How long do you think Shredder will last in IDW's continuity?
 

So as we know, the Turtles didn't kill the Shredder when they battled him in #12, allowing him to be a recurring villain for future arcs.

Whereas Mirage killed him off in his debut, the cartoons and Archie kept Shredder throughout pretty much their entire run, and I am sure the Nick cartoon will do the same. Heck the last Archie story ever published focused on Shredder (Year of the Turtle), as well as the one we didn't get, (The Forever War, which still focused on Shredder).

Shredder lasted throughout the entire runs of both cartoons, (Shredder was in Season 10, Ch'rell was in Turtles Forever), and as I said, I am willing to bet he will be around forever in the Nick show as well.

What about IDW's Shredder? Will he eventually be killed off? Or do you think they'll keep him as long as possible? Or better yet, will Shredder be a mantle that is passed from character to character, much in the same way we've seen Karai, Raphael, Ch'rell, Viral, etc. take over the Shredder mantle in various continuities.

I'd like to believe there'd be a shocker at some point 20-30 issues from now where Oroku Saki is definitively killed on-page but realistically they probably have no plans on removing him entirely.

Could be wrong.

Since Shredder in IDW is the same Oroku Saki from Hamato Yoshi's time and are fully ressurected, not reincarnated apparently. I do not think the Shredder persona will be an mantle in the IDW-verse.

I hope he dies as soon as possible, I don't want him to be a recurring villain like in the old toon. He is starting to bore me already actually. But I know it, this comics will finally turn into the old toon and we will have Bebop and Rocksteady and Shredder and Krang will become allies. Or maybe it is just a nightmare of mine. Prove me wrong, IDW!

I have no doubt he'll die/disappear & return. More than once. It's cool, I've come to expect that. I do like the mantle thing though, they could give that a whirl.

I think he'll die at the end of year 3, so 36 issues in. Gives him a good run and allowed IDW time to build up secondary villains that could realistically be as opposing a threat as Shredder.

That said, we still have a lot to explore with Krang. If Krang and Shredder en up working together at the end of year 2 or beginning of year 3, then Shredder might be around a little longer.

i hope he gets killed off by splinter/turtles at some point. it doesnt have to be soon persay, but i would say within the next 12-15 issues. i love and respect the character, thus i feel he should die a warriors death. sure at some point, i wouldnt mind the shredder clone(s) to make a short seires appearance. maybe even a son of his that maybe is currently unknown to exist will take the helm. dont know really, but what i do know is that i dont want his character to be watered down into nothing that goes on and on and on. and by no means do i ever want to see Ch'rell rehashed.

As far as I'm concerned, Shredder should be TMNT's Joker -- he may only appear in the books once a year or so but he is an important and iconic villain and should not die off for good unless the series itself has planned ending that transpires at some point as well.

Shredder is deeply woven into the plot, moreso in the IDW series than probably any other incarnation of the story. The ties between him and Splinter go back farther. If he died, especially so early in the series, it feels like there is no greater confrontation that could happen beyond that where the drama and gravitas would be higher. Would be a waste. So yeah, I think he won't disappear for good. Besides, with reincarnation being such a central factor now, he can never TRULY be gone.

How many times have villains like X-Men's Apocalypse come back? It is to be expected.

Excactly. My limited interest in the black and white comics is rooted in the fact the main villain is dead after three appearances. Shredder has to be reoccuring and that is what makes him great.He should not be overused nor just appear a few times. If he was killed then it would feel like what is the point of keep going? With the main villain defeated with no return to keep the story going just seems pointless.

i definitely agree with this. i don't think they can completely remove the shredder. and if they do go the route of handing the mantle down generations... it won't last long. having read so much DC comics... i've come to accept that some mantles are just too great to pass on (right Bruce? Hal? Barry?). hell... even Marvel does it! i get it... there's a difference between villain and hero. not really... imagine magneto or joker being killed off and replaced.

my point is that if the mantle is indeed passed on... then the successor has very big armor-plated boots to fill... 30 years worth.

I don't believe the TMNT need their own Joker... they aren't superheroes and aren't vigilantes. I don't like to see them getting saddled with, like, every comic book superhero trope, even ones that shouldn't apply to them.

IDW have a bit of a superhero comic vibe, i wouldn't mind a slight street level ala Daredevil hero antics from the turtles, as long as it's not motivated by the need of being a hero and making a difference. Bad guys are easy target practice and no one would miss them.

And. I kinda want to see a capable, well fleshed out Shredder stay alive in the IDW series. As long as he is not overused, all good villains need a rest

I would like to see more charactization on the shredder instead of the 'big bad mean guy who wants to take over the world' that we normally get.

I'm glad they are keeping him around, but I'm going to hold off until the mini-series and possible micros to decide if this was a good thing in the long run

Yeah, I think by and large, most people that is aware or knows anything about TMNT, Shredder already is what Joker is to Batman. I really don't care if he was intended or not intended to be the Darth Vader of the TMNT universe, but that's indeed the general perception, and has been for years.

