Shredder

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Oroku Saki redirects here This page is for the Oroku Saki and Ch'rell version of The Shredder. For other characters who have used the identity of The Shredder, see Alternate Shredders.

The Shredder is the greatest adversary of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, and appears in some context in every form of TMNT media. Originally he was supposed to only appear in one issue of the comic, but his popularity saw him return; Peter Laird had said that it was not his and Kevin Eastman's intent for him to become the "Darth Vader" of the TMNT universe, but he had indeed become the chief villain.

Eastman and Laird got the idea for The Shredder's armour late one evening after the two creators had been drinking. One of them put a cheese-grater on his arm and jokingly referred to himself as The Shredder while the other was doubled over with laughter. The next morning the two of them put their pens to paper and actually created the infamous character we know today.

In every form of media, his tenaciousness keeps him returning even after he should have been killed. The only time that his demise was ever confirmed of any version of him, was in the first issue of the original TMNT comic; however, this would still not keep Oroku Saki from enacting his revenge on his hated foes.

Mirage Comics

Shredder volume1 — The Shredder in volume 1 #1

Shredder volume10 — The Shredder in volume 1 #10

A pair of ninja members of the Foot Clan, Oroku Nagi and Hamato Yoshi, both competed for the love of a woman named Tang Shen. However, Shen only loved Yoshi, which enraged Nagi. Nagi attacked Shen, and in defense, Yoshi fought and killed Nagi.

Shamed for killing another member of the Foot Clan, Hamato Yoshi fled to America with Tang Shen and his pet rat, Splinter. However, Nagi's kid brother, Oroku Saki, swore a vendetta on his brother's murderer. He eventually tracked down and killed both Hamato Yoshi and Tang Shen. Joining the Foot Clan himself, Saki quickly rose through the ranks, and was put in charge of the American branch of the Clan.

Fifteen years later Oroku Saki was seen now working for a security company, when actually he was sending the Foot to rob the same places later. The TMNT would challenge and face the Shredder. After a bloody rooftop battle, Leonardo managed to run him through with his sword. Forcing Shredder to commit Seppuku, thus dying an honorable death, he instead opted for throwing a thermite grenade at them, which Donatello would bat back at his face. The explosion as well as Shredder falling off the roof would be the end of him. With their leader dead, the Foot would continue to hunt down the TMNT for revenge.

However, several months later, several members of the Foot, as well as the Shredder himself, would jump and beat Leonardo to the brink of death, and throw his body through the window of April's Second Time Around store. Shredder and the Foot would attack the TMNT, and with the help of Casey Jones, they managed to escape to his old farmhouse in Northampton. After months of recuperation, the TMNT returned to New York, and with the help of Zog, a Triceraton mentally confused due to breathing our Earth oxygen, they went to take down the Foot and the Shredder once and for all. During the fight, Zog gets hacked to death by 3 deformed Shredder clones. The other Turtles would face them and be taken down one by one, leaving Leonardo to go ahead and face the real Shredder himself.

Shredder revealed that he was a worm clone of the original Shredder, but still harbored the hatred of the original. The Foot employed some sort of mystic worms that ate remains of the dead, and then grow into the form of what they ate. The malformed Shredders were past attempts, and the Shredder now facing Leonardo was their perfect copy. Shredder and Leonardo fought it out and in the end, Leo would end up beheading him. Leonardo would then take Shredder's body and burn it.

Sometime later, a Foot Mystic would find the remains and use the worms again, but this time they'd also eat the remains of a shark. This shark monster considered himself the real Oroku Saki. Facing the turtles, he realized he was just a clone and escaped, also eating the Foot Mystic. Sometime later, this Shark/Worm/Shredder monster would also face Splinter and Casey Jones. It's unknown if it would return.

Due to Shredder's death, the Foot would still be after the Turtles. The Elite Foot in particular were after Leo's head. The TMNT would be forced to help Karai (leader of the Japanese branch of the Foot) kill off the Foot factions that were battling each other in exchange for a truce. And sure enough, after they defeated the Elite, Karai and the Foot promised to leave the Turtles alone.

So even after Shredder was only fought with and killed off in one day, his shadow continued to haunt the Turtles for years to come, be it in the form of wormclones, the rest of his clan or Karai.

