The 1980s were filled with the biggest cartoon franchises of all time. Many of them are still getting love today, and a lot of that is down to having some amazing villains. The Shredder, or Oroku Saki, has been the primary villain of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles for nearly forty years. He's known for leading the Foot Clan, a collection of ninja that does everything from drug running to assassinations.
What makes the Shredder stand out so well aside from his awesome costume, is that he's already an established threat tied deeply to the heroes from the introduction. The character is either responsible for killing Splinter's master or killing Splinter himself, which usually sends the TMNT on a mission of vengeance against him and his massive empire, the Foot.
10 Was Killed In His Very First Appearance
When people think of Shredder, they think of a character that has persisted through every major appearance of the Turtles in mass media. Which is why it's surprising to learn the original comic killed the character in the very first issue.
The Turtles were actually assigned to kill Shredder by their father Splinter, who wanted justice for his master’s life being taken. And so, in a blood-soaked first issue, they managed to defeat Shredder, even managing to outsmart him in the end when he tried to take them out with a thermite grenade by knocking it back at him.
9 The Foot Created Shredder Clones
The Mirage comic books got rid of Shredder in the first issue, but that didn’t mean Shredder was gone for good. The Foot Clan wanted revenge for their master being killed, and so they would send a new Shredder after them.
This would come from the Foot Clan’s magicians creating a clone made up of a worm colony. This new version of Shredder would continue to hunt the Turtles for a time before eventually meeting his end as well.
8 Rise Of The TMNT's Shredder Played Splinter In The 2012 Show
The Shredder has had no shortage of high-level voice talent responsible for bringing him to life in his many incarnations. After all, it takes a talented actor to strike the right balance of terrifying without becoming too hammy. The original Shredder from the 1987 series was voiced by James Avery, while the 2003 version was voiced by Scottie Ray.
The 2012 series was voiced by Kevin Michael Richardson, who’s also voiced Trigon in Teen Titans and Martian Manhunter in Young Justice. Most recently, Oroku Saki was voiced by Hoon Lee, who actually voiced Splinter in the 2012 show.
7 Kevin Nash Played Super Shredder In The Films
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles II is a film that can only be described as a product of too much '90s influence. There are dance routines and product placements, but the center of it is the Turtles discovering who was responsible for the ooze that turned them into Turtles, to begin with.
Though much of the film is about keeping the remaining ooze from Shredder, in the end not only is the character exposed to it, but they transform into a giant Super Shredder. This massive version of the character is played by Kevin Nash, former WWF/WCW wrestler and leader of the NWO.
6 The 2003 Shredder Was An Utrom
In 2003, the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles cartoon went in a different direction with their Shredder. Rather than tie him directly to Hamato Yoshi, the character is instead an Utrom, an alien from another planet.
The Utrom are normally peaceful, but Hamato Yoshi was a monstrous war criminal, who took advantage of Utrom tech to travel the galaxy conquering and destroying planets as he saw fit. As a long-lived alien, he spent centuries terrorizing planets before finally coming to Earth and meeting his match in the Turtles.
5 The IDW Shredder Killed Splinter & The Turtles
The IDW comics took Shredder’s origin in a different direction than what fans might have been used to from the cartoons and films. Normally Shredder gets his revenge on Hamato Yoshi for his relationship with Tang Shen.
The IDW comics saw a Yoshi from hundreds of years in the past have a happy family with Tang Shen and his four sons... but Shredder kills all of them for questioning his rule as leader of the Foot Clan. All of them would eventually reincarnate as Splinter and the Turtles, reigniting a feud between them from hundreds of years ago.
4 Shredder Has Succeeded In Bringing Leo To His Side Before
In multiple series, the Shredder stands a chance at bringing Leonardo over to his side, at least temporarily. In the 2003 series, as Oroku Saki, he manages to convince Leo that the Foot Clan existed to stop a great evil.
His goal was not only to re-attain his weapon the Sword of Tengu, but to get the Turtles onto his side. The IDW comics also had Leo brainwashed into joining the Foot Clan, something that fortunately didn’t last for a very long time.
3 Was Revived In The TMNT IDW Comics
In the IDW Comics, Splinter challenges Oroku Saki to a Foot Clan ritual known as the gauntlet, where the two sides would pick their best fighters to go against one another and finally settle their grudge. Oroku Saki was defeated, but even going to the afterlife didn’t finish him off.
In the midst of a war across New York City, Oroku Saki was revived thanks to the machinations of his wife Kitsune, who also happened to be a divine animal from a group known as the Pantheon. With his revival, much of his hatred and anger has been put aside, with the hope that he’ll eventually be able to turn a new leaf.
2 Many Others Have Tried To Be Shredder
With Shredder often being defeated by the Turtles, someone is required to take over the Foot Clan. In the original comic series, Raphael takes to wearing outfits that make him look like the Shredder, and for a time, he runs a faction of the Foot Clan.
More often, Oroku Saki’s daughter, Karai, takes the role instead, settling the infighting between the different factions of the Foot. This is Karai's fate both in the original Mirage comics as well as the current IDW comics, and was also something she handled in the TMNT 2003 series.
1 Nearly Destroyed All Of Creation
The 2003 version of the Shredder was a particularly monstrous character. After being recovered from exile by his 1987 version in Turtles Forever, Ch’rell had plans on conquering his realm again. But when he realized he would be able to conquer a multiverse if he could get rid of the Turtles, he went straight to the Prime Turtle universe to wipe out all the Ninja Turtles.
There was just one problem: it would have wiped out everyone else as well. Ch’rell’s hatred of the Turtles was such that he was willing to risk it, which is why even the 1987 Turtles were willing to team up with their Shredder and the 2003 Turtles to take him down.