Battle of Shredder and his henchmen across canons!

[Aztec General]

The pending end of the Mirage based TMNT canons has inspired me to create a battle of the "baddies". Each of the 4 main TMNT canons has featured the Shredder and each, oddly enough, has provided him with three unique "regular" henchmen. Now it's time for you to pick which fearsome foursome you think is the most menacing!

Mirage Comics TMNT (1984-2010)

Shredder, Mini-Shredder, Shiva Shredder, and Mutant Shredder







The Mirage Comics Shredder was a ruthless ninja gangster. He delved into many illegal activities including gun running, drug smuggling, contract kills, and just plain murder. His henchmen of choice? Three of his elite warriors. Now Shredder's elite are hardcore loyal killing machines; but to make matters worse he used genetically engineered worms to mutate three of his Elite into monstrous versions of himself during the "Return to New York" story arc. The result is three of the baddest and creepiest looking monsters on the planet. (The pics above are from the 2K3 series not the actual comics but they look pretty much the same).

1987 Animated TMNT (1987-1996)

Shredder, Bebop, Rocksteady, and Krang







Everyone's childhood villains are back. Shredder, Krang, Bebop, and Rocksteady! This version of Shredder was mostly concerned with world domination...or finding anything to get the damn Technodrome moving again! Krang essentially played Shredder's annoying, yet significantly smarter, boss. Bebop and Rocksteady were mindless thugs turned mindless thug mutants. They aren't the most vicious of the bunch but they sure are well liked.

TMNT Movieverse (1990-2007)

Shredder, Tatsu, Tokka, and Rahzar







The movieverse Shredder was basically a blackmarket criminal who from time to time, murdered his enemies. He seemed to take particular pleasure in corrupting America's youth in the process. Tatsu was his silent, yet loyal enforcer and field commander. Tokka and Rahzar are two powerful, yet child-like mutants who fight not out of hate but a sort of naive confusion.

2003 Animated TMNT (2003-2009)

Shredder, Hun, Baxter Stockman, and Karai

(Pictures in next post to avoid breaking image rule).

Shredder in the 2K3 series is probably the most evil, ruthless, and threatening Shredder of all the canons. He is hell-bent on interstellar domination, mass murder, every crime you can imagine on earth, and he regularly engages in torture and murder. What is interesting here is that his three henchmen all hate each other; and Stockman hates Shredder himself. Stockman is an ever shrinking (thanks to Shredder's punishments) corrupt scientist, Hun is a brutal thug with dreams of a criminal empire all his own, and Karai is an intensely loyal and highly trained follower of Shredder; even if she has some moral ambiguity at times.

So which team is the most fearsome?

1) Mirage- Shredder, Mini-Shredder, Shiva Shredder, and Mutant Shredder
2) OT- Shredder, Krang, Bebop, and Rocksteady
3) Films- Shredder, Tatsu, Tokka, and Rahzar
4) 2K3- Shredder, Hun, Karai, and Baxter Stockman

[Aztec General]

[Scandia]

It was a tie between the Krang team and the Karai team.

But I went with the Krang one for nostalgia reasons.

[CyberCubed]

If you mean "most menacing," as in which would be the hardest to fight in battle, I'd say the 2k3 ones followed by the movie universe.

Mirage Shredder wasn't as tough as people think, even Casey swiped Shredder with his baseball bat in #10.

The Movie Universe Shredder mopped the floor with all 4 Turtles, and has the Foot and Tatsu on his side.

The 2k3 Shredder was definitely the most overpowered, for simple fact that the suit is a robot and you're not hitting flesh while fighting it. His Foot Clan, Karai, and Hun are also far more formidable than others.

I like the old toon group for nostalgia reasons, but we all know Bebop/Rocksteady are basically punching bags in most episodes.

[MrDizzyDEE]

I prefer the OT goons. They just made it funnier. I do however like the 2K3 bad guys. They were more into killing the turtles.

[Jephael]

Krang and the dim-witted duo all the way, baby!

[nomekop]

I like them all, it's hard to pick the best I would say that most "fearsome" would most likely be all the others but not OT, 'cause those villains are all goofy and stuff... though that's just why I like them so much I think it'd be hardest to battle with 2k3 team because of the mighty Shredder, but movieverse and Mirage teams aren't that bad either...

Maybe I choose 2k3, though they are all good

[shuriken]

Defenitely 2k3 Villains. but here's how I rank them in terms of threats.
4-Mirage Shredder- Yes he was a badass and yes his foot ninjas were arguably the most skilled of any TMNT canons but they do not have the staying power to defeat the TMNT. Shredder himself was beaten in his first battle with the TMNT.
3-OT villains- Shredder, Krang, Rocksteady and Bebop are defenitely driven. They do have a countless army of Footsoldiers and eseentially a giant Tank. Unfortunately they could never get it running.
2-Movieverse- This Shredder was the one that I always remember most. He kicked the TMNT's collective ass until Splinter came along and flung him into a garbage truck. Tatsu was an awesome enforcer and Tokka and Rahzar were so powerful that the TMNT could never really hurt them. If Shredder had made future mutants the TMNT would have been screwed.
1-2K3- The Most overpowered Shredder and the most overpowered supporting cast. Hun was a 400 pound man beast that could sh*t out turds the size of Splinter; Baxter was the man who just would not die; Karai was the most loyal and most morally ambiguous of the bunch and Shredder was virtually indestructable.

