Krang

Krang is a warlord who has been stripped of his body and banished for horrible crimes. Now he is only a brain. He is from Dimension X, a world of continuous war. Krang is the designer of the war fortress the Technodrome with help from Drakus.

1987 Series
In the 1987 TV series, Krang is a character loosely based on the Utrom race from the original comic, and is an ally of Shredder. In Dimension X he was a powerful dictator/warlord who led brutal campaigns of Rock Soldiers, with fanatically loyal-to-Krang General Traag as his direct subordinate. He also took the completed Technodrome, a powerful mobile battle fortress, and banished Von Drakus who helped Krang build it to Earth.

One day, an unexplained, bizarre incident occurred that caused Krang to be stripped of his body and reduced to a brain-like form, also resulting in his exile from Dimension X to Earth. After he was banished from his original dimension, along with his operative fortress the Technodrome, they somehow found their way into the hands of Oroku Saki. Krang allied himself with the Shredder, who, along with his robotic Foot Soldier army, moved into the Technodrome.

Krang pleaded for a new body in exchange for his developed technology and help in conquering the world. Shredder resisted, fearing that his ally could come to rival him; however he finally submitted once he lost hope for defeating the TMNT himself and needed Krang's help, he finally constructed the android body from Krang's own blueprints named Bangerang in the season 1 episode Shredder & Splintered. Krang returned to his megalomaniac personality as he dreamed to bring an army of Rock soldiers to Earth and rule it alongside (or maybe without) The Shredder. Indeed, in the season 3 episode Shredderville the Turtles have a dream of a parallel world in which they never lived, and Shredder had no problem taking over the world. In this world, Shredder abandoned Krang after his conquest was complete, leaving him with no body and a heavily-damaged Technodrome.

Krang rarely joined in actual combat with the turtles. Usually the only times he was directly involved with a fight was when the Technodrome was fully up and running. For seven years he organized the plots of the Foot Clan to conquer earth, it probably only became his objective after he was exiled on the Earth, but this point is never made clear, most involved the short-term objective of re-powering the Technodrome. He does not share Shredder's obsession with the Turtles and Splinter; while Shredder sees them as mortal enemies, Krang seems to regard them more like annoyances to be destroyed when they interfere in his plans.

Counting from the first meeting between the Turtles and Shredder and Krang, Krang spent seven seasons in the Technodrome, either somewhere on Earth or in Dimension X, scheming to power up his battle fortress and take over the Earth.

Eventually the Turtles managed to banish the Technodrome back to Dimension X without Krang and Shredder. At that point they began opperating out of an old science building. Due to damage to Krang's android body, he was forced to use his bubble walker while on earth. Krang and Shredder eventually returned to the Technodrome, only to see it into it's final battle in the season 8 episode Turtle Trek, where the Turtles destroy the engines of the Technodrome, trapping it and its inhabitants in Dimension X and putting an end to Krang's plans. Krang's Android body was left in the remains of the Technodrome when it was abandoned. Krang was only seen once again, when he and Shredder were briefly transported to earth by Lord Dregg.

Krang spent the next two years in Dimension X, until he was contacted by Lord Dregg. Dregg arranged for him and Shredder to come back to Earth, to help him fight the Turtles. However, Dregg betrays them, and drains Krang's intelligence. Shredder escapes and restores Krang, but Dregg captures them again. Finally, the Turtles spoil his plan and transport Shredder and Krang back to Dimension X.

In the series finale, Divide and Conquer, the Turtles return to the Technodrome to take Krang's android body, which they need to fight Dregg. Krang is nowhere to be seen, but it is assumed that he is still somewhere in Dimension X.

Archie Comics
Krang's first comics appearance was in Heroes in a Half-Shell, Part 1, published by Archie Comics in August 1988. In the Archie comics series, there was a much bigger accent on his sadistic side of warlord demonstrated on Wingnut and Screwloose, who were determined to find him and punish him for massacre on their homeworld Huanu. As interesting as it sounds, Krang soon disappeared from the comic story. At one point Krang would attach himself to Shredder's body. In the audio tape version of the comics, he possessed a much throatier voice than in the original cartoon.

Krang is also a nemesis of the Malignoid queen, Maligna.

2003 Series
Krang makes a cameo appearance in the 2003 TV series episode, Secret Origins, Part 3, only this time as an Utrom which he was originally inspired by. His cameo consist of one scene. As the Utroms are walking to the transmat to go home one of them complains


 * Utrom 1: "I hate walking on my tentacles."
 * Utrom 2: "Oh, shut up, Krang."

This Krang was voiced by Wayne Grayson.

