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Karai is usually one of the highest-ranking members of the Foot Clan. She has proved to have been both an asset and a liability to the TMNT, making her an extremely shady character. Karai also has an affinity of sorts with Leonardo in the 2003 series, based on their similar views regarding honor. In the 2003 series, the 2007 film action figure, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Smash-Up and 2012 series she is the adopted daughter of The Shredder.
Name
Karai (辛い) is a Japanese word commonly used to describe the flavor "spicy/hot". However, karai can also mean "extremely severe", "harsh", "strict" or "storm". (The word also shares the same kanji (辛) as the word tsurai which means "difficult", "painful", or "cruel".) It should also be noted that another spelling (Kurai) means "dark."
Comics
Mirage Comics
Karai in the Mirage Comics.
Karai was introduced in Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Volume 1, during the "City at War" storyline. She came from Japan to New York to unify the warring factions of the Foot Clan that had risen following the death of Oroku Saki. Shredder's Elite Guard forces had been randomly attacking anybody seemingly without reason. Karai offers the Turtles a deal; if they assist in stopping the Elite, she will give them a treaty with the Foot.
The Turtles reluctantly agree to the truce, and fight to the top of her skyscraper, taking out the Elite stationed there. When they reach the top, they witness a group of slain Foot Soldiers, along with the body of a young girl - Karai's aide and daughter. Karai makes Leonardo swear that they will kill all of the Elite Foot in retribution.
Karai holds her daughter's body and grieves.
Karai then dons the armor of the fallen Shredder, leading a pack of Foot Soldiers. An Elite mistakes her for the real Shredder, and is shocked. Following this is a final confrontation against five Elite Foot. Karai, in the guise of Shredder, demands that they all commit seppuku. Only one weak-willed Elite complied, but the others demanded the identity of The Shredder revealed. After revealing she was not Oroku Saki, Karai threw the helmet at an Elite and a grand battle ensued. When the fight was over, the Turtles and Karai were the only ones left alive, and despite the Turtles' protests that she owed them nothing, she gave her word that the deal would be honored and that she herself would return to Japan to spread her daughter's ashes and begin a journey of atonement.
Karai was not seen again in the comics until Volume 4, in which a band of mysterious warriors from seemingly another dimension had begun giving the Foot trouble. She hires Leonardo as security, and they capture one of the warriors to interrogate. Karai later lies to Leonardo about the Foot possessing books on mystical arts, which Leo can see right through and notes that because Karai is normally an exceptional liar, something was either bothering or manipulating her.
A few weeks later, Karai visits a local high profile nightclub with an entourage of Foot bodyguards and mingles, eventually meeting Casey Jones. Still longing for his wife April O'Neil (presently on a soul-searching pilgrimage), Jones begins dousing one too many drinks and is soon injured in a bar altercation. Karai brings him back to her private condo, where he awakens in nothing but his underwear, remembering nothing of the previous night. He later discovers a humble and noticeably light-hearted Karai knows something of the night before, but is hesitant to tell him. The thread is never picked up again, as the series was canceled.
A series of storylines in Tales of the TMNT, focusing on the Turtles lives in the future, reveal Karai as an elderly woman, still residing in New York, and very much still in control of a ninja faction. Lonely and longing for "the old days", she uses her new baby granddaughter to manipulate one of the Turtles, Raphael, into facing a gauntlet of enemies, whom he slays in self-defense. Raphael is appalled that the once great Foot leader has been reduced to a sadistic and shallow individual and leaves her to her bitterness.
Image Comics
Karai did not appear as herself in the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles "Volume 3" by Image comics; however, it was confirmed that she was the character behind the mantle of the enigmatic "Lady Shredder" that appeared in the series' final issue; this was a revelation that was to occur in a later issue, before the series was canceled.
IDW Comics
A different character named Karai - a girl with purple hair claiming to be the Shredder's granddaughter - appears in IDW Publishing's ongoing re-imagined Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles series by Kevin Eastman, Tom Waltz and Dan Duncan (later also Andy Kuhn). Duncan posted a character design sketch of her on his deviantART account, writing that he prefers to "refer to her as Shredder's girlfriend." Waltz said about the future issues: "I can’t say much yet other than Karai has played a pivotal role in the events leading to Saki’s return."
