Utroms

Two Utroms outside their body suits

The Utroms are an alien species in the various Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles universes.

Description

Physically, an Utrom is a small and light creature. They are hairless and are usually a uniform pink in color, but there are also yellow, orange, purple, and red variants. Their appearance is similar to that of a human brain. They have two eyes, a mouth with sharp teeth, no visible nose, and a number of short tentacles underneath them. These tentacles serve as both hands and feet, as the Utrom can walk on them or use them to manipulate objects. However, most Utroms dislike walking on their tentacles, preferring to use some form of mechanical transport, such as a human-shaped exo-suit or a hover pad. Unless injured or diseased, Utroms have a long lifespan, lasting centuries or millennia in Earth years. They have created extremely advanced technology, though how they accomplished this given their physical forms lack almost any form of appendage remains a mystery. Utroms are usually extremely peaceful and non-interfering.

History within TMNT

The Utroms are present in the original TMNT comic, the 2003 cartoon, related video games, and IDW comics, where they are responsible for creating and losing the Ooze which mutated the turtles and Splinter. Though they do not appear in the 1987 cartoon it does feature Krang, a villain who is very similar to an Utrom in appearance. However, Krang is actually a disembodied brain and has a completely different personality and backstory.

Mirage Comics

Unhappy Utroms

The Utroms were stranded on Earth and interacted with humans through a front company, T.C.R.I. (Techno-Cosmic Research Institute). They are responsible for creating and losing the canister of mutagen that transformed Splinter and the Turtles. When the stranded Utroms were finally able to communicate with their homeworld, they were ordered to stay and study the people of Earth. Eventually, they were forced to leave Earth by teleporting themselves to another world. Later, the Utroms returned to establish a base on Earth and open official relations with humanity and with other alien cultures (in Volume 4 of the comic).

Initially portrayed as a uniformly peace-loving race, more recent comic books have shown several elements of their culture, some unsavory.

• Utrom Preservi: Described as a secret and illegal society of Utrom memory preservers, they steal the bodies of dead Utroms and extract their memories for archival. They appear in Tales of the TMNT vol. 2.

• Utromi Obscura Secreti: A black-ops group on the payroll of the Utrom government, carrying out jobs it does not want made public. Little is known about the group, although it has been confirmed that they were responsible for covering up the existence of the original Utrom homeworld, Magonia. It is also speculated by other races that they secretly work to prevent other races from developing teleportation technology.

• The Illuminated: A group of rogue and fanatical Utroms who believe that peace through the galaxy can only be achieved through the total annihilation of violent species. To that purpose, they kidnapped Leatherhead with the intention of using him as a template for a clone army. They were stopped thanks to the efforts of the turtles and Emissary Rikby.

It has also been revealed that the Utrom were responsible for the extinction of the J'Gel, a race of shape-shifting aliens, which, thanks to the Utroms, had spread through the galaxy, consuming entire planets.

Image Comics

When the T.C.R.I. building had self-destructed, one of the Utroms, Dr. X, did not make it to the Transmat Device in time and was left behind in the wreckage of the building. Leatherhead found Dr. X and looked after him in the following years. Dr. X met Leonardo and Michaelangelo prior to the testing of Leatherhead's second Transmat Device that led to a second Triceraton invasion (TMNT Vol. 3, #19). Dr. X presumably helped Leatherhead construct his two Transmat devices, though was not seen when Leatherhead recruited members of the Foot and the turtles to finish up the first Transmat Device he created (TMNT Vol. 1, #45), (TMNT Vol. 3, #19). Dr. X, with Donatello's help, constructed an android exoskeleton for himself (TMNT Vol. 3, #23).

1987 Series

Utroms were not present in the 1987 cartoon series. Krang is based on them in appearance, but he is really just a disembodied brain. However in one of the episodes Four Musketurtles, members of Krang's species appeared in a flashback looking just like him without the body, using bubble-walkers like his own to move. However when he cloned himself in Invasion of the Krangazoids, his clones, though initially brain-creatures like himself, continued developing until they had complete bodies, leading to the thought that Krang's true form is a large reptilian creature. Some consider this to be one of multiple mistakes within the series. If the clones' reptilian mutation were a mistake and not his true body, it could be that the brain-like Utrom form is Krang's real body and that he was lying about having a real body to get Shredder to build him an exo-suit.

