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Some TMNT stuff really isn't for little kids. |
Seppuku (切腹) or hara-kiri (腹切り, both meaning "cutting the belly/abdomen") is a term used often for a kind of ritual Japanese suicide. The goal is to end one's own life with honor. Although in fiction, the act is usually seen performed with a katana or similar long blade, a tantō was normally the tool of choice.
In the first Mirage comic issue, Leonardo commands Oroku Saki to commit seppuku, which he declines in favor of attempting to take the Turtles with him in the form of a thermite grenade. A Foot Elite also kills himself with Raphael's sai in "City at War, part 6 of 13", and another one, Tomei, kills himself with his tantō in "City at War, part 11 of 13".
In the "Vengeance" arc of the IDW series, a badly-wounded Shredder chooses to commit seppuku with his own tekkō-kagi claws, with Splinter acting as his kaishakunin.
In The Last Ronin series issue 1, Michelangelo attempted to commit seppuku with a broken katana after failing his vendetta against Oroku Hiroto, only to faint from blood loss due to the injuries inflicted on him during his assault.