Shredder's henchmen, who was the most successful?

[The Great Saiyaman]

Chris Bradford (AKA: Dogpound and later on Rahzar)


Xever Montes (AKA Fishface)


Baxter Stockman


Tiger claw


Ivan Sterenko (Rocksteady)


Anton Zeck (Bebop)


And Hamato Miwa (Karai)

While it's easy to dismiss them all as incompetent, (As Shredder himself has done several times) we should take in mind that each of them has a lot going for them.

Bradford
- Recruited foot soldiers through his chain of Dojos and most likely also was a big part into financing the Foot Clan and legitimizing their activities.
- But he was also involved in extortion activities.
- As a human, was perfectly capable of taking on the turtles and defeating them.

Xever
- Was pretty much Shredder's foot in the door (Pun intended) to the dark underbelly of the New York street gangs and actually remained so after his mutation.
- As with Bradford, Xever fought the Turtles before mutating and proved himself pretty much a not to be underestimated warrior.
- Xever was used by Shredder to commit arson and god knows what else to send over the message that the Foot Clan weren't to be trifled with.

Stockman
- Refined the mutagen and the mutation process.
- Invented the brainworms.
- Isn't much of a fighter but his genius in robotics coupled with the Droids supplied by the Kraang was instrumental into making the Foot Clan a bigger threat.

Tiger Claw
- Again extortion activities and Tiger Claw isn't one who takes prisoners.
- Of all the fighters Tiger Claw is by far the most skilled and dangerous.
- Tiger Claw brought back Shredder from the dead using demonic magic.

Sterenko
- Supplies the Foot with weapons and as was hinted in several episodes, continues to do so after his mutation.
- Again even before his mutation, Sterenko was a perfectly capable fighter "Serpent Hunt" shows him taking on Donnie and Raph and giving them a pretty good beat down.
- As Rocksteady, he's easily physically the strongest of all Shredder's henchmen.

Zeck
- And once again, a very capable fighter.
- Inventing tech which enables him to ride laser beams, turn himself invisible and throw lasers from his Mohawk. He certainly is NOT the Bebop of yore, who would get lost in a telephone box.

Karai
- While not the strongest of the fighters but without a doubt the most sophisticated, her moves are flawless and lavish.
- Has a sharp eye, can figure out opponents in seconds and always has an ace up her sleeve.
- Has a sense of honor.
- She was the one who brokered the deal with the Kraang over the Footbots and the Chromedomes which increased the Foot's capabilities.

Okay then feel free to discuss.

[FredWolfLeonardo]

I'd say that the most dangerous in order are:

1. Tiger Claw

2. Bebop and Rocksteady

3. Razhar and Fishface

4. Karai

5. Baxter Stockman

Counting each henchman of a duo seperately would make things a little more difficult to judge. For example, we have seen 2012 Karai beat Rocksteady singlehandedly before (when Shredder injected her with the brain-worm)

That didn't seem to be the case in "The Foot Walks Again" where 2012 Rocksteady (along with Bebop) was powerful enough to hold his own against the 2012 turtles, 80s turtles, human Foot Soldiers, Karai Shinigami, April and Casey Jones. Albeit, they had the help of 80s Foot Soldiers and Shredder, but those two were not the most competent despite definetly helping in the battle, so you can attribute a good amount of credit to just the duo.

[newfan]

Depends how the writers want it to go, when they want the characters to be good they are, otherwise they can team up and all be bad.. For some reason, B&R were made to be extra strong in the crossover and the TMNT did point out that they'd gotten stronger. Damn that means would be it B&R.... Othewise ignoring that arc I'd have said TC, the other henchmen were all scared of him too, except Karai (when she was with them) but she couldn't beat him.
Also, besides the ep where Shredder was Super Shredder and had taken more mutagen I didn't see TC cower around him before that one scene either.

Bradford was dead by the end.... In End Times, TC was the only one to stay and fight, then declared a truce and left.... and actually, though Karai wasn't the best fighter... she did get the foot in the end so she can have some points for that.
Over all TC I suppose.