1987 series

Long ago in Japan, Oroku Saki and Hamato Yoshi were both members of the Foot Clan. Jealous of Yoshi, Saki made his move the day the Shidoshi arrived at the Foot school. He pinned the back of Yoshi's kimono with a knife, which would prevent him from bowing to show respect for the Shidoshi, which everyone considered an insult. When Yoshi found the knife and pulled it out, they considered it a plot to kill the Shidoshi, so Yoshi was kicked out of the clan. From then on, Saki took over and took the once noble Foot Clan and turned it into an army of crime. Not content with having banished Yoshi from the Foot, he followed him to New York. We assume this is when Saki somehow met up with Krang, the alien warlord from Dimension X, arming him with all sorts of technology ranging from robotic Foot Soldiers to the colossal Death Star-like Technodrome. Wearing steel bladed armor, he was now the Shredder. After finding Yoshi, he tried to kill him by pouring the mysterious chemical Mutagen on him, not knowing it would instead mutate him into a giant rat named Splinter, and also give birth to his worst enemies, the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles.

Shredder continued his crimewave, sending his men to steal all sorts of advanced technology throughout the city, as well as posing as a security service, where he'd send his own men to rob the places he was securing later. When news reporter April O'Neil started reporting the possibility of ninjas being responsible for these crimes, Shredder sent his gang of thugs to take her out. April, however was rescued by the Turtles. Later April and the Turtles would discover Shredder's security front, and he's send all the Foot Soldiers to the Technodrome and flooded the building to the point to which it would explode, not knowing the Turtles would still escape alive. Shredder then asked Krang for advice, to which the brain would remind him that he gave Shredder all of his technology in exchange for a body he was supposed to create for him. Krang gave Shredder the idea to mutate his own henchmen into killer mutant animals, and thus Shredder turned the punks Bebop and Rocksteady into a mutant warthog and a mutant rhinocerous, respectively.

One of Shredder's robots would capture Splinter, forcing the Turtles to enter the Technodrome to rescue him. There he would attack them with all sorts of death traps. Once the Turtles made it to Splinter, Shredder formerly introduced himself to them, explained his part in the origin of the Turtles and asked them to join him. When they refused, he sent Bebop and Rocksteady after them. The turtles defeated them and escaped with Splinter. Next Shredder tried to kill his enemies by using Baxter Stockman to create an army of Mousers. Shredder managed to capture Michelangelo and had the others surrounded by the Mousers. When Krang saw his plans working too well, and thus giving Shredder no need to build him the body he promised, he himself set Mikey free and helped him destroy the Master Control for all the Mousers. Still refusing to give Krang his body, Shredder instead tried to pull advanced weaponry from Dimension X through the Technodrome's Dimensional Portal. Doing so, he'd accidentaly set the Neutrinos free onto the city. Krang's stone warriors would soon follow, and Shredder would send them after the Turtles. After the Turtles sent both the Stone Warriors and their new friends the Neutrinos back home, Shredder saw he had no choice but to build Krang his body.

Shredder however, also invented the Retromutagen Ray Gun, a device that undoes mutations. He used it as bait to lure the Turtles to him, since he knew they wanted to restore their Master to his human form. Splinter went alone, since his sons could also be turned back into normal turtles with that device, and was captured. As the Turtles arrived to the Technodrome, they defeated Shredder's forces, as well as Krang's giant-sized robot body, rescued Splinter and sent the Technodrome back to Dimension X. Now stuck in Dimension X, Shredder was forced to follow Krang's orders.

Wanting to return to Earth and get his revenge on the Turtles, Krang finally sent him back to Earth, but completely alone, without his Foot Soldiers or any fancy weaponry. First Shredder would take over a dojo and form the Crooked Ninja Turtle Gang to frame the Turtles, and then he'd once again employ Baxter Stockman to help him defeat the Turtles. Though the Crooked Ninja Turtle Gang would soon be defeated, Shredder would continue to use Baxter for a while until he got fed up with his failures. Krang finally sent Bebop and Rocksteady back to Earth, in exchange for Baxter, which would lead to Krang accidentally turning him into a mutant fly. Eventually, Shredder would finally gather the power he needed to return the Techondrome to Earth, but thanks to Donatello, it would be trapped on the bottom of the Earth, unable to move.