In the 2003 series, when the Utroms were leaving Earth, one of the Utroms called another one who was whining "Krang", as a reference to the 1987 series' character.

2003 Series

One thousand years ago, an Utrom ship was transporting the dangerous Utrom criminal Ch'rell. Unfortunately Ch'rell escaped and sabotaged the ship, causing it to crash on Earth. Landing near feudal Japan, the ship was damaged beyond repair and in the confusion Ch'rell escaped on Earth.

Unable to repair their ship, the Utroms decided to take advantage of their long lifespans (which allowed them to live for centuries, even millennia, of human time) and hide and peacefully wait for Humanity to advance and develop the technology they needed to go back home. In order To hide among the Humans, they developed human-shaped exosuits and revealed themselves to a select few trustworthy humans who they named their Guardians. However, one exosuit was captured by Ch'rell. Centuries later, Hamato Yoshi, Splinter’s master, would become an Utrom guardian. Ch'rell now "The Shredder" hunted him down and killed him in an attempt to find the Utroms location.

In the present day, the Utroms operate through T.C.R.I. . Though the company's official business is never revealed, unofficially it serves as a place to hide their advanced technology, such as the Transmat (a teleporter that can reach across the galaxy) and the Oracle Pod (a virtual reality chamber that replays historical records). T.C.R.I. is also responsible for the mutagen that transformed the Turtles, Splinter, and Leatherhead which was the fuel for their Transmat.

The Utroms later return to help the Turtles in their battle against The Utrom Shredder. Thirty seconds before the The Shredder's ship blew up, they put the ship in a stasis field and used the Transmat to transport everyone out. On their homeworld, The Utrom Shredder--now identified as the Utrom Ch'rell--stood trial and was sent to exile on an icy asteroid prison, Mor Gal Tal.

In the dystopian future seen in Same As It Never Was, amongst The Utrom Shredder's soldiers are enslaved, and apparently somewhat zombified utroms. Some of these zombie Utroms are fitted into giant, winged, mechanic-like exo-suits, and are known as Utrominators.

Fast Forward

Some time in the future the Utroms have joined the Pan Galactic Alliance and live as middle-class people on Earth

2012 Series

A group of Kraang

While the Utroms aren't present in the new 2012 cartoon series, a new evil race called the Kraang are shown that are an amalgam of both the Utroms and Krang.

Video Games

Utrom are a basic enemy in many levels of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles 2: Battle Nexus. They appear both on hover discs, and in their exo-suits. Slashuur, a Utrom bounty hunter, appears as a reoccurring boss, and later, unlock-able character.

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Smash-Up includes an Utrominator amongst its selectable roster. This Utronimator's exo-suit is similar to the one seen in Same As It Never Was, with small differences such as a lack of wings. The Utrom in the exo-suit is also pink, unlike the "Same As It Never Was" version, which is an "unhealthy" pale color. The Utrominator in Smash-Up still retains its back-story of being an Utrom controlled by The Shredder

