Board Thread:News and Announcements/@comment-5973594-20140327162501/@comment-24753798-20140330113256

While I understand why a lot of people are getting worked up over the fact that the Shredder is not Oroku Saki, I think there is an enormous opportunity here for some tremendous character building. I know there’s a chance I’m giving Bay and his creative team way too much credit on this front, but hear me out:\



I  think the backstory for Splinter and the Turtles will remain largely intact. Whether Splinter is Hamato Yoshi himself or Yoshi’s pet rat, I still envision that the rivalry between Saki and Yoshi will remain a large part of the backstory. Saki’s festering jealousy and hatred will lead to terrible events that cause Yoshi to flee to New York, where we will see the resulting events that bring about a mutant rat/ninja master and his four students. All of the events leading up to this will most likely follow a very familiar path (right now I’m leaning toward one similar to the origin story used most recently in the Nickelodeon version).



This is where we see the divergence from the familiar plot. Whether Saki has any more to do with the story is yet to be seen, but I suspect it is no small coincidence that William Fichtner’s character has ties not only to the Turtles themselves (as indicated not only in the teaser but also in an interview on ComingSoon.net) but what seems to be a keen interest in Japanese culture and, more specifically, the art of ninjitsu.



I believe Eric Sachs is not only interested by those things. I believe he may also be the student of Oroku Saki. Sachs has since inherited the role of the Shredder. This is where the character building I mention previously comes into play. It would be clever storytelling to not only have the teachings of Hamato Yoshi passed on to his students/“sons” and the teachings of Saki passed on to a student, but the rivalry between Yoshi and Saki passed on to their students, respectively. It’s not an abstract concept for the property. In the original comics Yoshi’s rivalry was with Oroku Nagi, Saki’s older brother. The rivalry between Yoshi and Nagi was then inherited by Splinter, the Turtles, and Saki.



I just don’t think the Shredder is going to be some random title taken on some white American CEO with an interest so strong in Japanese culture and ninjitsu. I want to give the writers more credit than that.



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<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;line-height:115%;font-family: "TimesNewRoman","serif"">If done right, the Shredder is more than any one man. The Shredder is the symbolic leader of the Foot Clan. It could be that Shredder is a relatively new concept, as well, derived by Saki as the rivalry between him and Yoshi would likely have led to heavy dissension within the clan. He would have seen the need to re-establish order and take control of the clan for himself; I could see him establishing the persona of the Shredder for just such a purpose.