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Anton Zeck is a master thief who steals the Shredder's helmet the Kuro Kabuto for Ivan Steranko. He is the 2012 series incarnation of Bebop.
Appearance
As Human
Anton Zeck is thin, but athletic. He wears a Tron inspired suit that has a purple visor and an energy mohawk. Although his first appearance had him with glasses under his visor, he did not have his glasses in the second appearance.
As Mutant
Bebop is a thin humanoid mutant warthog with a short left tusk, long right tusk and the high-tech parts of his suit fused to his body. The top half of his high-tech suit became a vest.
Personality
Zeck normally talks in rap while making funky body movements. He also tends to show how slick he is when he steals and enters areas where he is supposed to commit a robbery.
History
As a Human
At some point in his acquaintance with Ivan Steranko, Anton Zeck shot the Russian crime boss in the eye - supposedly by accident - resulting in Steranko adopting his trademark diamond eye.
In The Legend of the Kuro Kabuto, Steranko later offered Zeck a chance to make up for his error in the past by stealing the Kuro Kabuto, helmet of the Shredder, so that Steranko could add it to his collection of artifacts. Zeck successfully broke into the Shredder's lair and stole the helmet despite running afoul of Rahzar and several Foot-Bots, but while invisible was hit by the Shellraiser. The Turtles got Zeck's bag and the helmet, but Zeck managed to plant a tracker on the Shellraiser and later knocked it over with a bomb. Zeck avoided getting involved in the fight between the Turtles and Shredder's mutants, but in attempting to retrieve the helmet from Leonardo, was soundly defeated. Leo returned his bag, but damage from the night's adventures left Zeck unable to cloak himself. He was rescued by Steranko, but then discovered that Leo had taken the helmet from his bag and replaced it with dirty diapers taken from a city dumpster. Steranko vowed to hurt Zeck for this.
In Serpent Hunt, after the Kraang took over the city, Steranko and Zeck had been stuck in Steranko's hideout for months with nothing left to eat but cockroaches and ketchup. They came up with a plan to get out of the city, they would find the Shredder's daughter and trade her with him for a safe way out of the city, as the last thing they wanted was to be mutated by the Kraang, like the other humans in the city. But the plan did not work as intended, as the Turtles released Karai, and Steranko and Zeck were punished by being turned into two hideous mutants. Zeck was mutated first for his attempted theft of the Kuro Kabuto and is pushed into the mutagen vat by Fishface. After Steranko was mutated, Zeck stated that the Foot Clan turned them into "freaks" as they both bellow in pain, anger, and confusion.
In The Pig and The Rhino, after being mutated, Zeck and Steranko attempt to confront Shredder in anger yet they are stopped by Rahzar and Tiger Claw. After their attempt at revenge fails, they are then tasked by Shredder with the capture and return of Karai in exchange for their lives. Zeck and Steranko search the city for Karai, but change their goal to finding and destroying the Turtles as they blame them for causing them to experience their current fate. The two separate in order to cover more ground. Zeck senses April O'Neil and Donatello not too far and uses his cloaking ability to creep up on them. Over at the dry cleaners, Donnie and April discover that Karai is not there. Zeck, still being invisible, manages to catch Donnie off guard, but April manages to score a hit on him effectively disabling him, however, Zeck manages to trap April and stun Donnie. He then finds the Retro Mutagen and Donnie's T-phone, and discovers where the others are. Zeck tells Steranko to check out the movie theater while he heads to Coney Island with Donnie and April in a tow truck. At the movie theater, Raph and Casey are bummed out because there is no sign of Karai. But Steranko, who was waiting outside, jumps out and surprises them. Both Raph and Casey try to fend him off but Steranko's tough skin was resistant to their hits. Steranko knocks out Raph, and when Casey tries to wake him up, the rhino creeps up behind him as the scene turns to black.