Shredder would continue his plans, thanks to Krang's transport modules which would lead them to the surface to continue their plans to either destroy the Turtles or gather enough energy to make the Technodrome mobile again. Once the Shredder got the Technodrome back in action, their next move was to open a portal huge enough to send Earth through, where Krang's Stone Warriors would open fire on it. But again, thanks to Donatello, the Turtles would send the Technodrome itself through the portal, having the Stone Warriors open fire on it and having the Technodrome be stuck on an asteroid in Dimension X. Even that wouldn't be enough to keep the Shredder gone for long, as now they'd use the Dimensional Portal to return to Earth to continue their plans.

The Technodrome would continue to be stuck in other places like the bottom of the ocean and the middle of the Arctic until the Turtles would finally manage to send the Technodrome back to Dimension X but without Shredder, Krang, Bebop and Rocksteady in it. Now the villains would resort to running from hideout to hideout with the Turtles hot on their heels. It was during this arc that the Red Sky series would begin and Shredder would commit one of his most memorable acts. The Turtles managed to capture Krang and Shredder threatened that if they didn't bring him back at a certain time, he'd destroy the Channel 6 building. The turtles arrived with Krang a minute late and saw the building still there, thinking Shredder was bluffing. Shredder would then say 'I never bluff' and make the building explode. This would force April to get a new job as a freelance reporter and have Burne Thompson start a permanent anti-turtle campaign throughout the city, blaming them for all this.

The turtles and Shredder would have their final battle back in Dimenion X where they would finally trap Shredder and Krang there for good in a nearly destroyed Technodrome. They would never have returned if it weren't for Mung who heard rumors about them. After telling Lord Dregg about their history with the turtles, Dregg sent Shredder and Krang back to Earth. Shredder didn't want to work with Dregg, so instead he became a victim of his plans. Dregg had the turtles, Krang and Shredder captured and was using a device to drain the Turtles' life energy, Shredder's ninja skills and Krang's intelligence into himself to make him unbeatable. Dregg, however didn't notice that Shredder had already gotten free, and he escaped with Krang. Shredder later gave some of his life force to revive Krang, and they both decided to return to finish off Dregg and the Turtles. In the final battle, amongst the crossfire, the Turtles managed to send Shredder and Krang back to Dimension X. They were never to be seen again. In the final battle against Lord Dregg, the Turtles returned to Dimension X to find Krang's android body in the Technodrome to use against Dregg, but neither Shredder or Krang (or Bebop and Rocksteady for that matter) were anywhere to be seen.

It should be noted that Shredder started out as quite the dangerous and merciless villain, but as the show got sillier, so did his character, spouting out wisecracks and one-liners in between fights with the turtles. Shredder however still had impressive ninja skills and was, for the most part, able to take on all 4 turtles at once. As the show got sillier and cartoonish, do did Shredder's plans. His plots were now as silly as to create a fake Pizza Parlor to lure the Turtles into ordering whatever kind of pizza they want, and when Shredder was convinced the pizza was ordered by the turtles, he'd put a homing device that looked like an anchovy on it to lure them to the turtles' lair. Another such plot had him take over the city's autmomated garbage trucks and program them to capture the turtles, but in turn they would capture every kind normal sea turtle throughout the city. And yet another plan was to clone Michealangelo, but Shredder was hit by a ray from the device making him think that HE was Michealangelo. No matter how complicated or important Shredder or Krang's plans were, they'd always trust the always-bumbling Bebop and Rocksteady to carry it out, which of course, would lead to their downfall.

It was due to Shredder and Krang's Mutagen that led to most of the mutants and other beings on the show, whether they'd side with them or not. Some of the mutants created by Shredder besides the main cast, whether intentional or not, would include The Punk Frogs, Leatherhead, Groundchuck, Dirtbag, Mutagen Man and Muckman, as well as turning Baxter into a mutant fly. He'd also be responsible for the creation of Chrome Dome, and he'd also create the Turtles Rogue Gallery. It was also his version of the trans-dimensional portal interfering with Don's version that led to Usagi Yojimbo being stuck in their world.

Shredder and Krang also argue a lot, mostly due to the fact that Shredder despises taking his orders when he used to be the guy in charge. Despite the fact Shredder has double-crossed Krang several times in the past, during their final appearance it appeared their friendship had grown. There were many times that Shredder could have just left Krang at the mercy of the Turtles or Lord Dregg, but he always rescued him, and went as far as to donate his life energy to save him.

