki to discover his true heritage and turn on his former brother, eventually destroying everything Yoshi held dear, including the lovely Tang Shen (whom he had killed by accident) and the entire Hamato Clan (starting with the destruction of the Hamato Clan monastery, which resulted with Saki's head getting burned scarred and hairless). Blaming Tang Shen's untimely death on Yoshi, Saki returned to his biological family and became the new leader of the newly restored Foot Clan, tutoring ninjutsu students such as world-famous martial artist Chris Bradford and Brazilian street thug Xever Montes, sharing criminal business with business partners such as Russian arms dealer Ivan Steranko, Italian food critic Don Visiozo and Hun, and owning a pet akita named Hachiko (named after the akita of the same name) who played a part in Bradford's mutation into Dogpound after Hachiko bit him.

Shredder first appeared in the end of "Rise of the Turtles, Part 2" where he traveled to New York when he learned that Hamato Yoshi is training his own ninjas after seeing a shuriken with his clan symbol on a shuriken left behind by the Turtles during a recent fight on a TV news report. Determined to finally end his age-old rival's life, he sent the Foot Clan after the Turtles until he made his first confrontation with the Turtles in person in "The Gauntlet," where victory was seemingly in his grasp before he was distracted by the mutating Bradford and Montes. Although Shredder planned to kill former TCRI inventor Baxter Stockman for interfering with his plans to kill the Turtles in "MOUSERS Attack," he changed his mind by commenting on how Stockman's scientific knowledge could be useful to him. Shredder is also Karai's father, as seen in "New Girl in Town". However, in "Showdown," during Shredder's battle with Splinter, he reveals that in the aftermath of the fight that caused Tang Shen's death, he took Splinter's daughter, Miwa, and raised her as Karai. He has told her that he is her biological father and it was Splinter who killed her mother, as she has sworn revenge ever since. Shredder initially dismissed the Kraang's presence in New York, but after capturing one, decided to ally with them to destroy the Turtles. The partnership seems stable, though it would seem the Shredder still did not fully trust his new allies.

Early in the second season, in "Follow the Leader," he left for Japan, leaving Karai as the interim leader of his Foot Clan. He ordered her not to attack the Turtles nor make any dealings with the Kraang behind his back, and was livid when his adoptive daughter disobeyed him. He returned in "The Manhattan Project," with Tiger Claw, a Japanese circus performer who was mutated into Shredder's deadly assassin and new first lieutenant. Tiger Claw was able to bring Splinter before him, but complication from a Kraang operation in the city and the Turtles' own efforts rob Shredder of his chance to kill his old foe once again. In "The Wrath of Tiger Claw," Shredder and Tiger Claw attempted to use Karai to set a trap for the Turtles, but when she saw a photograph of Hamato Yoshi, Tang Shen, and herself as an infant, she realized that the Turtles were telling the truth and sided with them, resulting in her being captured while buying them time to escape Tiger Claw. Shredder still cared about his adoptive daughter, though, as seen in "The Legend of the Kuro Kabuto," where he visited her in her cell and explained why he kept everything a secret and hoped that she will one day understand. After his helmet, the titular Kuro Kabuto, was stolen by professional thief Anton Zeck on behalf of Steranko, Shredder found Zeck's calling card on a glued-down Rahzar and ordered the entire clan before him. Explaining the helmet's history as a special Foot Clan relic, he had the clan hunt for Zeck, sending Fishface with Stockman-Fly and Rahzar with Tiger Claw. Leonardo later confronted Shredder with the Kabuto for a trade and kept him busy long enough for the other Turtles to get to Karai. However, the "Karai" Shredder traded them with turned out to be a dummy rigged with a bomb as the Turtles evaded it. In "Vengeance is Mine," Shredder attempted to use the real Karai as bait for a trap that would mutate the Turtles into snakes that would kill Splinter, but the plan backfired when Karai was exposed to the mutagen, turning into a snake and almost attacking Splinter before she fled after regaining control of herself.

