Takeshi (2012 TV series)

"This is the Foot Clan you promised me? I must say Master Shredder, I am disappointed."

- Tiger Claw speaking to Shredder

Tiger Claw is a Mutant tiger assassin/bounty hunter, who becomes an ally of The Shredder and an enemy of the Turtles in the 2012 animated series.

History
Tiger Claw was mutated as a young Japanese boy and grew up as a circus performer, before becoming a part of the criminal underworld. Decades ago in a Kraang experiment, he was exposed to their mutagen and thus transformed into a tiger mutant warrior. Tiger Claw worked as an assassin and mercenary and earned such a good reputation that the Shredder eventually hired him. He has excellent Martial Art skills and is also the Shredder's most dreaded, yet revered assassin and bounty hunter from Japan (Shredder finds him on his journey to Japan and enlists him as his newest henchman). During his career Tiger Claw lost his tail during a duel with a rival who took it as a trophy, and Tiger Claw has been relentlessly searching for the person who took it from him with a vow to make him pay. He has traveled many lands - and his weapons are only prizes of his conquests.

In The Manhattan Project, Shredder returns from his sojourn in Japan for a few months, only to reveal that he brought back Tiger Claw, whom he calls the "most feared assassin in all of Asia". Instantly, Karai is dismissive of him, and her feelings turn even more sour once Shredder tells her that he will be replacing her with Tiger Claw as his brand new second-in-command.

The Shredder tells Tiger Claw to find and capture Splinter and the Turtles, commanding Karai to follow Tiger Claw's orders...Tiger Claw quickly locates and fights the Turtles, and he ultimately forces them to call upon Splinter by threatening to kill Michelangelo. Splinter arrives and seems to have the upper hand throughout most of the battle, but he is then shot in the neck by Karai's poison dart. With his final ounces of strength, Splinter throws Shuriken at the ropes binding his sons and tells them to flee immediately.

Tiger Claw and Karai then take an unconscious Splinter back to Foot Headquarters, and Tiger Claw pours a bucket of water on him to wake him up. The Shredder prepares to execute the rat, when Karai convinces him to let him meet his end in combat and with honor. With some persuading from Tiger Claw, The Shredder agrees. The Turtles soon regroup and interrupt, brawling with The Foot to save Splinter.

Following the Turtles, Tiger Claw, Karai, Rahzar, and Fishface quickly catch up and attack all of them on a rooftop. During the fight, Tiger Claw is knocked onto a fire escape. When he leaps back up to get back into the fight, he seemingly meets his demise when he falls into the huge mouth of a Kraathatrogon that April and Casey had just ridden up to the surface before being pulled through the portal and into the 1987 TMNT's universe.

In The Wrath of Tiger Claw he returned from other dimensions having fought numerous enemies, including the Kraang. Due to the battles he fought he now has an eye patch over his left eye and his right ear has been torn. He now wants revenge on the turtles and there allies. The Shredder orders him and Karai to find the turtles and Splinter and destroy them. While running along the rooftops Tiger Claw tells Karai why Shredder sent her with him, because she knows where they hang out and who there friends are. They head to Murakami's restaurant where they attack him and threaten him for information on where the turtles live, Murakami tells them he doesn't know where they live and Karai objects to what there doing stating "there's no honor in this" while Tiger Claw states "I did not come here for honor". This demonstrates an obvious change in him, as previously he agreed with Karai that the Shredder killing a restrained and poisoned Splinter would not be honorable.

Later when the turtles returned to the restaurant they found the place trashed by Tiger Claw. Later Casey and April and Irma leave a movie theater, April then senses someone is following them, so all three split up. Tiger Claw goes after Casey, while Casey tries to fight him off Tiger Claw turns out to be too strong for him and throws Casey off the building they were fighting on.Later when Karai has convinced the turtles too take her to the lair she activates a tracking device that will allow him to find them, but having finally learned the truth about her father Karai then makes a plan to lure him away from the lair. While following the tracking device Michaelangelo thinks of a place where they can lead him, they lead Tiger Claw to a butcher's shop. While in the meat locker the turtles attack him, but he takes the fight into the shop where they fight. Tiger Claw beats the turtles then offers Karai the chance to finish them off, she then turns against him and attacks, she is defeated by Tiger Claw and then held hostage by him. He threatens to kill her if the turtles dont let him go, and so they do and he escapes with karai. He takes her back to Shredder and tells him of her betrayal, when Karai demands the truth about her father Shredder tells her Splinter is her father and then orders Tiger Claw to lock her up, and he does and walks away with Shredder leaving Karai in a cell.