Oroku Karai is the descendant of the Shredder. Karai is introduced when she captures Splinter, asking him to join her forces and forcing him to fight a Foot soldier. She led the Foot Clan back to their strength from what her father turned it into and was responsible for resurrection of the long dead Oroku Saki. Shredder does not see her as a suitable second in command, and has charged her with the mission of bringing him Leonardo, who he sees a much more capable leader. Karai's plan has not yet been revealed, but she states that she plans to acquire more mutagen before proceeding further.
Television
1987 cartoon series
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Lotus from the 1987 show.
While Karai did not make an appearance in this series, another character named Lotus Blossom appeared in this series. The character of Lotus has been noted to be similar to Karai's character.
2003 TV Series
Debuting in the show's second season, Karai eventually became one of the series' main non-turtle characters. A woman torn between honor and family, she appears both as an ally and enemy to the turtles, a dichotomy that plays a part in most of her appearances. Her alignment varied throughout the series: first being anti-hero (or anti-villain) during seasons 2-3,then villain in seasons 4 and 5 and finally became hero near the end of season 5 and in later episodes.
History
Karai in the 2003 series
As a child, Karai was found by Oroku Saki after her parents abandoned her. He took her in and raised her as his own, teaching her Bushido. She became his most trusted follower, even trusted to his true identity as Ch'rell and told her that the Utroms were savagely hunting him. When the Utroms fled for New York, Karai remained in charge of the Japanese Foot Clan.
When the Purple Dragons, the Mafia, and the Foot were fighting for control of New York after the Shredder's demise, Karai arrived in the city and quickly enlisted the aid of the Turtles to stop it, promising an end to the Foot’s vendetta against them in exchange for their assistance. Leonardo, believing that Karai was honorable despite her legacy, convinced Donatello and Michelangelo to aid Karai. Raphael refused, although he later recanted. Together, Karai and the Turtles eventually retook control of the New York Foot and consequently its underworld. However, the end of the story revealed that Karai had been manipulating the Turtles, and had been working with the not-dead Shredder all along. However, she showed sadness when the Shredder (Chrell) vowed to get revenge on the Turtles after she had made a truce with them.
Battle of Future Karai & Leonardo
Karai and the Foot reappeared in Rogue in the House, Part 1, where a fully-healed Ch'rell retook control of the Foot. As his first order of business, he deployed a killer robot (disguised as Splinter) to eliminate the turtles. Realizing that their agreement with the Foot had been recanted, the turtles decided to face the Foot again in their temporary HQ—a ship stationed at the docks. Leonardo, Raphael, and Splinter were taken hostage during their encounter, and Karai was forced to fight Leonardo. Despite Leonardo’s lack of resistance, she proved unwilling to kill him.
Karai’s internal conflict—her loyalty to the Turtles as fellow Bushido-practitioners vs. her loyalty to her father—was the main thrust of her Season 3 storyline, as she was pulled from both directions to take a side. She managed to stay in the graces of both sides until the Turtles faced the Shredder again in the season’s finale. As the Turtles were chasing Ch'rell Karai tried to reason with Leonardo, pleading him to let her father leave. When Leonardo refused to let Shredder go, Karai fought alongise with his father and (unintentionally) stabbed Leonardo in the shoulder with his own sword, damaging his carapace, although she later prevented the Utrom Shredder from killing the Turtles while they were unconscious. Despite her efforts, however, the Shredder was taken prisoner and exiled by the Utroms, and Karai and Foot Tech Division Head Dr. Chaplin were sent back to Earth with Karai crying out to Leonardo: "This is not what I wanted!"
With her father gone and dead in the eyes of the world, Karai took over the Foot and the mantle of the Shredder. Furious at what she saw as a betrayal by the Turtles, Karai plotted her revenge against them, first attacking them on the psychic plane via Foot Mystics, and later coordinating and leading an assault against them at their lair, which she believed successful. She later on faced Leo (who was not at the lair at the time of the assault), who defeated her but then departed with the warning to leave his family alone and giving her one last chance for redemption.
Karai as "The Shredder"
Karai next faced the Turtles during their attempt to retrieve a Foot artifact, an amulet called the Heart of Tengu. Despite her efforts, she was unsuccessful in stopping them. Unknown to the Turtles or Agent Bishop who initially charged them with retrieving the artifact, the Heart of Tengu was a mystical artifact that allowed the Foot to control its Elemental Mystics, who were in reality the heralds for a man-demon that had centuries ago terrorized Japan as The Shredder.
