In the Mirage continuity, the Pantheon is a group of spiritual animal beings, with each member of the group having jurisdiction over a species of animal. When the Pantheon member who rules the rats time reaches an end, a new one is chosen. One of the members that represented Rats had died and the Pantheon would go onto choose a new member in the form of the Rat King. They sought Hamato Splinter to be the newest member in their order.