At Coney Island, Leo and Mikey managed to find Karai, while Leo managed to convince Karai to calm down, she complies, until Zeck and Steranko arrive, where she is then scared off. Zeck managed to spot them. He and Steranko threaten to kill the others if they don't comply. Leo tells Mikey to stall them so he can pick the lock. Mikey suggest giving them mutant names and after three tries, he finally comes up with "Bebop and Rocksteady". Steranko liked the name āRocksteadyā while Zeck did not like the name āBebop.ā Zeck then caught Leo when he tried to pick the lock but Mikey intercepts him. Steranko then declared that no one can stand against Bebop and Rocksteady, which angered Zeck. Mikey blurts out about the Retro Mutagen that Bebop was holding and he then aimed it at Mikey, preparing to un-mutate him.
However he is stopped by Rocksteady who tells him they can uses it to go back to normal, but then they start fighting on who gets to use it. Leo suggests they need a distraction and Karai comes to their aid, but makes Rocksteady crush the vial. They split up and fight the mutants. Rocksteady managed to hold his own while Bebop used his cloaking device to cloak himself. Bebop is defeated when Donnie throws a smoke bomb at him, revealing himself and allowing Donnie and Casey to score a hit. Rocksteady is defeated when a roller coaster hits him, sending him in the air and landing on Bebop. In the end, despite being defeated by the Turtles, Bebop and Rocksteady managed to capture Karai and return her to the Shredder.
In The Noxious Avenger, Bebop and Rocksteady sneaked into a nearby building that housed the Kraang's lab. While in the lab, Bebop acquired both Mutagen and Reagent-X. While doing so, he complained about the two having to run Baxter Stockman's errands. The Turtles arrive soon after, while being spotted by a nearby engineer.
During the fight, Bebop throws the mutagen at Michelangelo's head. Mikey ducks and the mutagen breaks open in the engineer's face, sending him falling into the dumpster as he begins to mutate. Bebop and Rocksteady escape with some chemicals. Grunge wakes up, finding himself completely mutated into a pile of garbage and holding the Turtles responsible.
After hearing Rocksteady complained about doing another chemical run while Bebop suggests they need a "sucker" when they catch Muckman on the news. Rocksteady suggests that they use him to get the next ingredient. Bebop and Rocksteady look for Muckman, who attacked them until they tell him that they are his side. Muckman is led to believe that they were mutated by the Turtles and agrees to help them get the chemical they needed, thinking that it is a cure. The Turtles arrive and Muckman attacks them with Rocksteady and Bebop. Joe continues urging Muckman to do the right thing, the Turtles agreeing with him. Bebop hits everyone with a flash bang grenade and Rocksteady throws Muckman into the Kraang lab.
Muckman finds the chemical and takes it before being hit by the Kraang security system, Rocksteady takes the chemical from him as the Turtles rush in. Muckman retaliates against Bebop and Rocksteady by puking on them, which in turn destroys the chemical. As Bebop and Rocksteady retreat, Joe urges Muckman to do what is right so he apologizes to the Turtles for accusing them of any wrong doings. The gang spot Joan and her cameraman searching the warehouse and Muckman distracts her while the Turtles escape.
In Attack of the Mega Shredder!, Bebop and Rocksteady are assigned to guard Karai in Baxter Stockman's lab and are threatened to be punished if they fail. Later, when the Turtles attempted to break into Stockman's lab through the catacombs, Bebop, Rocksteady, Tiger Claw, and the Shredder Elite attempted to stop the Turtles, only for them to escape. After the Turtles escaped, Bebop and Rocksteady are berated by Tiger Claw for their failure only to be met by Shredder. When Leo and Mikey attempted to return to the lab, they are cornered and captured by Bebop and Rocksteady. After capturing the two Turtles, they attempted to mutate them, only to be tricked into adding the Shredder Elite into the mutagen with the Turtles. However, the two mutants failed to mutate the Turtles and cause the creation of Mega Shredder. After Bebop and Rocksteady's failure at capturing the Turtles lead to both the theft of a brain worm and the destruction of the Shredder Elite, Tiger Claw was instructed to teach them a "lesson in pain", which is followed by the two mutants fleeing in terror as Tiger Claw prepared to pounce on them.