Notable Utroms

Mirage/Image Comics

• Bergla
• Bixolio
• Brother Ildak
• Bydex: An Utrom appearing in in the issue Soul Survivor.
• Emissary Rikby: The Utrom driving the TCRI truck which carried the ooze that mutated the turtles and Splinter. Wishing to see his “children”, whom he felt responsible for, he recruited the turtles to save Leatherhead, who had been kidnapped by The Illuminated. In order to save the mutants, he implanted a bomb into himself, which he used to destroy the Illuminated’s base.
• Dooric
• Dr. Klynor
• Dr. Xeinos: A female Utrom scientist which first appeared in the non-canon (by Mirage standards) Volume 3 of the series. She was left behind on Earth after the Utroms left to their homeplanet, and found and befriended Leatherhead who nursed him back to health. She also played chess with Splinter. Dr. X later began making appearances in Tales of the TMNT vol. 2, where she is often seeing accompanying Leatherhead. In the short story Threads, he was revealed to be the one who Leatherhead in the sewer when he was still a normal alligator.
• Glakon
• Captain Glonar
• Korobon: Korobon is an Utrom who declared himself ambassador to Earth from the Utrom Confederation. He addressed the U.N. on live television and explained what the Utroms had planned to do on Earth. He appeared in Volume 4 of the comic.
• Kuroda:
• Glurin: Glurin is a young Utrom scientist who was stationed on their Earth base. When April O'Neil was infected by nanobots placed in her body by Dr. Baxter Stockman, he came up with the idea of using other nanobots to combat them. He designed the new nanobots after the Turtles and called them the nanoturtlebots. He appeared in Volume 4 of the comic.
• Glookerc
• Glyminal
• Navigator Thurak
• Sister Grum
• Professor Obligado: Obligado was a brilliant Utrom scientist whose life and death is shown in the back pages of the new Tales of the TMNT vol. 2.
• Dr. Oolric:
• Klag: Klag is an Utrom who helped Michelangelo in Michelangelo: The Third Kind mini-series. During the first contact with the Utroms he helps the prevent the escalation of violence within xenophobic hate groups through fighting them alongside Michelangelo and eventually using Utrom technology to kidnap and impersonate their leader and deliver an anti-hate speech.
• Sargeant Xitor: An Utrom who serves as a police officer on Earth, under the guise of a female human. In her appearances, she unsuccessfully tries to prevent the Utrom Preservi from taking the late Professor Obligado's memories.
• Security Officer Yat: An Utrom from the story Terror by Transmat!.
• Science Advisor Shuthan
• Takis
• Talgin
• Vaschin:
• Yrga

2003 Cartoon

• Mortu: Mortu was the captain of the Utrom ship that crashed on Earth. After the crash, he remained the field-leader of the marooned Utroms, and worked as their liaison to the Humans. In the modern day, this makes him CEO of the front company TCRI. His name is "Utrom" backwards.

• Council of Three: These three otherwise unnamed Utroms are the highest leaders of the Utroms on Earth. Although it is not explicitly stated, it is strongly implied that these are the same brain-navigators that Captain Mortu took orders from one thousand years ago aboard their ill-fated star ship.

• Ch’rell: The most ruthless criminal the universe has known. Ch'rell dreams of galactic domination, and wants vengeance against the Utroms for imprisoning him and denying him his dreams by building an army and attacking their homeworld. This is the true identity of The Utrom Shredder in the 2003 TV series. Prior to his arrival on Earth, he was responsible for the deaths of millions of people in his attempts at universal domination.

• Krang: A Utrom by the same name as the villain from the 1987 cartoon makes a brief cameo appearance in the episode Secret Origins, Part 2. He mentions how he hates walking on his tentacles.

• Abraham Lincoln: The 16th president of the United States is seen to secretly be an Utrom in an interstitial.

• Utrom High Council: The Utrom High Council is a collective body on the Utrom homeworld who appear to be the governing body of the planet. The judgements of Utrom criminals such as Ch'rell are carried out on the Utrom homeworld by the Utrom High Council. Not much is known, but they are responsible for the Utrom Shredder's banishment to a frozen asteroid.

• Utrominators: The Utrominator exo-suit is what was given to the Utroms when Ch'rell enslaved them in "Same as it Never Was".

2003 Video Game Series

• Slashuur: Originally, the Turtles fought this samurai-esque warrior, as he is a bounty hunter, and was hired to attack them. However, after a couple of encounters, the Turtles learn that he is actually an Utrom whose family was attacked and killed by The Shredder/Ch'rell. He then assists the Turtles in attacking The Kuraiyama. His name is reminiscent of The Shredder's, with the two "u's" possible to emulate the double "d" in The Shredder's name. He appeared only in the video game TMNT 2: Battle Nexus.

IDW Comics

• General Krang
• Quanin: Krang's father