Which, to me, is anything but a detriment to the franchise. Being that TMNT was essentially something of a parody of Daredevil, I have no qualms with Shredder being the Kingpin/Bullseye equivalent, and honestly never have.

That's why in Mirage it didn't matter. Shredder was dead but his shadow cast on the rest of the series with Karai/The Foot being recurring characters.

Just look at City at War, Volume 2, Image and even Volume 4...the Turtles were never full free under Shredder's shadow.

Since IDW comics are not going to be aimed at the core Nickelodeon audience and comes at a point where lots of secondary villains have been created, I'd say Shredder will last as long as new issues are being created. You'll probably see Shredder escape and get away more often than in previous comics, and I wouldn't expect him to die given that villains in decades-old comic book franchises never disappear just so they can please new generations of readers. If Shredder is a mantle, I prefer it to be a family thing rather than using Utroms, so that all Shredders are Orokus, or better yet, Oroku Saki II, III, etc.

i think what he meant is that shredder is the main antagonist. not saying that the Turtles have to be heroes or vigilantes. the joker is the most well-recognized villain of batman. as is the shredder to the turtles. i think that's what Zulithe meant. but ask a kid who's the bad guy in tmnt (if they know of them)... they'd say shredder. in that way... he is the tmnt's joker.

but i see what you mean with your last statement. they're ninja mutants... they shouldn't feel any obligations toward humans... unless they happen to come across a situation.

I dunno about Shredder, but I would like to see Krang get killed eventually. I think it'd be cool if Shredder was the one who did him in.

For some reason I think Krang's fate will be similar to what happened to him in the Archie series.

He'll be banished to some sort of wasteland planet without any body and forced to survive there on his own. Very similar to Ch'rell being banished in 4kids finale too.

I guess people really like the idea of banishing evil brains to random asteroids/planets rather than actually killing them.

You know what they say, a mind is a terrible thing to waste.

Casey Jones' father will assume the mantle of the Shredder.

I'm down with this. Being rivals, I like the idea of one doing the other in. And Krang can't kill the Shredder cause he's already spoken for.

Well if we're speculating...

TMNT defeat Shredder, leave him lying there. Then Karai comes out of a shadow and finishes him off and takes the armor.

Alternatively, Splinter kills him. Then the TMNT deal with the fallout of agreeing/not agreeing with him doing so.

Mirage killing off a character like Shredder, and keeping him dead was a very unique stance in the world of comicdom. Even with his legacy never fully going away, it was certainly contrary of what a reader has come to expect from long running titles.

Don't really see the IDW continuity retreading this concept, though if they did, it would be surprising.

I wonder if they'll form an alliance at some point to echo the OT, only to backstab one another in the future (something they toyed with in the OT, but never seriously). Not that I want this series to parallel the OT at all really... :tconfuse: A literal backstab (brainstab?) would be preferable, and suit the IDW tone.

Haha, I agree.

In the old show Shredder and Krang always talked about betraying or turning against each other, but it never actually happened. Probably because the writers treated them as an old married couple.

My friends and I would always debate who would get to keep the kids (Bebop & Rocksteady) after the divorce...

It's a classic sitcom formula:

Krang = Nagging wife
Shredder = Dumb husband
Bebop and Rocksteady = Idiot kids

This was addressed in the Return of the Shredder episodes- Krang kept the kids and the house (Technodrome) in Dimension X and Shredder had to move into a rundown apartment and take on a roommate (Baxter)

Shredder will not die until the last issue of the series. Only in Mirrage they killed him . In 1987 cartoon and Archie comics he didnt die and in the 4kids cartoon he died in TMNT Forever. Dont worry they will not kill him! No one wants him to die! The fans will be very angry if something like this happens.

Not sure if "fans will be very angry" if he dies. Some fans would be, but not all.

I'm not worried about him being killed off. I think I'd actually prefer it. The legacy of the Shredder is more threatening then the actual man.

No, no, you're wrong. Baxter speaks for every fan when he posts.

:roll:

Im with many other dromers on here and would like to see the Shredder as a "Mantle" I think that would be pretty interesting take on the foot

That is one thing that I loved about Mirage. They had the gumption to kill of Shredder and let the Foot be in the background always. It wasn't scheme after scheme failing. I don't want to see IDW Shredder fall into that stereotype either. I'd rather see him get killed off and then the Foot try to get revenge. Heck they could even try to resurrect him from time to time.

Agreed. And in my head I've not been convinced that Oroku Saki himself was ever the guy that actually "Created" the Shredder at all... but rather a mantle that even he himself accepted at some point.

I wish Mirage explored that a bit. A "Tales of the Shredder" exploring previous Shredders -- including Saki -- would have been awesome.

Sounds like another Andrew issue needs to be put into the works ;-) I'd read the issue about the mantle of the Shredder.

Indeed, the legacy/mantle of the Shredder is far more important than just the man Oroku Saki.

And, yes, Andrew. if that was ever a thing, I'd love to read it...or even help with it.

To the punch I've been beaten. This. ;)

I'd even be willing to help in some way if he would have me. Heck if he doesn't do it maybe some of us others should. But Andrew's stuff is top notch and I think he would do an amazing issue.