In The Fourfold Trap, Bebop was present alongside Shredder's other henchmen when Karai captured the Turtles as a part of her revenge. While demonstrating each of the traps each of the Turtles are in, she revealed that Bebop and Rocksteady were the creative minds behind the trap for Mikey called the "Flushomatic". Bebop and Rocksteady later participate in the fight with Splinter when he arrived to save the Turtles.
In Annihilation Earth!, Part 2, when Splinter and April break into Shredder's lair, Bebop and Tiger Claw confront the two and attempt to interrogate them as to why they would break in. Bebop also takes part in the temporary alliance between the Foot Clan and the Turtles' allies to stop the Triceratons from activating the Heart of Darkness and destroying the Earth in a black hole. During the battle, he is seen distracting a Triceraton soldier with his dance moves while Rocksteady tackles the amused Triceraton. After Shredder killed Splinter and allowed the Heart of Darkness to destroy the planet, Bebop and Rocksteady are last seen huddling in fear of the planet's destruction and their eventual death. They are eventually devoured by the black hole along with the rest of the planet. However, as of the events of Earth's Last Stand, Bebop is still alive, and is still in service to the Shredder.
In City at War, he and Rocksteady are seen guarding the entrance to Shredder's new hideout when Tiger Claw returns to report on the destruction of their weapons cache by Karai and the Turtles.
In Broken Foot, upon learning of Hun and the Purple Dragons' arrest by the NYPD after having the temple carrying Shredder's laundered money burned by Leo, Karai, and Shinigami as part of Karai's systematic destruction of Shredder's criminal empire, Bebop joins Tiger Claw and Rocksteady with guarding Auman Chemicals from Karai with a contingent of Foot-bots, ambushing the trio thanks to his cloak, before Shinigami pins him to a door with his own sticky goop, much to his disgust. He gets free and continues battling Shinigami with Rocksteady, but ends up being tackled by Rocksteady before using his boosters to save both of them from being crushed by one of the factory presses, leaving them flying all over the place while Shinigami continues to plant explosives to take down the factory. Though the explosives do cause damage, it is not enough to take out the factory completely, and Bebop joins Rocksteady and Tiger Claw in pursuing the Party Wagon in their own van, using the built-in Gatling gun to try and attack the Turtles, much to Rocksteady's annoyance, before voicing his disgust when their van is hit with a stink bomb from the Party Wagon, at which point Rocksteady takes over and wrecks the Party Wagon by dislodging one of its rear tires, leaving Tiger Claw to try and capture the Turtles, only for them escape once more. Knowing that Karai will return to Auman Chemicals to take down the Foot-bot manufacturing facility there, Bebop joins Rocksteady and Tiger Claw again with defending it, including reinforcing their numbers with Elite Foot-bots, who easily overpower Karai, Shinigami, and their Foot Ninja, capturing all of them. However, Leo, Raph, and Mikey arrive, and after freeing Karai and the others, Bebop battles Shinigami, wanting payback for what happened during their last encounter. He manages to pin Shinigami's wrist with his sticky goop, but before he can finish her off, he's sandwiched by Rocksteady after he tried to attack Leo and Mikey after they insulted his mother, but it leaves Shinigami vulnerable to the Elite Foot-bots to finish off. By the time he and Rocksteady recover and are told by Tiger Claw to stop the Turtles and the others as they escape, Karai has already destroyed the factory and the Elite Foot-bots, forcing Bebop to escape with Tiger Claw and Rocksteady before the NYPD and FDNY arrive to deal with the fire now consuming the factory.
In Requiem, he, Rocksteady, Fishface and Rahzar attack the turtles at Coney Island to lure them away from the Super Shredder. After the battle finished, he and Rocksteady taunted the turtles as they escaped.