In the two-part second-season finale, "The Invasion," Shredder and Kraang Prime formed a full alliance in which Shredder and the Foot Clan will help the Kraang take over New York and then the world and in turn the Kraang would return Karai to normal, and deliver Splinter and the Turtles to him. Later, he watched as Leonardo fought and eventually defeated his army of Foot Bots, after which he sent Rahzar, Fishface, and Tiger Claw to take care of him. Leonardo managed to subdue them for a short period of time before Shredder got involved and badly injured Leonardo. Later, Splinter confronted him and the two battled until Splinter got trapped under large metal pipes. Shredder was prepared to kill his rival once and for all, however Leatherhead intervened, and was defeated when Shredder sliced the front of his torso and kicked him of the edge of the dock. Splinter became furious as he broke out from under the pipes and tackled Shredder to the sewers. Later, the Turtles (minus Leonardo) and April watched helplessly from behind metal bars as Shredder defeated Splinter and seemingly killed him by throwing him down a large draining bay.

In the middle of the third season, in "Return to New York," tensions began to grow high within the Foot of their alliance with the Kraang, but Shredder convinced everyone that he will keep his promise to take the city back from them. After a feral Splinter was found by the Foot-Bots and taken before him, Shredder had Stockman-Fly work on restoring his memory, which is what April did instead with her Kraang powers when she, the Turtles and Casey Jones returned to the city to rescue their sensei. In "The Pig and the Rhino," Shredder sent Bebop and Rocksteady to find Karai again, like they did recently before the Turtles helped her escape, or else they'll be given something even more painful than mutation. After the Turtles unknowingly led them to her, the two succeeded in re-capturing Karai (while the Turtles weren't looking) and delivering her back to Shredder, who promised to fix everything he's done to her. The Kraang invasion eventually came to a stop made by the Turtles and the Mighty Mutanimals, but it's effects had eventually gave Shredder a gift for his cooperation with the Kraang, which shifted the balance of power within the city's criminal underworld over to the Foot. For him, this was achieved by gaining control of the Purple Dragons and other Asian gangs through Hun, several South American gangs through Fishface, the Russian mob through Rocksteady and the Sicilian mob through Vizioso. By using this power, Shredder had these crime groups aid him with collecting various chemicals from a chemical company called Aumen Chemicals, an abandoned Kraang lab and Vizioso for a mind-control serum that he planned to create and use on the Turtles, the Mutanimals and Karai.

In the two-part Season 3 finale, Annihilation: Earth! he briefly teams up with Splinter to stop a black hole machine that was to destroy the Earth. He briefly fought the Triceratons until he followed Splinter, double crossing and stabbing him in the back, killing him instantly in front of the turtles. They rushed to Splinter while April blew Shredder away with a blast from her mind. Proclaiming that his victory over Splinter is more important to him than even saving the world, Shredder is sucked into the black hole along with his followers and Splinter while the turtles, April and Casey escape Earth's destruction and then in "Beyond the Known Universe," they travel back in time to six months earlier in an effort to prevent this event from happening. In "Earth's Last Stand" these events were revisited, but the arrival of the Turtles from the future resulted in Shredder's attempt to murder Splinter being thwarted. The two engaged briefly in battle with Splinter proving victorious, and the unconscious Shredder was carried away by Tiger Claw.

