Splinter (Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles) facts for kids
Quick facts for kids Splinter |
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| Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles character | |
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Artwork by series co-creator Kevin Eastman.
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| First appearance | Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles #1 (May 1984) |
| Created by | Kevin Eastman Peter Laird |
| Information | |
| Species | Mutant Street Rat |
| Affiliation | Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles |
| Children | Leonardo, Raphael, Donatello, and Michelangelo (adoptive sons) Miwa/Karai (daughter; 2012 series) |
| Origin | Osaka, Japan |
| Weapon | Wooden Cane |
| Residence | New York Sewers, United States |
| Abilities |
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Splinter, often referred to as Master Splinter or Sensei by his students/sons, is a fictional character from Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles comics and all related media. A mutant rat, he is the grave and stoic sage of the Turtles, their ninjutsu and martial arts instructor, and their adoptive father. The character was originally a parody of the Marvel Comics character Stick.
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Contents
Personality
Splinter is portrayed as wise, intelligent, and a skilled "elderly martial arts master". He is nearly always calm. Even when angry, he refrains from raising his voice. He is the quintessential calm, all-knowing, and wise master of all martial arts. Also, Splinter has strong willpower as he doesn't give up without a fight. Also, in the 1987 series, Splinter can control his brain waves through his willpower.
Splinter cares for his adopted sons with fierce devotion, rescuing them in very critical moments in the series, such as when Shredder attempted to execute the four on a building, or when Bishop tried to literally tear them apart for science. He is furious when the Foot attempts to slay the Turtles with a robot Splinter and goes all the way to Japan after the four are kidnapped by the Tribunal. Splinter does go to the Turtles for help whenever he was in a tough spot, especially shown in the 1987 series episode "The Old Switcheroo" when an accident caused himself and Shredder to switch bodies as he went to them for help in getting back to his real body but had a hard time convincing them at first but they believed him when they heard his wise wisdom and that he didn't want to fight them as they worked together to set things right.
Despite his love for his sons, Splinter is fairly militant with them, especially when they are young and inexperienced. Splinter's main fear is that he and his family will one day be exposed to the outside world, as he is understandably protective. He disciplines the turtles when they become disobedient or unruly. His punishments include making them do back-flips repeatedly in the second live-action movie, or being sent to the Hashi, a form of punishment in the 2014 film by using chopsticks for balance. At times, Splinter does get physical with the Turtles whenever he gets mad with them or breaks up their siblings arguments, which led him to ground them, especially in 2012 series.
Splinter is not completely cut off from the pleasures of modern culture. Splinter is often depicted to be a fan of soap operas. This is stated in a few different incarnations but is most displayed in the 2003 series sixth season, where that hobby is mentioned several times. It is also mentioned in both the 2007 animated film and the 2012 series that he very much enjoys dessert, particularly Ice pops.
In the 2018 series, Splinter is displayed as somewhat irresponsible, spending most of his time eating and watching TV, although he occasionally shows the traits mentioned above.
In the 2023 film Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayhem, he is shown to have an extreme hatred for the human race due to a perception that they were all out to hurt mutants, and as a result, he is overly protective of the Turtles. He is depicted as less of a traditional martial arts master and more of a worrisome single father figure, though he is still skilled in martial arts.
Portrayal
- In the 1987 series, he was voiced by Peter Renaday in the American version and by Hideyuki Umezu (TV), Yuzuru Fujimoto (NHK-BS2) and Kiyoshi Kobayashi (VHS) in the Japanese versions. The film Turtles Forever features this incarnation, voiced by David Wills. Renaday would reprise the role of Splinter during spoken portions of the inaugural 'Coming out of their Shells' live action concert tour which was taped from Radio City Music Hall, though he went uncredited in the VHS tape.
- In Ninja Turtles: The Next Mutation, Splinter is voiced by Stephen Mendel.
- In the 2003 animated series and Turtles Forever American version, Splinter is voiced by Darren Dunstan. In the Japanese version, he is voiced by Shōto Kashii.
- In the first two movies, he is voiced by Kevin Clash, and in the third, he was voiced by James Murray. In the 2007 animated film, he was voiced by Mako Iwamatsu; Iwamatsu died during production, and his new fill-in Greg Baldwin stepped in to provide a large share of Splinter's dialogue in the finished film (receiving a credit only for "additional voices"). Splinter was Mako's final role before his death. In the Japanese versions, he was voiced by Kiyoshi Kobayashi and Joji Yanami in the first film, Michio Hazama in the second, Hideyuki Umezu in the third and Shoto Kashii in the fourth.
- In the 2007 TMNT game, he is voiced by Terrence Scammell.
- In the 2012 animated series, Splinter is voiced by Hoon Lee.
- In the 2013 video game TMNT: Out of the Shadows, Splinter is voiced by Feodor Chin.
- In the 2014 reboot, Splinter was portrayed by actor Danny Woodburn and his voice was provided by Tony Shalhoub. In Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Out of the Shadows, the film's sequel, Shalhoub again voices Splinter and the motion-capture for the character is done by Peter D. Badalamenti.
- In the 2018 animated series, Rise of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, Splinter is voiced by Eric Bauza.
- In the 2020 pinball machine Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles by Stern, Splinter is voiced by Marc Silk.
- In the 2023 animated feature, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayhem, Splinter is voiced by Jackie Chan. This version is portrayed as less of a sensei and more like a typical middle-aged father, though he still retains his knowledge of ninjutsu and martial arts, which he learns from watching videos about it.
Images for kids
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Splinter in a scene from Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles II: The Secret of the Ooze
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Splinter in the 2008 season of TMNT
See also
In Spanish: Splinter (Tortugas ninja) para niños