The destruction of the clammer unleashed a chain of events that resulted in the clamr Shredder’s resurrection. His first target was Karai, who had “usurped” the Shredder’s name. The Tengu Shredder and his heralds made their way to Foot HQ. Karai had the Foot prepared for this, having developed mystic-based technology to combat the supernatural, but despite her efforts and those of the Turtles, who believed her the key to stopping him, the Shredder bested Karai in battle, seriously injuring her.Karai was rescued by the Turtles and taken back to April O'Neil's apartment, where she was tended to. Dr. Chaplin followed her trail, and was brought to her after being caught snooping around the building. Recognizing the threat the demon Shredder posed and her inability to stop it by herself, Karai agreed to a "temporary" alliance with her enemies.It was soon learned that because she shared The Shredder's mantle, Karai had the latent psychic ability to lower Shredder's defenses through a shared link. This was accomplished by absorbing the majority of the demon shredder's power into herself, a power that she presumably keeps. This gave the Turtles an advantage in their final conflict with the demon. Karai helped pave the way for her namesake's destruction, and Dr. Chaplin helped the Turtles co-ordinate their battles against the demon. After the battle, Karai, touched by Chaplin's devotion to her, promised him that she was going to worry more about the immediate future, and they departed the battlefield hand in hand. It is possible that after it she forgot her grudge against turtles and resolved their difficulties off-camera considering what happened in later episodes and how she acted in Disney is for babies.
Fast Forward
Karai appeared in one episode of the Fast Forward television series, in the episode The Journal. The TMNT found a book said to be written by Casey Jones and April O'Neil, detailing what occurred following the Turtles' return to the present.
According to the journal, Leonardo was invited for further training with the Ninja Tribunal, and was surprised to find that Karai was doing the same. After some time, Leonardo declared - based on his knowledge from the journal - that someone would betray the Tribunal, and given their history, he suspected Karai. He later spied on Karai and, witnessing her talking to The Shredder's helmet, believed his suspicions confirmed. Leonardo attacked Karai, but it was revealed that she had brought the helmet for a ritual where she would cast off Oroku Saki's influence forever. The Tribunal noted that Leonardo has fulfilled his own prophecy - that he was the traitor - and was exiled from the training grounds. As the events in this book were written by Splinter and Cody to discourage the Turtles from knowing too much of their future, it is unlikely anything of the sort occurred (or will occur).
Back To The Sewer
Karai's formal outfit for April and Casey's wedding.
Karai made her first appearance in the Back to the Sewer storyline in the episode Something Wicked. Here, she is seen in a brief flashback with Ch'rell, the Utrom Shredder.
Karai next appeared in the season finale, Wedding Bells and Bytes, having been invited to attend the wedding of April O'Neil and Casey Jones. It appeared as if she and the Turtles had resolved their difficulties off-camera, and she arrived at the ceremony with Doctor Chaplin by her side. She and Chaplin later assisted the Turtles in fending off the onslaught of the Cyber Shredder and The Foot Clan. Though she had no lines, it was apparent that she had moved on with her life and was no longer involved with the Foot.
Turtles Forever
Karai as she appears in BTTS
In Turtles Forever, Karai freed Ch'rell from the clutches of the 1988 Shredder, Krang, Bebop, and Rocksteady, and aided the Utrom Shredder in modifying the Technodrome with Utrom technology. The Utrom Shredder, consumed with rage for revenge on the Turtles, wanted to destroy every dimension where Ninja Turtles exists, even though such an action would most likely destroy himself. Karai began to have doubts about the whole affair and secretly intervened as the Utrom Shredder was prepared to destroy both the 1988 and 2003 Turtles. In the end, at the Turtles Prime dimension, (Mirage Turtles) Karai fought alongside the Mirage, 1988, and 2003 Turtles as well as the 1988 Shredder and Krang and 2003 Splinter, to stop the Shredder from destroying Turtles Prime. In the end, after Ch'rell was defeated, she commented that the Shredder would always return.
