Leatherhead (1987 TV series)

Leatherhead appeared in the 1987 TV series as an enemy of the Turtles. He started off as a giant green alligator until he swam through a Mutagen-polluted part of the swamp (thanks to a previous botched mission by Krang & Shredder, the one that gave birth to the Punk Frogs) where he mutated to his current humanoid form. He resides in the swamp area of Florida, commonly known as the Everglades. In his first appearance, he forced the turtle's allies the Punk Frogs as his slaves and then went after them, but was thwarted by the turtles. He became a recurring villain from then on. In this series, Leatherhead has a Cajun accent. He then hunted the Turtles on their own turf in the sewer. While he searches for the Turtles, he also meets the Rat King (whom he describes as "a few shrimp shy of a boatload") and wrestles him to the ground before he tried to fight against the Turtles. Later, he partnered up with the Rat King, after their attempts to kill each other failed, to eliminate the Turtles. In one episode called Night of the Rogues, Shredder hired him and the Rat King along with Slash, Tempestra, Antrax, Scumbug, and Chrome Dome to help him and Krang destroy the Turtles.

His overall clothing is a vest, rubber waders (rubber pants that go over boots & regular pants, held up by straps over shoulders), and a beat up hat. He usually carries bear traps & large crayfish on his person. He is depicted as survivalist and tracker. Original creator Ryan Brown went back and redesigned his Leatherhead character for this particular incarnation of the Ninja Turtles.

Leatherhead was originally voiced by Jim Cummings who also, incidentally, went on to voice more of Brown's characters, such as the Dakota Dude and Saddlesore Scorpion from the Wild West C.O.W.-Boys of Moo Mesa. Peter Renaday voiced him in the episode Night of the Rogues.