Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles’ wildly popular animated series features the fictional supervillain Krang. Along with Shredder, he served as one of the series’ main adversaries in 1987. But unlike his ally, he has different goals in mind; instead of wanting to rule Earth, he has little regard for the Ninja Turtles.
In 1988, he published his first comic book, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Adventures Volume 1. Additionally, he made an appearance in the 2012 IDW comics, which provided more context for Krang’s backstory. Here, he allowed us to witness his transformation from a spoiled alien to the warlord of his people and planet.
Krang was made by David Wise for the 1987 TV series. The extremely intelligent alien civilization known as the Utroms served as inspiration for him. He worked with Shredder as an ally, supplying him with advanced extraterrestrial technology when they both operated out of Krang’s Technodrome facility.
It can be tough to follow everything that is going on with Krang, the Utroms, his comic book narrative from IDW, and the Ninja Turtles. But we will make it simpler for you in this video.
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Krang’s Origin
In the original comics from Mirage Studios, Krang is shown to be a being from the Utrom race, a race of small aliens who resemble brains and have tentacles. So before we dive into the side of Krang’s story revolving around the turtles, let’s go over where it all began.
Krang appears in the IDW Comics as a denizen of Dimension X and an Utrom. We are introduced to him in the first issue of the series and he is surprisingly a lot different than you would expect a menacing villain to be. He lived in the Dimension X planet of Utrominon. With his father Quanin as the Prime Minister and Emperor of the ruling council of the Utroms, Krang started off as a being who only cared about being pampered and bossing his subordinates around.
The spoilt prince is soon put down by his father who believes that Krang can be a ruler but never a leader. Naturally, this meant that he now wanted to prove his worth and get his father to respect him. One of the Emperor’s enemies known as Traxus had taken over one of their prisons known as Morbus, which was basically a super hostile prison planet. This enemy was previously a captive but he had managed to overthrow the prison guards and unite the other prisoners against Krang’s father.
Emperor Quanin tries to integrate Krang into the strategical plannings for taking down Traxus but Krang refuses to do so. He believes he will only get in his father’s way. So Krang joins a squad (albeit in secret) to take Traxus down. He does this to prove his worth separately and he is also exhilarated by the feeling of a risky battle after living a life of comfort. Meanwhile, Quanin has launched his own offense as well, as he uses Utrominon’s best soldiers to take down the enemy. Unfortunately, Traxus is aware of the incoming direct attack.
Traxus had mined the swamp he was expecting the attack to come in from and it worked out in his favor. As Utrominon’s commander steps on a mine, he is blown to bits. Soon, Traxus arrives and kills every Utrom Emperor Quanin had sent. However, despite being present in the site of the massacre, Krang survives.
He knows he is now stranded in the dangerous and hostile terrain of the planet Morbus. The flora, fauna, the creatures, and the acid rain, everything here can kill him. But the thought of dying undiscovered without ever leading his people sparks a change in him and keeps him going. Krang now has to live in this dangerous place. He fights dinosaur-like predators, hunts for food, and gets inspiration from the fact that he has survived in such a situation. And his shift in mindset becomes very evident from a particular internal monologue:
“I was stronger than I knew. I was the only Utrom to live through Traxus’ attack, and I was still alive on this deadly planet, I was a survivor. I would not quit. Everyone, including my father, doubted my worth. I would prove what I was capable of. No longer were my days wasted with toys and pampering. The helpless Krang was gone. And the new Krang could take care of himself. But simply surviving wasn’t enough. I needed to finish the mission. Traxus had to die. And my time on Morbus had taught me that my strongest weapon was my mind. Now I would become the predator. The ruler. From now on, any challenger would die at my hands. Retreat in an instant, or become mine to rule.”
And so, he tames a terrifying lizard as he realizes his true strength and potential. He rides the lizard to storm to the prison tower where Traxus runs his command center. While his father had ruled over vast lands with his stealthy approach, Krang had decided to be more direct. He approaches Traxus and demands he surrender. Traxus’ workers Tragg and Granitor ask their boss to let them take care of the situation but Traxus wants to take on the spoilt prince himself.