In Owari, Bebop fought the turtles when they arrive to finish Super Shredder. When the turtles hack the traps that he installed, they were blasted and defeated.
In Heart of Evil,
In End Times, Bebop was present when Oroku Saki was resurrected by Kavaxas and like the others, he was afraid. When Kavaxas was loose after Oroku Saki freed him by destroying the Seal of the Ancients. Bebop and Rocksteady cowardly ran off.
In Wanted: Bebop & Rocksteady,
In The Big Blowout, Bebop and Rocksteady are upset that Shredder and Krang are treating them like servants. After finally being appreciated for their services, Shredder allows them to watch the destruction of the world. The two friends realize they don't want to destroy the world so they fight against Krang and destroy the rock minions. Bebop and Rocksteady then become super heroes instead of villains after they quit being henchmen.
Powers and Abilities
- Warthog-human hybrid/cyborg physiology: As a result of his mutation, Bebop's suit has merged with his body and he has the natural abilities of a warthog. His physical condition has also increased, but not by much.
- Enhanced sense of smell: Bebop's sense of smell has been greatly enhanced, having claimed that it is stronger than that of a bloodhound.
- Enhanced endurance: Bebop's endurance levels have increased, as was able to survive Rocksteady falling right on top of him.
- Laser beam projection: Bebop is able to shoot beams of energy from his hands and from his hips, being able to do the latter using a belt he wears.
- Invisibility: Bebop can make himself completely invisible. Initially he could not make anything he touched invisible along with him, but at some point after his mutation he managed to fix this problem.
- Energy mohawk: Bebop is able to create energy fields around his mohawk that he can throw at his opponents.
- Dancing: Bebop is a skilled dancer and uses his dancing style to avoids his enemies' attacks.
- Expert thief: Even before he was mutated Bebop was a skilled thief. His skill level is so great that Rocksteady trusted him to steal the Kuro Kabuto, something the other thieves he hired failed to do.
- Explosives: Bebop is skilled at designing explosives.
- Stealth: While invisible, Bebop is able to sneak up towards his enemies.
Gadgets
Anton Zeck is equipped with a range of high-tech gizmos such as a cloaking device, an energy mohawk and a backpack that can allow him to slide up or down a wall. His high-tech suit is charged by two double-A batteries.
Quotes
- (To Rahzar) "Just a little glue, no hard feelings zombie wolf (throws bomb at window), I'm just doing my job."-The Legend of the Kuro Kabuto
- "I'm starving, all our food is gone and we're down to moldy ketchup and dead cockroaches!" - Serpent Hunt
- "I don't wanna be a mutant, I'm too handsome! The ladies love me!" - Serpent Hunt
- "Being a pig has limited employment options. The bacon's in." - The Pig and The Rhino
- "Hee hee! Gotcha, son! I sniffed you a mile away!" - Broken Foot
- "Oh, snap! You gooed me with my own goo! That's sick, yo!" - Broken Foot
Trivia
- Anton Zeck's high-tech tracksuit has illuminated lines along it, which are popularly known as "Tron lines" in reference to the 1982 Disney film Tron.
- Zeck's Head-Blade ability that his suit generates resembles that of the Japanese tokusatsu hero, Ultra Seven.
- Unlike his appearances in the TV series, Bebop's action figure is shown with sleeves on its arms and tusks at an even length.
- The European official Nickelodeon TMNT website once erroneously gave Steranko Zeck's image.
- Zeck's personality, mannerisms and human appearance (save for his clothes) strongly resemble the equally-flamboyant character Hollywood Montrose from the 1987 film Mannequin. They both also wear flashy shades that are an indispensable part of their personal fashion.
- Many of Zeck's moves are based on a few of Michael Jackson's dance moves.
- Funnily, the name Michelangelo gives him, "Bebop," refers to a jazz music genre that is intended not to be danced to.
- Much like his partner in crime, Zeck shares his last name with Mike Zeck, a famous comic book artist.