In City at War, due to the injuries he sustained from Splinter, Shredder has been confined to a hospital bed under the care of Stockman with Bebop and Rocksteady as his bodyguards. When Tiger Claw returns to report the loss of an entire weapons cache thanks to the Turtles and Karai back in Manhattan, making it clear Karai wants to take Shredder down one piece at a time by destroying his criminal empire before taking him out, Shredder decrees that if it's a war Karai wants, it's a war she'll get, before Stockman hooks an I.V. filled with mutagen up to Shredder, and as the mutagen is injected into Shredder, his eyes open wide as the mutagen takes effect. In The Insecta Trifecta, Shredder is still receiving the mutagen drip as he now turns to Stockman as his last hope due to his undying loyalty since Tiger Claw and the others have become useless as of late in stopping Karai and the Turtles. When Stockman returns to report his mission a failure, Shredder is not worried about it, revealing to Stockman that his mutagen drip is finally taking effect as Shredder deploys a pair of blades from the back of his hand, right out of the skin itself. In "The Super Shredder" Shredder forces Stockman to give him the rest of the mutagen drip, which mutated him into his Super Shredder form, although it ended up monstrous he was still pleased. Shredder then collects his henchmen and travels back to his old lair. Karai tries to fight the Shredder along with Shinigami but Shredder easily knocks Shinigami unconscious and he escapes with Karai. He then notices a van coming straight towards him, (The Shell Raiser) and flips it over. He tells the turtles to have splinter meet him at the place that he last beat him. Shredder then sets the vehicle on fire and the turtles flee to the sewers. Shredder then creates a trap for Splinter and the Turtles, which is full of photos of Splinter, Tang Shen, and Karai. When Splinter enters he drops bars of iron to avoid them from escaping. He then light fire towards them but they jump underwater. As the Turtles, Splinter, and April continue to approach Shredder, Karai makes a remark and Splinter follows, but later finds out he was led into another trap. Shredder forces Splinter to fight him but Splinter escapes, ready to set up a plan of his own. Splinter leads Shredder to the Undercity, where he puts his plan into action. Shredder eventually finds Splinter and he steps on his tail. Shredder then takes Splinter deeper into the UnderCity, where he decides to finish him. Just as Shredder was about to strike Splinter, his arm started to lose control, causing him to step back. Splinter then throws a blade at a few gas tanks and both Splinter and Shredder fall to their deaths. However, in the following episode, "Darkest Plight", Shredder and Splinter are separated during the fall, and Shredder returns to the top of the Under-city to be rescued by Tiger Claw, who takes him back to recover before hunting down the Turtles. While Tiger Claw deals with April and Karai, Shredder goes after Leonardo, and nearly crushes him to death before Karai and April arrive to help. During the battle, Shredder tosses a wrecked fuel tanker semi-truck at Karai, only for April to catch it in her psychic grip, causing her Sol Star crystal to cause her eyes to glow blue and smile malevolently before hurling it back at Shredder. However, before Shredder can kill Leo, Karai pleads with him to reconsider doing something good in his life instead of being consumed by his vengeance. This lures Shredder in close enough for Karai to hit him in his most vulnerable spot: His exposed, pulsating mutated heart. Weakened, Shredder is saved by Tiger Claw, who drives him back to their hideout, where Shredder demands a larger dose of the mutagen from Stockman. When Tiger Claw objects, knowing it is too dangerous, Shredder overpowers him, forces Stockman to administer the dosage and roars as the mutagen takes effect as Tiger Claw watches in horror and fear. In "Tale of Tiger Claw", he is shown as a M.O.U.S.E.R. hologram to warn Tiger Claw of his next move against Splinter.

In "Requiem" he returns to New York City, far stronger and more vengeful than ever before. He shows up at the hideout where Karai is planning her next move with Shnigami and the Mighty Mutanimals. He defeats the Mutanimals effortlessly and badly injures Karai in the process. On the WOLF building, he faces off against Splinter, Slash, Raphael, April and Casey. He ultimately manages to murder Splinter and hurls him from the building to his death. He is then blasted by a tremendously powerful psychic wave from an enraged April, and is crushed by a garbage truck, though he again survives the onslaught.

In the Season Four finale, "Owari" he has his lackeys prepare for the inevitable arrival of the Turtles, April and Casey. He burns down his new lair and confronts the Turtles in a final showdown on the roof. His unique mutation makes him immune to Donatello's retro-mutagen, which allows him to beat Raphael, Donatello and Michelangelo all at once, leaving only Leonardo left standing. After a heated one-on-one duel, he is finally destroyed by Leonardo's swords; leaving only his mutated mask behind.

Films

The 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 professional wrestler Kevin Nash. In all cases, the character was voice-acted by David McCharen. The Shredder's costume was, in the first movie, originally the same as in the original comic, with a red color. However, this was changed in the sequel to a violet color, reflecting the more cartoonish nature of the second film. In both movies, he also had a sliver and black cape. In the Japanese versions, the Shredder is voiced by Norio Wakamoto (1st movie in VHS version), Hidekatsu Shibata (first movie in TV version), and Takeshi Watabe (second movie).