[Aztec General]

Some excellent responses so far. I'm a little surprised by the no love for the Mirage Shredder and his Shredder clones. Those guys STILL scare the crap out of me when I read Return to New York.

I went with the 2K3 version myself. I just feel they were the best developed characters, an unlikely team, they were all vicious and evil (aside from Karai's true nature perhaps), and they were a constant threat to the TMNT in one form or another.

The old toon villains were fun in a dumb way, but that has never really appealed to me. I like the villains to actually pose a threat, not just be a weekly annoyance.

The movie Shredder and Tatsu were awesome in the first film. Very intimidating the both of them. Tokka and Rahzar are just plain awful characters though. Then again everything in the second film was just plain awful.

[Cipher]

Some excellent responses so far. I'm a little surprised by the no love for the Mirage Shredder and his Shredder clones. Those guys STILL scare the crap out of me when I read Return to New York.

The problem with Mirage Shredder is that he isn't so much a character as he is a force on the Turtle's lives. He's only there to weigh on them through his death, and provide a motivation for their vengeance and, later, rejection of vengeance. I do, however, like the fact that he's not a cackling, generic evil-doer. And he does make a vaguely entertaining supervillain as a worm clone and shark-mutant.

So, I have to pick several winners. As far as being well-used? Mirage Shredder, for making the story more poignant. As far as being most entertaining? Tie between movie and 1987 Shredder. As far as being an actual threat? Ch'rell.

And a special award for Raph. Because that was really, really badass.

[Aztec General]

Originally Posted by Cipher Classic

1)The problem with Mirage Shredder is that he isn't so much a character as he is a force on the Turtle's lives. He's only there to weigh on them through his death, and provide a motivation for their vengeance and, later, rejection of vengeance. I do, however, like the fact that he's not a cackling, generic evil-doer. And he does make a vaguely entertaining supervillain as a worm clone and shark-mutant.

2)So, I have to pick several winners. As far as being well-used? Mirage Shredder, for making the story more poignant. As far as being most entertaining? Tie between movie and 1987 Shredder. As far as being an actual threat? Ch'rell.

1) Agreed. But there is no denying that he and his Elite "clones" are EXTREMELY badass! I wasn't ultimately a fan of the retcon "shark Shredder". I wish some of the Tales writers would have left classic stories alone.

2) I left the voting rules vague because even I couldn't decide which axis is the most important to rate Shredder & co. on.

[Original TMNT Cartoon Fan]

Shredder, Hun, Karai, and Baxter Stockman. The toughest gang, of course.

[Dan]

Stockman also worked for OT Shredder and 2k3 Shredder had the clones as well. Also what about Chaplin, Khan, the Foot Mystics, and the Foot Elite?

[Aztec General]

Originally Posted by Dan

Stockman also worked for OT Shredder and 2k3 Shredder had the clones as well. Also what about Chaplin, Khan, the Foot Mystics, and the Foot Elite?

What about them? This thread is about Shredder and his top three henchman in the 4 canons. Baxter Stockman, Hun, and Karai are definitely the top three in 2K3. Same for Rocksteady, Krang, and Bebop for OT.

[Andrew NDB]

Originally Posted by Aztec General

but to make matters worse he used genetically engineered worms to mutate three of his Elite into monstrous versions of himself during the "Return to New York" story arc.

That's not true at all. In the comics those three were the first three failed experiments to worm-clone Oroku Saki. The worms fed from his blown-to-bits remains leftover from TMNT Vol. 1, #1 to create all three of those worm-clones, including the fourth one (which perfected the experiment).

[Ninjinister]

Originally Posted by Andrew NDB

That's not true at all. In the comics those three were the first three failed experiments to worm-clone Oroku Saki. The worms fed from his blown-to-bits remains leftover from TMNT Vol. 1, #1 to create all three of those worm-clones, including the fourth one (which perfected the experiment).

"Three early experiments you met on your way here... the fourth time they fed on me."

This sounds to me (and pretty blatantly so), that they were not fed Saki's remains until the fourth time.

[Dan]

Originally Posted by Aztec General

What about them? This thread is about Shredder and his top three henchman in the 4 canons. Baxter Stockman, Hun, and Karai are definitely the top three in 2K3. Same for Rocksteady, Krang, and Bebop for OT.

Yeah but Krang wasn't a henchman.

[Coola Yagami]

LMAO Yeah, Shredder was Krang's bitch in the OT.

[Andrew NDB]

Originally Posted by The Ninjinister

"Three early experiments you met on your way here... the fourth time they fed on me."

This sounds to me (and pretty blatantly so), that they were not fed Saki's remains until the fourth time.

Hm... yeah, looks like you're right about that. Though there's no evidence to suggest Saki transformed his Elite into the worm creatures.

[Coola Yagami]

I just noticed, helmet aside, the Shredder clones in 2K3 were wearing outfits more similar to the comic Shredder as opposed to the Utrom armor design.