In The Legend of the Kuro Kabuto Tiger Claw and the rest of the Shredder's forces were dispatched to retrieve his Kuro Kabuto helmet from master thief Anton Zeck. Tiger Claw was paired with Rahzar, who admitted to being impressed by the assassin's skills. The two then demonstrated that they had no animosity for each other despite the inherent conflict between the animals they had mutated to resemble. Each also admitted that he wouldn't mind eating Fishface, though for different reasons. They soon found the Kabuto in the possession of the Turtles, and engaged them in battle to retrieve it. However, even with the aid of Fishface and Baxter stockman, they were unable to capture the turtles, the Kabuto, or Zeck, the latter escaping with the aid of Steranko.

In Vengeance is Mine, where he caught Karai from escaping and has her shackled and locked up in another cell. When Raphael and Leonardo rescue her, Tiger Claw attacks them, but only to be temporarily stunned by the dog whistle that Donatello set up. He chased them to capture Karai, but only to get knocked off the Shellraiser. Later, Shredder has him to get in touch with Baxter Stockman. Once Karai was captured, Tiger Claw gags her with tape and they hang her above Baxter's mutagen tank to lure the Turtles and Splinter. However, everything went wrong when Karai got mutated, and Baxter's lab caught on fire. Tiger Claw then told his leader to retreat with him or the whole lab will go down with him. He told Shredder that he won, though Shredder feels that he hasn't won with Karai as a mutant.

In The Invasion, Part 1 and The Invasion, Part 2, Tiger Claw approaches Shredder about his debate over forging another alliance with the Kraang. Tiger Claw warns the Shredder that they will eventually betray the Foot, but Shredder chooses to side with them anyway in order to destroy his enemies and get their help in restoring Karai to human form. He participates in a mass Foot attack on Leonardo, joining the other three Foot mutants in attacking Leo only to be bested. However, their efforts leave Leo wide open to an attack by Shredder. Afterwards, they track the other Turtles to April's apartment and through Leo through the window before attacking, only for the Turtles, April, and Casey to escape the city. In Within the Woods, it is revealed that Leo suffered serious injuries from his battles with Tiger Claw and the other Foot members.

Appearances

 * "The Manhattan Project, Part 1"
 * "The Manhattan Project, Part 2"
 * "The Wrath of Tiger Claw"
 * "The Legend of the Kuro Kabuto"
 * "Vengeance is Mine"
 * "The Invasion, Part 1"
 * "The Invasion, Part 2"
 * "Vision Quest"
 * "Return to New York"

Powers and Abilities
He has the strength, speed and agility of a tiger as well as razor sharp claws and fangs. His sense of smell is even greater that of Rahzar as seen in The Legend of the Kuro Kabuto.

He is a very skilled fighter and has even proven to be a formidable opponent for Splinter.

Personality
Tiger Claw has a fierce and focused mind. He follows the Shredder's orders and will not question him. Tiger Claw also has no problem attacking defenseless people, like when Karai refused to harm Murakami, seeing no honor in attacking a blind man. Tiger Claw holds no code of honor, he cares only for revenge. All in all, Tiger Claw is a predator, who enjoys the hunt, outsmarts most of his enemies, and keeps his enemies vulnerability in mind.

Gadgets
Tiger Claw carries a large sword for hand-to-hand combat, but his two main weapons of choice are modified pistols which can blast both red lasers and freeze rays - and he also has nets for capturing his adversaries. Tiger Claw also has a jetpack on his back for both evasion and escape.

Trivia

 * Tiger Claw in Japanese is Tora No Tsume, which is also a type of katana sword.
 * In The Wrath of Tiger Claw Tiger Claw returns from another dimension after being swallowed and taken there by a Kraathatrogon in the episode The Manhattan Project. Escaping the Kraathatrogon by cutting it open and fighting his way through multiple dimensions to get back, in the process he lost his left eye and had his right ear torn.
 * He fought against the 80's turtles while escaping the Kraathatrogon.
 * Tiger Claw is similar to the TMNT character Katmandu as they are both tigers, who are, or in Katmandu's case sometimes, enemies of the Turtles.

Gallery
Tiger Claw/Gallery