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (1990)

In the first movie Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, Oroku Saki and Hamato Yoshi were rival martial artists in Japan and both loved a woman named Tang Shen. Shen, who loved only Yoshi, persuaded him not to fight Saki honorably; instead, they fled for the United States. Saki followed them to New York City and murdered Tang Shen alone in her home; when Yoshi returned from his construction job and discovered Shen's body, Saki ambushed and killed him as well. Yoshi’s pet rat Splinter escaped during the fight and clawed Saki's face. In return, Saki sliced a small part of Splinter's ear with his katana and left. After this incident, it was said that Saki is never heard from again. The comic book adaptation of the film retains the original comic book origin story, with Oroku Nagi being slain and Saki coming to America to seek vengeance.

Saki, in the "Shredder" persona, establishes an American branch of the Foot Clan. With the aid of his second-in-command Tatsu, he manipulates and recruits troubled teens as brutal yet Machiavellian leader and father figure, teaching them ninjitsu to make them into skilled thieves and assassins. Shredder sends the Foot Clan to "silence" April O'Neil when she reports on the Foot Clan's connection to the recent crime wave, inadvertently leading them to the Turtles' hideout when Raphael saves April. Shredder had Splinter kidnapped and imprisoned him in his warehouse hideout, and has the Foot Clan hunt the Turtles. He beats Splinter while interrogating him about how the Turtles learned their fighting techniques.

After the Turtles successfully defeat the Foot Clan in a final assault, Shredder confronts them on a rooftop. He defeats all of the Turtles with his superior skills and threatens Leonardo with his yari to force the others to toss away their weapons. Splinter, freed by Turtles' allies, Danny Pennington and Casey Jones, intervenes and reveals to Shredder that they met years ago, as he was Hamato Yoshi's pet. Shredder unmasks himself, revealing the scars that Splinter gave him, and charges towards Splinter to impale him. Splinter counters with Michelangelo's nunchaku to vault him over the edge of the building and he falls into a parked garbage truck far below. Casey Jones then activates the crushing mechanism; the viewers are then shown a closeup of the Shredder's helmet being crushed, implying his death.

TMNT II: The Secret of the Ooze (1991)

In the second movie Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles II: The Secret of the Ooze, the Turtles believe that since Casey had crushed him in the garbage truck, the Shredder was dead. It is soon revealed that Shredder had survived the crushing and revitalized his Foot Clan to get vengeance on the Turtles. After finding the Foot "fallback" headquarters (a junkyard), he sent a member of the Foot to follow April, hoping to find the Turtles through her. When April's team was doing a report on T.G.R.I. in New Jersey, Freddy (a member of April's team, and Foot agent) found some mutated dandelions and sent one to the Shredder. He then orders Tatsu to obtain a sample of the T.G.R.I. mutagen that mutated the Turtles, as well as kidnap researcher Jordan Perry. Using the last mutagen and Perry's research, the Shredder creates his own mutants, Tokka and Rahzar, from a stolen snapping turtle and a brown wolf respectively. Though initially enraged at their infant-like intelligence, he soon plays it to his advantage by manipulating the mutants as they imprinted him as their surrogate parent.

After a failed attempt to kill the Turtles in the junkyard using a captured Raphael, Shredder unleashed Tokka and Rahzar onto a city street to "have fun" and destroy it. The Foot spy then gave April a message for the Turtles: that the Shredder would turn the mutants loose on Central Park next if they did not accede to a rematch at the construction site. After the Turtles de-mutate the two mutants (with help from Perry) and defeat Tatsu in a nightclub, the Shredder appears and threatens to mutate an innocent woman with a small reserve mutagen vial (the canister was knocked away by the Turtles' new human ally, Keno). Before he can mutate her, he is stopped when the Turtles play a keytar at full volume, sending the Shredder flying through a window from the force of a blown speaker. When the Turtles follow him outside on a pier, they discover that the Shredder has used the mutagen vial on himself. He is transformed into a massive "Super Shredder," an almost mindless giant-mutant being with immense superhuman strength. During his fight with the Turtles, Super Shredder knocks down the pier's pilings in a mindless rage, which then collapses onto him with the Turtles falling into the water below. Though the Turtles survive, the Shredder meets his demise from getting crushed by the destroyed pieces of the pier.