Movies

First Movie

Similar to the comics, Oroku Saki and Hamato Yoshi would both be members of the Foot and be in the love with the same woman, Tang Shen. Yoshi and Tang escaped to live in New York, but Saki found them. He killed Shen and waited for Yoshi to get home. During the fight, Splinter, still just a pet rat, escaped from his cage and bit and clawed all over Saki's face. The same sword slice that would kill Yoshi would also cut off a piece of Splinter's ear. Years later in New York, Shredder, alongside his second of command, Tatsu, had formed the Foot, a gang of street kids and gangsters trained in the art of Ninjutsu and started what was called 'the Silent Crime wave' where no one so much as saw what was being stolen. When reporter April O'Neil started talking about the Foot on the news, Shredder sent the Foot to kill her. She was rescued by Raphael, but one of the Foot followed them back to their lair. Later, while the Turtles were hanging with April in her apartment, the Foot attacked and kidnapped Splinter. Then they'd find and attack Raphael to near death and send him crashing through the roof of April's Second Time Around store. After a big fight with the Foot, the Turtles, April and Casey escaped to April's farmhouse.

Sometime later, Shredder would find April's artwork of the Turtles from one of his fellow members, Danny Pennington, signaling that the Turtles were back. Shredder sent the Foot to the turtles lair and sent Tatsu to kill Splinter. The Turtles managed to defeat the Foot, and Casey Jones defeated Tatsu and rescued Splinter. Shredder finally appeared and had a dramatic battle against the Turtles. Upon hinting that Shredder had already killed Splinter, Leo lost control and went at the Shredder head on. Shredder tripped him up and aimed his spear at him, telling the turtles to toss their weapons or he'd kill him. Even after the Turtles threw their weapons, Shredder intended to kill Leonardo anyway, but Splinter finally arrived. Revealing himself to be the same rat that clawed Shredder's face so many years ago, Shredder removed his helmet and ran at him in a blind rage, hoping to spear him. Splinter however, whipped out a nunchaku, wrapped it around Shredder's spear and sent him over the side of the roof. Still hanging on to the spear, Shredder threw a knife at Splinter. Since Splinter caught the knife, he let go of the nunchaku that was holding his spear, and Shredder fell into a garbage truck. Casey Jones pulled a lever and the garbage truck apparently crushed Shredder to death.

Second Movie

In Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles II: The Secret of the Ooze, Shredder somehow survived and returned to the Foot's fall back spot. He had a new helmet made and was now bent on revenge against the Turtles. He sent a member of the Foot to pose as April's cameraman as they were doing a report on T.G.R.I.. There, the Foot member found some mutated dandelions and sent one to the Shredder. Upon seeing his, Shredder sent Tatsu and the Foot to retrieve the last vial of Ooze at TGRI and kidnap Professor Jordan Perry. Having captured a wolf and a snapping turtle, Shredder had them turned into mutants. The new mutants Tokka and Rahzar had the minds of babies, due to Perry's secret tampering with the Ooze. Shredder sent Tatsu to kill them, but Perry convinced him to keep them alive since their brute strength could be useful. The Foot captured Raphael and used him as bait to lure the other turtles, where Shredder had them caught on a net and was about to release them on a bed of spikes and other sharp objects. Splinter arrived to set them free, and the Turtles fought the Foot, Tokka and Rahzar and escaped with the Professor.

Shredder would release Tokka and Rahzar to do damage upon the city as a means to challenge the turtles to a final showdown. In the final battle, which would break out into a Vanilla Ice concert, the turtles would defeat the Foot and Tatsu and demutate Tokka and Rahzar. Shredder would arrive with the vile of Ooze at hand. Keno would arrive to spin kick the vial of Ooze out of Shredder's hands, which would be taken away by Professor Perry. Shredder would grab a random girl from the concert and threaten to pour Ooze from her from a tiny vial he still had. Ken would use the loudspeakers to blast him out of the building and into the docks outside. The turtles would go out to look for him and find that Shredder had drank the ooze and now transformed into Super Shredder. Taller, much more muscular, and blinded by rage, Super Shredder started breaking down the support beams to the docks, hoping to bring it all down on himself and the turtles. The turtles escaped by diving into the water, and Super Shredder finally met his end.