Having Krang not liking to walk on his tentacles is a throw back to the original series where Krang was obsesive about his android body, lacking a regular humanoid body of his own.

The appearance of Krang was a way to honor the old series, while also showing Krang before revealing that the 2003 Shredder was truly an Utrom named Ch'rell. By having Krang appear before this was revealed asured that fans would not mistake the Utrom Shredder for Krang.

Turtles Forever


Krang is a major character in the special Turtles Forever in which he, Shredder and the turtles from the 1987 show end up in the 2003 universe. Although Shredder was able to find his 2003 counterpart, he was unable to find Krang's, even though he exists in this universe (albeit as a regular, non-evil Utrom). He appears alongside Shredder and is present when he resurrects the Utrom Shredder. At first Krang thinks Ch'rell Shredder isn't that bad, since he physically resembles Krang himself. However, Krang quickly becomes annoyed after Ch'rell takes over the Technodrome and won't allow anyone else to use the Trans-Dimensional portal. Karai quickly pulls Krang from his android body and orders him to not bother Ch'rell Shredder again.

When Ch'rell completely turns on Krang and the "1988 Shredder", they both join forces with the Turtles once Karai frees them and Splinter. Ch'rell, using the same technology Krang designed for his android body, grows to an immense size. So Krang does the same with his android body, and attempts to fight Ch'rell, but is quickly defeated. This is only the third time Krang takes his android body into battle.

At the end of the story, after Ch'rell is defeated, Shredder and Krang say they are going to use a new Giggle ray Krang invented on the Turtles once they return to their own universe.

Krang is voiced here by Bradford Cameron.

IDW
"General Krang" makes a shadowed appearance in the first issue of IDW's TMNT comic. He is bankrolling Baxter Stockman's genetic research, and is displeased with the doctor's results. He's only shown as a hand with a black glove, and a greyish arm.

Personality
Krang is a genius of unchallengeable caliber and knows it, this results in a deep rooted belief that he is superior to all others. This arrogance leads him to see the turtles as minor setbacks unlike Shredder who consider them mortal enemies. A total lack of empathy grants him the luxury of being able to recklessly endanger his "allies" He greatly enjoys the suffering of other living creatures making him a sadist.

He also suffers from low selfesteem (Having his very powerful reptilian body ripped apart and turned into a small brain may be the reason for this) as evident by his highly submissive behavior pre android body. He returned to megalomania and arrogance after gaining his new body, using it to become bigger and therefore better.

Powers & Abilities
A genius of unrivaled caliber, laser beams, shrink-boomerangs, doomsday devices, goobly doodads, sun draining energy rays, you name it and he makes a better one with missile launchers. With an IQ twenty times that of any human being Krang can concoct Machiavellian schemes and think nine steps ahead of most others. (Unfortunately his arrogance and incompetent helpers can be crippling)

Though physically the frailest of all characters in the series he is capable of slithering at aproximately, 3 miles per hour.... And might give you a nasty slap with one of his meaty lumps, or even bite with his tiny fangs. (Those are sharp so watch out) But in his android body its a whole other story, though he rarely engages in combat with the turtles he has proven more than a match for them.

Krang used a large, bulky, powerful mechanical body. Krang rested inside a cockpit within the torso. Originally, the suit had a microchip installed that allowed both Krang and the robot to change his size to near Godzilla proportions. This chip was subsequently destroyed in the first episode of the 1987 series the suit debuted, though it was apparently repaired in a later episode in which the suit is brought to life by a computer chip from a videogame being played by Bebop and Rocksteady, only for the robot's entire body to be destroyed by a powerful explosive developed by an at the time amnesiac Shredder after Michaelangelo managed to take control of the machine via his own copy of the same game, though he obviously found a way to somehow repair it in Turtles Forever, as he again uses its ability to increase in size. The Utrom Shredder Ch'rell co-opted this technology and quickly defeated Krang in direct hand to hand combat in a matter of seconds.

According to the episode, "Venice on the Half Shell", Krang posses an IQ of 968.

Even without the microchip, the exosuit was quite powerful. The hands could shapeshift into various weapons (axes, maces, pincers) and even a communication device. In later episodes, however, Krang could be seen changing his arms from a collection of different types he had in his personal quarters aboard the Technodrome. Krang's suit also could "grow" jet wings in place of his arms, which he used to manage a quick escape with Shredder in its first appearance.

Krang also occasionally employed a machine he referred to as a 'walker'. This device was primarily a set of mechanical legs attached to a platform with either glass or some form of transparent but protective covering through which Krang could see, and holes for him to extend his tentacles through so that he could manipulate objects. This particular mode of transport was the version used for the first toy of Krang produced by the toy company Playmates Toys.