A major plot arc that started with her character during Season 2 of the show was that she was loyal to her father, despite his dishonorable ways. After Ch'rell's exile at the end of Season 3, Karai spent all of Season 4 and Season 5 hating the Turtles and possibly after season 5 making a truce the with Turtles. When she appeared in 'Wedding Bells and Bytes' as a guest of April & Casey's wedding, it was assumed that her vendetta with the Turtles was over, but Turtles Forever (if it is meant to fully correspond with the 2003 series' plotline) indicates that with Ch'rell's return, her loyalty to him does not exceed her truce with the Turtles. But during Turtles Forever she finally betrayed The Utrom Shredder and became a friend of Turtles once again.
2012 Cartoon Show
Karai in the 2012 Nick cartoon.
Karai first appears in the episode New Girl in Town, airing Feb. 1, 2013. She is described as a rebellious teenager and expert martial artist who stirs up trouble. "As lethal as she is beautiful, Karai brings a whole new level of chaos and complication for the Turtles," says the Nickelodeon description. She is voiced by Kelly Hu.
In New Girl in Town, she and Leonardo have a similar relationship to that of Catwoman and Batman; and as well as Black Cat and Spider-Man (Respectively); as she tries tempting him to be more like her. While Leo wants her to see she's as not as bad as she appears. Her ties are unbalanced, as she does help Leonardo and Raphael against Snakeweed. Its also revealed that she is The Shredder's "daughter" as she refers to him as father. She also notes during her fight with Leonardo that while she understands the Shredder's revenge, she's uninterested. And that she jokingly stated that he should get a hobby.
Her relationship with her "father" may be somewhat abusive, as she intensely becomes frighten after making the Shredder angry at a comment. In The Alien Agenda she becomes somewhat concerned over the Kraang and tries to convince the Shredder to take some concern over them due to the mutations that happened to the turtles, Xever and Chris Bradford. She'd become disappointed that Shredder has no interests or concern over the Kraang. Shredder then reminds his daughter his reason for his ongoing vendetta against Splinter. As he blames him for his disfigurement and then tells his daughter how Splinter hurt "us"; indicating that she believes Hamato Yoshi also wronged her.
To find out more she finds Leonardo and asks him during a small battle; during which she flirts with him. During their fight Leonardo makes her promise to leave his family alone. She keeps it to a point, as she follows them to the Kraang's facilities but is caught by Raphael. Raphael confronts his brother about Karai, while the other brothers are more confused as to who Karai is. The fight gathers the Kraang's attention who attempt to subdue them. Karai makes the fight worse by releasing the mutagen and unleashing a monster. She then takes a Kraang droid and brings it to her father as evidence. She also offers it as technology for Baxter Stockman to use against the battle against the turtles.
Movies
2007 Film
Karai 2007
In the 2007 animated film, Karai is a new character in the film series, based on Karai from the 1990s comic series. Voiced by Zhang Ziyi and shown wearing a full-body black armor with a hood on her head and a short cape, Karai is the Japanese Foot Clan boss and has came to take over the New York Foot after the Shredder's death, acting as mercenaries. Karai was one of favorite comics characters of the writer and director Kevin Munroe and he "was the one who really pushed for Karai" to appear in the film. Talking about a possible sequel to the film, as well as new comics, Munroe said he would "love to see us explore the Karai and Foot Ninja thing a little more."
Karai is the new leader of the Foot, she was hired by the mysterious billionaire Max Winters to be "the eyes and ears" of the city, though she showed anger later when she found the truth of his unexpected order to hunt down Monster. She briefly fought with Leonardo, rejecting his offer to help them, implying that she is aware of his role in the past. This is supported by her line to the Turtles, 'you are every bit as warriors I was informed you were' after the defeat of the Stone Generals. Karai also seemed to have had prior knowledge about Leonardo; before their brief confrontation Karai proclaimed 'You!' as she faced him. Karai also engages in battle with April O'Neil while the Foot battles the Turtles and their allies. During the tide of the battle, both the Foot Clan and the Turtles realized that Winters, revealing himself to be an immortal warlord named Yaotl, only wanted the monsters to be returned to their world to undo the immortality curse he and his Stone Generals had endured. Unfortunately, the Stone Generals have betrayed Winters by deliberately missing the final monster and intend to use the portal to finalize their conquest of Earth. When the Stone Generals offer the Foot a chance to join them in world conquest, Karai refuses, saying that they would honor their contract to Winters. Aided by April and Casey, she then leads her ninja in retrieving the last of the monsters. In the end, Karai parts ways with the Turtles peacefully, but gives a cryptic last word that Turtles "have passed" something (she refuses to elaborate) and "soon we will have further business together; the kind that involves familiar faces from your past",hinting on the Shredder's upcoming return, which was indeed planned for the film's sequel,but is canceled because Time Warner sell TMNT to Viacom.