Fourth Movie

While Shredder makes a brief cameo appearance in TMNT (2007 film), the movie opens with how the Turtles finally defeated him, (though it is never explained if they meant regular Shredder or Super Shredder, as this movie might be in a whole other universe altogether) and explained how they went along their separate ways. Karai now leads the Foot and uses them more as mercenaries rather than a street gang. In the end of the movie Karai hinted that Shredder might be back. In the end of the movie, Splinter walks towards a display case of past adventures which would include things such as the vial of Ooze from the second movie, the Time Scepter from TMNT III and the Shredder helmet, looking like it did in the first Turtle movie. It's also worth mentioning that Playmates released a kind of 'what if Shredder was in the movie' action figure version of the Shredder.

Another thing worth noting is that in the first Turtle movie (as well as the beginning of the second when he first escaped the pile of garbage) Shredder wore red like he did in the Mirage comics. In the second movie he wore purple like in the 80's cartoons. In the first movie he also had a black cape. When he rebuilt his helmet in the second movie, he added buzzsaw-like ridges along the sides. In both movies he used his infamous claw on just the right hand instead of both.

Next Mutation

2003 cartoon

Shredder 2003 e11 — The Shredder and his minions.

The Shredder seen mostly in the 2K3 series is actually an Utrom named Ch'rell. Despite his size, he was a cruel and merciless monster that went from planet to planet causing wars and destruction. He was eventually captured by the Utroms and was to be taken into custody, but he manged to escape and cause the spaceship they were on to crash into Earth. Trapped in the era of 16th century Japan, the Utroms used what remained of their ship and technology to create exosuits to blend in with humanity. Ch'rell would steal one of them to create the first version of the Shredder. Even then, Shredder would gather members of the Foot and be a force to be reckoned with in Ancient Japan. Shredder would also use alien metal to create the Sword of Tengu, a sword with the ability to toss destructive waves, but somehow it was lost. Sometime before leaving Japan, he met and trained an orphaned girl named Karai and left her to watch over the Japanese faction of the Foot Clan.

The Shredder would move his operations to the states living in a big tower in modern day New York. There, he would have the Foot Elite, Baxter Stockman, Hun, and others under his command. One of the few that had the power to oppose him was Hamato Yoshi, Splinter's original owner, and he was eventually attacked and killed by the Shredder. Years passed and all went well until the Turtles defeated some of the Purple Dragons (the group the Turtles fought were trying to steal an armored car carrying large sum of money), a street gang working for the Shredder (the ringleader of the group the Turtles beat was killed by Shredder for failing him). Then the Turtles would also shut down Baxter's plans to use his Mousers to rob banks all over New York (Shredder had one of Stockman's eyes removed as punishment for failing). What really angered the Shredder was when he finally found the Sword of Tengu (as well as one of the Utroms exosuits, proving that they still live), and lost it to the turtles. He sent Baxter and Hun to deal with them. Hun captured Raphael and let him go, not knowing the turtle was being followed by Baxter's invisible Foot Tech Ninjas, but they were also defeated (Shredder took one Stockman's arms and both his legs this time). From Hun's interrogation of Raphael, Shredder learned that Turtles weren't aware of the Utroms existance, and considered that they might be of use against them.

Finally Shredder decided to invite one of the turtles themselves to his abode. As Oroku Saki, he faced Leonardo and convinced him that there was a powerful evil out there and they both had to work together to stop it. Returning home, Splinter told Leo that Oroku Saki was also known as the Shredder and is the evil force they must stop. The Turtles returned and refused to side with Shredder, so the big fight began. They were able to fight Shredder's foot ninja as well as Hun, but were forced to run Shredder came after them himself. The Turtles were separated, by Splinter was able to get them to regroup, and he decided to let the Shredder find them so he could avenge Yoshi. The Turtles easily beat Shredder's foot ninja, but he individually ambushed each of them during the fight, picking them off one by one. Before Shredder could finish the Turtles, Splinter intervened and tricked Shredder into slicing the support beams of a huge water tower and then kicked it on to him. The force of the released water would shove Shredder off the rooftop, and then the water tower itself would collapse on him. Thinking he was defeated, the TMNT and Splinter leave, not knowing he was still alive.

(If we are to count Fast Forward here, then right after Shredder would rise from the collapsed water tower, he would fight and be defeated by the more skilled Fast Forward Leonardo. Shredder and the Foot would follow Leo and Cody through the time portals, bringing them to Sh'Okanbo's spaceship, and they would try to seize the technology for themselves. Between the alien Sh'Okanabo and the more trained Fast Forward TMNT, Shredder and the Foot were sent back to their normal time.)