[CyberCubed]

I suppose Tiger Claw? He's also still off on his own now after the show ended.

[victory_angel]

Tiger Claw and Fishface are the only ones who could potentially remain an enemy. Rocksteady & Bebop are sort of villains in their arc in season five, but they decide to give being good guys a chance.


Tiger Claw attempts to bring back the Shredder only to find out that Kavaxus was a creature that was too dangerous to control. Then it's mentioned that he swore a truce and left.

And Fishface is still living a life of crime, he only helps the Turtles & Co that one time, because he felt everything going on, was too crazy even for him. So he just tells them he's leaving so he could go commit his crimes elsewhere.

Either of these two could still have come back as enemies such as Tiger Claw trying to wrest the Foot Clan from Karai and leading it the way Shredder would have since he was appointed the Shredder's second hand. And Fishface could still also try to carve out a criminal empire, after all, he was taking in all those Mutation Orphans under the moniker Mister X.

[Original TMNT Cartoon Fan]

Is Nickelodeon Rocksteady named Ivan Steranko (as) or Ivan Sterenko (as Turtlepedia mentions)

[The Great Saiyaman]

Originally Posted by victory_angel

Tiger Claw and Fishface are the only ones who could potentially remain an enemy. Rocksteady & Bebop are sort of villains in their arc in season five, but they decide to give being good guys a chance.


Tiger Claw attempts to bring back the Shredder only to find out that Kavaxus was a creature that was too dangerous to control. Then it's mentioned that he swore a truce and left.

And Fishface is still living a life of crime, he only helps the Turtles & Co that one time, because he felt everything going on, was too crazy even for him. So he just tells them he's leaving so he could go commit his crimes elsewhere.

Either of these two could still have come back as enemies such as Tiger Claw trying to wrest the Foot Clan from Karai and leading it the way Shredder would have since he was appointed the Shredder's second hand. And Fishface could still also try to carve out a criminal empire, after all, he was taking in all those Mutation Orphans under the moniker Mister X.

You forgot that Baxter Stockman is also still around, having de-mutated back into a human.

He STILL has that lab at his disposal and god knows how much Kraang tech. He could still pose a threat, if he hooks up with a benefactor, he could work with Tiger Claw again since working for the Foot gives him access to a wide array of resources.

In my comic "Karai versus Karai" I had Stockman working together with the Purple dragons, who Stockman had provided battle suits to. Which is another probable scenario Stockman could follow.

(But even with Battle suits, the Purple Dragons still are the Purple Dragons...)

[victory_angel]

Originally Posted by The Great Saiyaman

You forgot that Baxter Stockman is also still around, having de-mutated back into a human.

He STILL has that lab at his disposal and god knows how much Kraang tech. He could still pose a threat, if he hooks up with a benefactor, he could work with Tiger Claw again since working for the Foot gives him access to a wide array of resources.

In my comic "Karai versus Karai" I had Stockman working together with the Purple dragons, who Stockman had provided battle suits to. Which is another probable scenario Stockman could follow.

(But even with Battle suits, the Purple Dragons still are the Purple Dragons...)

Yes, Baxter was turned back into a human, but it was never clear if he survived the fire. Mikey demutates him and he proceeds to rant at the Turtles for doing this because his mutation actually made him feel like he was getting some respect for once in his life. Mikey then knocks him out cold and they leave him there.

We never see him in season five so its less apparent that he's still around. Still, as a human, he's dangerous yes, but he's more cowardly and egotistical then threatening.

[newfan]

Just a personal thought I had was that Fish face would kidnap stockman to make a retro mutagen, seen as he wanted to go back to 'romancing the ladies'. (and Stockman doesn't catch a break) So far as survival, I suppose it was open though, Stockman did have time to wake up and get out so maybe he did or didn't. A lot of the tech he had access to would have perished in the fire but who knows what Shredder was storing where.