This version of Karai may or may be not related to the Shredder; in the bio text of her action figure in the film's merchandise she is described as being 'the Shredder's, daughter', recalling her character of the 2003 series, but no clear indication of this was given in the actual film.
Video Games
Fighting games
TMNT: Tournament Fighters
Karai is the final boss in the 1993 Sega Genesis (Mega Drive) and SNES versions of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Tournament Fighters, fighting without use of any weapon. Karai was notorious as an extremely difficult boss to defeat (especially on Genesis) and is a secret player character in the SNES version (in the Genesis version she is only unlockable with the use of a cheat device). Because of the relative obscurity of the TMNT Mirage comics (as compared to the 1987 cartoon and the films), many players did not recognize Karai in Tournament Fighters and assumed her to be an original character created by Konami.
- In the SNES game, "a very strong fighter by the name of 'Karai'" is announced to be "still alive" and challenges the winner of the titular fighting tournament, making her the final boss to beat. Her appearance in the SNES version is roughly based on this from the Mirage comics but in-game she is looking confusingly masculine.
- In the Genesis version, however, Karai is much more feminine and quite similar to the SNES game's original character Aska, appearing brown haired and wearing the Shredder-style armor without a helmet or blades and bare thighs and thong. She also has a different backstory in the Genesis game, in which she has sent the Turtles' clones to kidnap Splinter into Dimension X, and is suddenly revealing herself to be the true mastermind behind this at the end of the game, following the player's defeat of Krang (in addition, the regular ending has Karai saying that it was only her clone that has been destroyed, as she can be truly killed only in the alternative ending after finishing the game at the hardest difficulty setting).
TMNT Smash-Up
Karai (voiced by Karen Neil) is one of the selectable characters in Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Smash-Up (2009). Karai is wielding a single sword and, while not the most powerful, she is the fastest and most agile character in the game. Her appearance is that of the 2007 film and she is described as being the Shredder's daughter. Karai's alternative costume resembles the Amazonian Blade Bots (aka Karai-Bots) robots created by Dr. Chaplin in the 2003 cartoon's episode New Blood (also featured in Same As It Never Was). The image created for the play's "girls of gaming 8" has her wearing the Shredder's armor. According to Prima Games' official guide, Karai (rated 10/10) is the best overall character in the game, thanks to her fastest speed and one of the top jumping abilities, as well as unique combo opportunities, but she is less adventagous against other agile characters.
Beat'em up games
TMNT 2: Battle Nexus
Karai (voiced by Karen Neil) is a boss character and an unlockable player character in Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles 2: Battle Nexus (2004), in an encounter loosely based on the 2003 cartoon's episode Rogue in the House, Part 2. Her appearance is that from the cartoon series and she is armed with dual swords and also has a special move of unleashing multiple kunais in every direction. In the story mode, the Turtles meet Karai after she very uneasily decided to obey the Shredder's order to put them to death. After defeating Karai in combat, Leonardo pleads for her to choose honor over the loyalty to the Shredder, even going as far as allowing her to strike him down if she chooses so, but she finds unable to do so and asks him to kill her instead. Leonardo refuses in turn and leaves, telling her that he believes they will one day understand each other.
TMNT 3: Mutant Nightmare
Karai (voiced by Karen Neil) is the penultimate boss in Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles 3: Mutant Nightmare.
TMNT (2007 game)
Karais voice (by Jennifer Morehouse) can be heard and she has an image cameo in TMNT.
TMNT (GBA)
Karai also serves as the second boss in the TMNT game for the Game Boy Advance.
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Arcade Attack
Karai is a boss in Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Arcade Attack (2009); her appearance reflects her Back to the Sewer/Turtles Forever design.
Toys
An action figure of the cartoon Karai in her Shredder armor (with a removable helmet) was released by Playmates Toys in 2005, packed with a bonus DVD.[1] A larger action figure based on as she has appeared in TMNT (featuring a changeable head, with or without the face mask and hood) was released in 2007, also by Playmates.
Trivia
- In Brazil Karai's name sounds similar to an obscene word. Because of this her name is usually spelled Karrai.
References
Gallery
See: Karai / Gallery