Months later, Leo would be ganged up on and beaten by near death by the Foot, Hun, the Foot Elite and Shredder himself. They'd toss Leo through the window of April's Second Time Around store and then storm the building. Shredder drove everyone in a freezer, but seeing that police were arriving, locked the freezer, cut a gas pipe and set a fire bomb set to destroy the area. Thanks to Casey, the TMNT, Splinter and April escaped the explosion and went to live in Casey's farmhouse in New Hampton. After they recovered, they finally returned to New York, where they took down the Foot, Foot Tech Ninja, Hun, Baxter (whom had constructed a powerful exo-suit and intended to kill the turtles and the Shredder, forcing them to team up against him), the mysterious Foot Mystics, deformed Shredder clones, the Elite, and the Shredder himself. When they finally faced the Shredder, the Guardians came to aid the Turtles against him. Shredder was able recover the Sword of Tengu but Leonardo managed to take it from him. In the end, Leo lept up using the Sword of Tengu, while Shredder lept up using Leo's swords, and after a clash, Shredder was beheaded. However, after the TMNT and their friends left, Shredder picked up his head and walked off.

After this battle however, Splinter was missing. When the TMNT found him at the T.C.R.I. building, Shredder was following them. As the Utroms revealed their origins to the Turtles via VR Technology, Shredder had Baxter (now a head in a robot spider body) tamper with the VR so that what they saw could really hurt them. This had the turtles fight it out with the Medevial Japan Shredder and the Foot. Back to reality, the Turtles and Splinter battled the Shredder, and after Baxter broke free from his control and turned on him, but Shredder set timebomb set to destroy the TCRI building. Despite the seeming severe damage to him before, Shredder quickly came back to face the Turtles. This time, they were able to damage Shredder's exo-suit to point where he was forced to abandoned it, and the truth about Shredder being an Utrom was finally revealed. The Turtles and the Utroms all escaped, and just before Shredder could get on the Transmat to do the same, the building exploded. This is the only time the Turtles defeated the Shredder and he wasn't revealed to be alive immediately after the fight, but the fact that would come back when they were sure he was dead in the past made them very skeptical if he was alive or dead.

With Shredder supposedly dead, the Mobs, the Purple Dragons and the Foot, now led by the Elite, raged war over control for the city. Karai arrived from Japan, and with the help of the Turtles managed to get control back to the Foot, inexchange for a truce between the TMNT and the Foot. However, Shredder managed to survive the explosion at the TCRI building and was kept in a capsule with worms that were healing him, under Karai's eye. Unfortunately for Karai, Shredder's first plan once he was healed was revenge on the Turtles.

Once Shredder was healed, he returned to find that Hun had found Baxter and reduced him to a brain, and got him to work for them again. Baxter had now made Foot Mechs, in form of armored Foot Ninja, but also in forms of the President, the Prime Minister of England, and Master Splinter. However, due to the unexpected arrival of the Turtles with the Triceraton Zog, as well as Karai questioning her loyalties, the Shredder was again defeated, but only when Zog gave his life to keep Shredder on his freighter when it exploded. Karai then used a helicopter to rescue him.

A short time later the Triceratons would invade Earth, and Shredder would gain favor over the city by paying for the restoration of the city under his Oroku Saki persona (the Turtles weren't surprised when they found Shredder was alive anymore). The Foot was changed now somewhat, with Karai being the new second-in-command, having more authority than Hun (Hun himself would find himself a victim of Shredder's cruelty when Shredder punished him for being seen in front of the mayor). A new scientist was hired, Dr. Chaplin, and was basically Baxter's replacement. While he made political statements, he was secretly building a spaceship hoping to return to cause destruction to the Utroms and other planets. After finally completing the ship, he bid farewell to the city and left Karai in charge of the Foot. However, due to Splinter's visions, Splinter, the TMNT and Leatherhead all went to stop Shredder's plans. It was during this brave assault upon the Foot Tower than Hun finally discovered that Shredder was an Utrom after his exo-suit was again destroyed. Other factors, such as Baxter disrupting the spaceship's controls, and Agent Bishop's men trying to take down the spaceship before it even left the planet all complicated matters for him, but despite that he still escaped onto his ship with Karai and Chaplin. In the final battle, Shredder got inside a larger, more powerful Shredder armor and easily defeated the Turtles and Splinter in combat, and they only survived because Shredder was forced to fall back due to Bishop firing at his ship. Seeing no other choice, the Turtles used the downloaded Fugitoid program they had to overload the ship's power core to destroy everything, even themselves if need be, so that Shredder could never cause harm and destruction again.