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles III (1993) and TMNT (2007)

The 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 that he wore in the 1990 film is visible on Splinter's shelf of mementos at the end of the movie. The possibility of his return is also strongly hinted at in the end of the film by Karai. However, the established storyline was abandoned in favor of the 2014 reboot.

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (2014)

Japanese American actor Tohoru Masamune portrayed the Shredder in Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. Initially, William Fichtner was intended to portray a Caucasian version of the Shredder, with the anglicized real name of Eric Sacks, instead of Oroku Saki. This idea was abandoned late in production in favor of featuring a Shredder of authentic Japanese ancestry, and the film went through re-shoots to change Fichtner's character of Sacks into being the Shredder's student. The change came too late to alter the film's Nintendo 3DS tie-in video game, and Sacks remains the Shredder in it. In contrast to much of the brand's history, Sacks, not Shredder, is the character connected to the Turtles' origins, having created them alongside April O'Neil's father; the Shredder (never referred to with any name other than his codename) has no connection to Splinter or the Turtles, and while he is shown to have scars on his face, it is not revealed how he suffered them.

In the earliest stages of development for the film, Shredder was reimagined as "Colonel Schrader", the military leader of the black-ops unit "The Foot", revealed later in the script to be a yellow-skinned, red-eyed alien with the ability to sprout spikes. This idea was dropped after Evan Daugherty was hired to rewrite the script in early 2013.

In the film, Shredder is the leader of the Foot Clan, who is terrorizing New York City. After a vigilante stops the Foot Clan, Shredder orders the Foot to take hostages down the subway in order to lure the vigilante out. Later in the film, Shredder's adopted son, Eric Sacks, informs Shredder that the vigilante is in fact four mutated turtles who are test subjects of "Project Renaissance, a science experiment of April o Neil's late father. Sacks gives Shredder an armed suit and a helmet. Shredder and the foot clan attack the turtles lair, where Shredder defeats Splinter (Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles) and kidnaps three turtles (Raphael was presumed dead). Sacks drains the turtles blood in order to create mutagen so that he can complete he and Shredder's plan: Shredder will release a virus across the city and Sacks will sell the mutagen as a cure for the disease making him even more rich. As Shredder prepares to release the virus, the turtles escape and confront him. Although Shredder nearly defeats them, the turtles were able to defeat him with the help of April, which causes Shredder to fall from the building he was on. Shredder survives the fall and is shown to have a sample of the mutagen.

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Out of the Shadows (2016)

Brian Tee portrayed Shredder in the 2016 film, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Out of the Shadows. In the beginning of the movie, the Foot Clan, led by a scientist named Baxter Stockman, attempt to help Shredder escape from prison. Although the turtles try to prevent the escape, Stockman was able to help Shredder escape using a teleportation device. But Shredder is hijacked mid-teleport and ends up in a place called Dimension X. There, he meets Krang, who gives Shredder a mutagen canister in exchange for a promise to find the three components of a machine that Krang sent to Earth long ago, which when united will open a portal to his dimension. Shredder returns to New York City and recruits two criminals named Bebop and Rocksteady and has Stockman use Krang's mutagen to transform them to powerful animal mutants- a warthog and rhinoceros. Shredder, Bebop and Rocksteady find the components in a museum in New York and in a jungle in Brazil. Shredder and Stockman unite the components, creating a portal to Krang's dimension. Shredder betrays Stockman and has his men take him away, but upon entering the Technodrome, Krang immediately betrays Shredder, freezing him and locking him away with his collection of other defeated foes.

Video games

As the original TMNT video games are mostly based on the 1987 cartoon, Shredder is often based on his first cartoon incarnation. He usually executes some 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.

After a 10-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.

Manga and anime

In the anime adaptation Mutant Turtles: Choujin Densetsu-hen, the backstory 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 voiced by Kiyoyuki Yanada.