Splinter (TMNT)

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Splinter (a.k.a. Master Splinter) is the master and father figure of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. In all versions of the story, he is a mutant rat, but his origins often vary depending on the version.

In the original comic (as well as the movies and 2003 animated series), Splinter was the pet rat of a ninja named Hamato Yoshi. Exceptionally intelligent for his species, Splinter was able to learn his master's art by mimicking his movements while he practiced.

Yoshi eventually was embroiled in a dispute with a fellow ninja by the name of Oruku Nagi over the love of a woman named Tang Shen. When the woman favored Yoshi, Nagi grew angry and beat her. Yoshi came across them, and slew Nagi in his rage.

The pair escaped to New York City, but were tracked down and slain by Nagi's younger brother, Saki, who had become The Shredder.

Without a home, Splinter eventually came to live in the city's sewers. One day, he saw a canister of chemicals go flying from a truck. The canister struck a boy in the face after he saved a blind man from being hit by the truck (a reference to the superhero Daredevil), and then struck and shattered a bowl full of four baby turtles carried by a young boy. The now broken canister and turtles fell into the sewers, where Splinter rescued them, also exposing himself to the ooze that had covered the turtles.

In time, the ooze mutated both Splinter and the turtles, increasing their size and intelligence, and making them more humanoid. Eventually, Splinter named the four turtles Leonardo, Raphael, Michelangelo, and Donatello (after his favorite Renaissance artists) and raised them as his own sons, but also training them in the arts of ninjutsu, so that they may one day avenge the death of Hamato Yoshi and slay the Shredder, who had amassed a powerful organization in the New York underworld.

After his long life, Splinter's death was shown issue 10 of Volume 4 of the Mirage comic. His funeral followed in issue 11. Splinter's death was not in battle or the result of murder; it came when he was alone. The cause of his death was never revealed, but he clutches his chest, suggesting a possible heart attack.

1987 series and Archie comics

Splinter as he appeared in the 1987 cartoon.

In the 1987 TMNT cartoon, Splinter was changed to be Yoshi himself, and was framed by his rival, Oroku Saki (who would eventually turn into his future arch-enemy, the Shredder), for trying to murder their common dojo master. Being unable to prove his innocence, he ran away to New York, where he lived as a hermit in its sewers and befriended the rats.

One day, Hamato Yoshi came across four baby turtles which were accidentally dropped by a boy through a grate of the sewers. He kept them as pets and treated them like his children. But later, he found the turtles venturing near broken barrels that were oozing glowing green chemical liquid. As he tried to recover them from danger and attempted to clean them with his bare hands, they were all affected by the chemical which was a special mutagen. This mutagen transformed any living being into a mutant whose body became mixed with the DNA of any other living being it was last in contact with. The turtles, being touched by Yoshi Hamato, turned into young anthropomorphic humanoid turtles. Hamato himself, having lived in rat-infested sewers for so long, turned into an anthropomorphic humanoid rat.

Since then, Hamato brought the turtles up, and gave them the names of his favorite Renaissance artists: Leonardo, Donatello, Raphael and Michelangelo, who were to be distinguished by their personality and headband color. He also taught them the art of ninjutsu in order to protect themselves and help to confront Shredder and his hordes from the Foot Clan.

Hamato was given the nickname of "Splinter" by his adoptive sons, due to the way he easily splinters his enemies. (In the cartoon, the nickname comes from his proficiency at breaking wooden boards)

In the 1987 animated series, he is portrayed as a light brown-grey rat in a pink kimono, wearing white bands on his feet.

Splinter in the Archie Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Adventures comics is the same Splinter as in the 1987 TMNT cartoon, because the first issues of the Archie comics follow the cartoon.

Movie

Splinter's origins in the movie mirrors the comic, although Nagi, whose death led to Saki turning evil, is mostly removed from the story, and Yoshi's conflict is with Saki himself. Instead of fleeing from the murder of a clan member, Tang Shen persuades Yoshi to flee to America to avoid fighting Saki for her hand in marriage, which would have presumably been a fight to the death. Saki vowed vengeance and spent years searching for them. When Saki kills Yoshi and his wife in their New York apartment Splinter tries to protect them, leaving scars on the Saki's face. He severs Splinter's ear in retaliation.

In this version Splinter does not train the Turtles with the direct intent of vengeance against Saki, but rather as a way of honoring his former master.

2003 series

Again, the newest series draws heavily on the comic, But also adding a wealth of original features as well.

Splinter started his life as an ordinary rat in Japan who found his way into a home owned by the Ancient One. When he was discovered, his life was spared by Tang Shen, the Ancient One's adopted daughter, who took him as a pet. As in previous versions, Tang Shen became tragically caught up between Hamato Yoshi and a jealous rival, this time Yukio Mashimi, a childhood friend of Yoshi's. The two of them eventually joined the Utroms and became Guardians. But Mashimi's jealousy of Yoshi, both for his advancement as a Guardian, and the love of Tang Shen, led him to murder Shen and betray the Utroms to the Shredder. Yoshi killed Mashimi in revenge and went to America with the Utroms, taking Tang Shen's pet with him, and giving him the name Splinter. Later, Yoshi would be tracked down and killed by Shredder, who tried to force him to reveal the Utrom's location. In this continuity, it was Hun that Splinter scratched as his master Yoshi was attacked, and not the Shredder.

In the 2003 animated series, he is portrayed as a dark gray rat in monks robes. He is also referred to during the Battle Nexus story arc as 'Hamato Splinter', indicating that in this series, Hamato was the surname, not the given name, of Splinter's master. Splinter also had an opponent in the Battle Nexus named Drako, who would prove to be a dangerous adversary of the Turtles.