This explosion was however, paused in time stasis due to the Utroms' technology. They would take care of the Turtles and Splinter, send Karai and Dr. Chaplin back to Earth and would finally sent Shredder, now his true name Ch'rell revealed to finally stand court for his crimes. For all the destruction and lives he cost throughout the galaxy, he was sent to the ice planet Mor Tal to freeze to death. Seeing that Shredder was finally beaten for good, Hun would lead the Purple Dragons to become less than a common street gang and more into organized crime, Baxter would work with Bishop, and Karai would now lead the Foot as the new Shredder in a personal vendetta against the Turtles for killing her father. Chaplin would remain loyal to Karai.

However, it would later be revealed that there really was an Oroku Saki back in 300 AD in Japan, and Ch'rell would steal his name and image. The real Oroku Saki was human until a massive demon attacked (the demon was the original Shredder). To combat the Shredder tengu, the Emperor of Japan recruited the five most skilled and powerful warriors in the country , which in addition to Saki there was Kon, Juto, Chikara, and Hisomi. Clad in enchanted armor, these “Five Dragons” rode out to confront the Shredder. Although Kon, Juto, Chikara and Hisomi were quickly beaten, Saki bested it on his own. But just as he was about to finish the demon, it promised Saki his dark powers in exchange for allowing his soul to live within him, which Saki excepted. Oblivious to what had occurred, the other Dragons returned to the emperor with Saki, where they were honored as the greatest heroes of Japan, and given their own insignia, bearing the “Three-Toed Sign of the Dragon.” It was not long, however, before the possessed Saki began his own conquest of Japan, taking the name of the Shredder and using an inverted Sign of the Dragon as his symbol. The Shredder committed atrocities and his evil seemed to posses no limits. He quickly destroyed much of Japan and erected a fortress of his own. With all known resistance destroyed and his forces and powers continuously growing, The Shredder's conquest of the planet seemed unstoppable. Unable to match the Shredder’s power, Saki’s four former allies trained with the most powerful masters of the martial and mystic arts the world over, until finally, they were strong enough to face him in battle within his citadel. All five combatants manifested their spirits in the form of dragon avatars, but the Shredder was ultimately overpowered. To keep the Shredder from ever threatening mankind again, the Four Dragons cast a spell that enchanted his helmet, gauntlet and torso, all of which were separated and sealed away – but, should they ever be reunited, the Shredder would live again.

Now in modern day, it was revealed that the Foot Mystics were actually serving the True Shredder all along, but were chafed in the service of Ch’rell, and were even further reviled when Karai took his place as the holder of the Heart of Tengu, determining to release themselves. Tricking the Earth Protection Force into stealing the Heart of Tengu from Karai and destroying it, the mystics were released and set about arranging the resurrection of the original Shredder, dispatching various demon minions to find the helmet and gauntlet that the Four Dragons – now known as the “Ninja Tribunal” – had hidden away so long ago. The Turtles and four other humans were recruited and trained by the Tribunal in order to reclaim the helmet and gauntlet, but in doing so, they had unwittingly played into the elementals’ hands, having brought the two items to the Tribunal’s lair, the Lap of the Gods, where the Shredder’s body was held. In a massive attack on the Lap of the Gods, the elementals succeeded in capturing all three items, which they took to New York and reunited, restoring the demon Shredder to life.

The demon Shredder’s first goal was the elimination of the pretender to his name, Karai, but thanks to the intervention of the Turtles, she survived, and the Shredder instead turned his attention to the world at large, transforming New York City into a twisted, hellish, nightmarish landscape from which his conquest of Earth would begin. The Turtles discovered that, in inheriting the mantle of the Shredder, Karai had also inherited a mystic link to the demon’s power. The Turtles went to face Shredder, and joined by Hun, Bishop, Stockman, the Justice Force, Karai, Splinter, The Ancient One, and the other acolytes which were supposedly dead. The turtles faced Shredder after killing his mystics, but even their allies the demon was too powerful for them. Shredder was about finish them off, but Spirit of Hamato Yoshi manifested from their medallions and held him off. Manifesting their spiritual avatars and transforming into powerful dragon forms, the Turtles and the Shredder (who took his dragon form as well) battled in the skies above New York. The Shredder was able to take the upper hand until Karai started to drain his energy, allowing the Turtles were able to destroy his helmet and gauntlet; weaken him, then, they summoned spirit of Hamato Yoshi appeared to deliver the final blow, cutting the villain in half and destroying the demon Shredder once and for all.