[The Great Saiyaman]

Originally Posted by newfan

Just a personal thought I had was that Fish face would kidnap stockman to make a retro mutagen, seen as he wanted to go back to 'romancing the ladies'. (and Stockman doesn't catch a break) So far as survival, I suppose it was open though, Stockman did have time to wake up and get out so maybe he did or didn't. A lot of the tech he had access to would have perished in the fire but who knows what Shredder was storing where.

At the moment I'm doing some artworks about Leonardo and Karai's wedding and the sheer mayhem that came with the wedding party. One of the ideas I have is about Fishface walking up to Donnie and going "Can I ask you something ese, you don't happen to have Retro mutagen on you, I want to be a regular hombre once more."

Donnie tells him that he indeed has retro mutagen nearby and that Fishface is free to use it but there's one thing he needs to do before becoming Xever again. But before Donnie has a chance to tell him what that is, Fishface has already splashed himself with the retro mutagen, resulting in a very embarrassing situation for Xever.

[Original TMNT Cartoon Fan]

Tigerclaw, as he would lead the Foot during early season 5.

[The Great Saiyaman]

Originally Posted by victory_angel

Yes, Baxter was turned back into a human, but it was never clear if he survived the fire. Mikey demutates him and he proceeds to rant at the Turtles for doing this because his mutation actually made him feel like he was getting some respect for once in his life. Mikey then knocks him out cold and they leave him there.

We never see him in season five so its less apparent that he's still around. Still, as a human, he's dangerous yes, but he's more cowardly and egotistical then threatening.

Actually, Baxter Stockman makes a cameo in the Monsters and Mutants saga where he's trick or treating, so yeah, he escaped the fire.

[FredWolfLeonardo]

Originally Posted by The Great Saiyaman

Actually, Baxter Stockman makes a cameo in the Monsters and Mutants saga where he's trick or treating, so yeah, he escaped the fire.

I never caught that one. Good find!

[Original TMNT Cartoon Fan]

Nickelodeon Rocksteady, wouldn't hesitate to kill (at least offscreen). Remember when he showed Fred Wolf Krang and Shredder his résumé, showing he fought as a volunteer in the wars in Iraq, Yugoslavia and the Democratic Republic of the Congo before joining the Foot.

[sdp]

TMNT 2012 had plenty of Villain Decay early on, they somehow balanced things and got them back in control around the middle of the run of the show.

Chris Bradford as human was underutilized, such an awesome character, and then Dogpound was awesome too but made into a laughing stock too quickly. They kind of fixed it with Rahzar again only to make him look weak not much later but later on made him menacing again. I wasn't as big of a fan of Rahzar though.

Baxter Stockman was never great, they did make him a little better once he mutated. Which sucks since he's one of my favorite villains in most interpretations. Fishface was cool before mutation and after he suffered the same fate as dogpound quickly but he never got a chance to redeem himself. Tigerclaw was such a badass but even he was a victim to villain decay before giving him back some credibility later on.

Karai was always lame, even her mutation did little for her. Beebop was cool before mutation and ok after, Rocksteady was better mutated and both also suffered from some villain decay but not as much since this was later in the series.

[newfan]

I seem to have missed the updates on this thread for some reason....Stockman was trick or treating?! I totally missed that LOL … wait... why? Ahh, still loved the Candy from his fly days.

[Original TMNT Cartoon Fan]

Originally Posted by sdp

Baxter Stockman was never great, they did make him a little better once he mutated.

Baxter Stockman usually suffers from mutations and mutilations who just feel forced. Keep him Human, and let his inventions will be dangerous for the Ninja Turtles to handle (unlike many other silly mad scientist(s) of the week).

[neatoman]

Hey, guys. I figured out what inspired Tiger Claw.

[FredWolfLeonardo]

Originally Posted by neatoman

Hey, guys. I figured out what inpired Tiger Claw.

I'm actually surprised that Tiger Claw wasn't reduced to a head on a robotic spider by the end

[Voltron]

I would put Karai at the top. I was pretty shocked that Leo would trust her enough to take her to the lair. And I was shocked again when she betrayed them.

I loved the series because the henchmen felt threatening, but I think Karai overtook them all.