Utroms
Krang's physical appearance was inspired by the Utroms from the original TMNT comic book and in the 2003 animated series there is an Utrom named Krang. However, in the 1987 cartoon, Krang is not an Utrom. There are several important differences:


 * The Utroms come from another planet in the Milky Way galaxy, while in the 1987 cartoon Krang comes from Dimension X.
 * The Utroms are naturally brain-like aliens, while in the first animated series Krang is an alien who has been stripped of his body and left with only his brain.
 * Krang never refers to himself as an Utrom, nor does anyone else, in the 1987 version.

In the 1987 animated series, Krang's natural physical shape is not brain-like, and when he cloned himself in Invasion of the Krangezoids, his clones, though initially brain-creatures like himself, continued developing until they had complete bodies, leading to the thought that Krang's true form is a large reptilian creature. However, in yet another episode (Four Musketurtles), members of Krang's species appeared in a flashback looking just like him without the body, using bubble-walkers like his own to move. This is considered to be one of multiple mistakes within the series, and has been contradicted many times on the show.

The Dan Berger run on the TMNT comic strip in the mid-1990s indicated that Krang was indeed an Utrom criminal.

While the race of Utroms were not in any way part of the 1987 cartoon, other than being represented by Krang, they would appear in the 2003 TMNT series. Krang of the 1987 universe comes face to face with the Utrom Shredder during Turtles Forever. Krang is initially pleased with his resemblance to the Shredder's Utrom form.

Video games
Krang frequently appears in the classic TMNT games as one of the later bosses, and sometimes as the final boss of the game.


 * In the first arcade game, he is one of the bosses of the final Technodrome stage. He is the penultimate boss of the game, followed only by Shredder.


 * In Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Fall of the Foot Clan, he is the final boss, rather than Shredder.


 * In Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles III: The Manhattan Project, he is once again the penultimate boss and precedes Shredder.


 * In Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles II: Back from the Sewers, he has two boss battles. The first is at the end of the third level, where he fights in his walker. He is also the final boss, and fights in his exosuit.


 * In Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Turtles in Time, he has two boss battles. The Turtles face him first at the end of "Neon Night Riders", and destroy his exosuit, but Krang escapes. The Turtles face him again in "Starbase: Where No Turtle Has Gone Before". With his exosuit destroyed, Krang now flies an archetypal flying saucer.


 * In Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: The Hyperstone Heist, he is the mid-level boss of the final stage, featuring the exosuit.


 * In the Sega Genesis version of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Tournament Fighters, Krang appears as a non-playable boss.


 * In the handheld game Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles 3: Shredder's Last Stand Krang appears as a regular enemy and as the final boss where he fights in his exosuit.


 * The developers of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Smash-Up indicated that the Utrominator (from the 2003 episode Same As It Never Was) was a spiritual successor to Krang.

Mirage Comics
Krang appears in Turtle Soup (vol. 2) 1 in the story "Turtle Power!" he mutates a wolf and sends it to attack the Turtles (though that turned out to just be a kid playing with his Turtle figures) and has a cameo in Tales of the TMNT Volume 2 Issue #58.

Action Figures
The first Krang action figure, which was of him in his walker, was released in 1989. There were also two toys of Krang and his android body, one a large-scale figure released in 1994 and the other in in scale with the regular-sized figures released in 1992. Both came with removable Krang figures. The 1992 Krang was re-released without the android with the 25th anniversary re-release of Shredder.

Trivia

 * It is suggested that Krang had some kind of body before his exile from Dimension X. Although it can be assumed that this body also had his brain-like form exposed since General Traag was able to recognise him, although not well, in his bodyless form in his first appearence in the TV Series. In a later episode of the animated series called Invasion of the Krangazoids, Krang clones himself. The clones have his brain like appearance. As the show progresses the clones regrow their bodies, with their brain part as the head. They grow to around 10 to 12 feet tall and have large, scally bodies. It is likely this is the original appearance of Krang. This is definately closer to the established canon than the flashback in The Four Musketurtles, where Krang's species were depicted as brain-creatures.
 * The Dan Berger run on the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles newspaper strip in the mid-1990s indicated that Krang was indeed an Utrom criminal.
 * In Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles II: The Secret of the Ooze, there was a scene where Dr. Jordan Perry was revealed to be a Utrom. The scene was deleted because the studio feared the Utrom would be mistaken for Krang. Krang himself makes a non-speaking cameo appearance when Perry puts the canistar of ooze in the holder, the Utrom is on the trianglular pyramid on the right hand corner of the screen.
 * Krang has been confirmed to appear in 4Kids' 25th anniversary direct-to-DVD special, Turtles Forever.