The demon Shredder displayed godlike power during his attempt to conquer the world. He has telekinetic abilities that can use to levitate himself (which is how he usually moved) and other objects (even large objects, shown with ease he once tossed a cement-mixer). He usually fought by firing blasts of dark magic, which can easily demolish the walls of large buildings, although he also possess a large degree of super-human strength (enough to easily overpower the Turtles' ally the Silver Sentry). He invulnerable to most means of attack (having taken no damage when Karai impaled him with a sword, or showing signs of pain when Chaplin blasted a hole in him, which instantly regenerated). He can also create weapons for himself to use, as well as demonic minions and shape the world around to the form he chooses, though spreading his power does weaken him. Finally, Shredder can assume the form of a massive dragon (his dragon form dwarfs those of the Turtles and the Ninja Tribunal) that possess strength far surpassing those of any others seen, and can fire extremely powerful blasts of dark magic.

Shredder 2003 e73 — Alternate future Shredder gloats in Don's face.

It's also worth noting that in an alternate future visited by Donatello, Shredder had taken over the world. In this version, Splinter and Casey Jones were already killed in battle and Mike had lost an arm. Hun had Baxter's brain sewn into his right shoulder and was in a wheelchair, and was now working with the Turtles. In a final battle, the alternate versions of Leonardo, Raphael, Michelangelo, Hun, Stockman, and Karai died, Don faced the Shredder, but the Shredder's massive exo-suit was too powerful for him to defeat head on,, but Don managed to kill the Shredder by shoving the Turtle Tunneler into his face. This left April as the only surviving member of the main cast, though Don going back home would make sure this would never happen.

Finally when the TMNT went to fight in the Battle Nexus, the hall of statues had one that looked like the Shredder. This hints that Shredder had been a Battle Nexus champion sometime before.

Probably a cue to the older movies, this version of Shredder only had his claws on his right hand, instead of both like in the Mirage comics. Once it was revealed he was an Utrom, Shredder changed his armor a few times. While he was usually hidden within the stomach cavity of the suit, the dark future version of the Shredder actually had Ch'rell himself as the head of the exosuit, still wearing the helmet. This Shredder's exosuit was far larger then any other seen, and possessed four arms and was nearly indestructible.

Fast Forward

Though Shredder didn't appear in Fast Forward per say, Cody does keep his armor in a hall where other things from the Turtles lives are being kept. When trying to find a way to bring the Turtles back to present day, Cody and Sh'Okanabo's devices accidentally opened portals from different points in time all over the city. One of them sent Leonardo and Cody back to the exact point where Shredder was first defeated by having the Water Tower fall on him. He'd follow them through the portal but would be defeated and sent back by the Fast Forward TMNT and Sh'Okanabo. Also in the episode 'The Journal', it was hinted that Karai was to join the Ninja Tribunal and would finally cast away all ties to the Shredder. But of course, this Journal was all stuff Splinter and Cody made up, so it might not be true.

Manga and Anime

In the Japanese anime adaption, the back story from the original cartoon was preserved. Unlike the rest of the main cast, Shredder's appearance was changed to match the Supermutants Shredder toy that was being sold at that time. The manga explained this by saying his original outfit was destroyed in a battle with the Turtles and Krang created the new armor for him. Shredder also gains the ability to transform into the dragon Devil Shredder using the Mutanite crystals he stole from the Neutrinos. With the energy from the evil sprite Dark Mu, he was later able to transform into the gigantic Dark Devil Shredder.
In the second volume of the anime he gets his Tiger Spirit Metal Mutant armor.
He was played by Kiyoyuki Yanada.

Trivia

Shredder takes the crown as being one of a very short list of villains that is a constant in every last cannon from the original comics, lasting all the way through to the 2007 cgi film (if only as a backstory component.)