Krang makes the lizard he had tamed spit venom into Traxus’ eye and then takes the opportunity to stab him to death. As law stated, Granitor and Tragg began to serve Krang as he had killed their previous leader, and then Krang took over the army commanded by the very man he just killed. When Emperor Quanin learns of this, he is surprised and shows respect to his son for the first time.
But you may wonder, how did Krang end up on Earth. Well, Quanin’s empire expanded far and beyond, causing Utrom’s essencial natural resource known as the Ooze to be depleted severely. This caused a rebellion among the people in Dimension X and Utrominon was subsequently destroyed. Krang, who was also a tyrannical warlord by then, accessed an interdimension portal and fled to Earth with a few survivors. On Earth, he set up the Technodrome as his base which he wished to use to terraform Earth into a new home for the Utroms.
In the 1987 series, certain things about Krang were different. It was revealed that a strange incident had caused Krang to lose his original reptilian body and attain his brain-like form. This incident was also why he was banished to Earth from Dimension X. Here, he met the Shredder (also known as Oroku Saki) and his Foot Soldier army of robot ninjas. Together, they operated from within the Technodrome. Krang even helped the Shredder by supplying him with his superior technology as an alien and intellect as a mastermind.
Unlike Shredder, Krang was not interested in constantly going after the Ninja Turtles and the Splinter while Shredder put all of his energy into his enmity with them. Krang’s motive was simple – he wanted to rule over Earth by powering up the Technodrome (that is his battle fortress). In Season 1 Episode 5 ‘Shredder & Splintered’, Krang is seen within an android body. In the IDW Comics, he had sported a similar suit as he shook hands with his father after they reunited following Krang’s victory over Traxus.
Krang had always wanted a new body but Shredder never helped him out as he did not intend to make a rival out of him. However, when Shredder loses hope of defeating the Turtles, he seeks out Krang’s help. Using the blueprints Krang had, Shredder makes him an android body and within it, Krang adopts his megalomaniac, and tyrannical personality as a warlord.
As the Ninja Turtles come into the picture, they notice Krang heading towards a Trans-Dimensional Porter. The villain wants to access Dimension X to contact his armies and take over the planet. He also enlarges his body to gain a heavy advantage in battle. However, the turtles force him back into his original size with their attacks.
On the other end, the armies Krang had contacted were marching to Earth. Donatello reverses the flow of the Trans-Dimensional Portal which sucks Technodrome into Dimension X alongside Krang and Shredder.
The Turtles have foiled Krang’s plans in other occasions as well. In another instance where Krang and Shredder ended up being banished to Dimension X again, they got back to Earth two years later with help from a character named Dregg. However, Dregg double crossed them and drained Krang’s intelligence. Ultimately, the two villains were sent back to Dimension X by the Ninja Turtles once again.
Other Interesting Facts You Should Know About Krang
Krang was created by David Wise, who had taken inspiration from the much darker Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. We have already gone over his origin story in the IDW comics and unlike the series, the micro comic series also went for a darker route when it came down to storytelling.
Since Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles was geared towards kids, Krang was shown to be a lot more tame compared to his comic counterparts. The entire atmosphere around the warlord was diluted. Which is why David Wise changed the Utrom-inspired megalomaniac leader to a supervillain with robotic soldiers at his disposal. In an interview, he said, “In a kids’ show, you can wail on robots with swords and nunchucks with complete impunity because they’re robots! You’re not really hurting anyone. You’re just smashing up machinery.”
However, Krang’s connection to Dimension X was very obviously maintained in the series. Originally, Dimension X was a different galaxy altogether with a terrifying atmosphere. The air was rich in nitrogen, sulfur, hydrocarbons, and water, which made it dangerous enough to dissolve anything from Earth. Krang had a great run with his android suit. However, the animated series boasted another suit called the Bubble Walker. It has mechanical legs to make Krang mobile and as a device, is a lot shorter and simpler. It also has little holes that allow Krang to free his tentacles for external use.
Even though it seems to be more convenient, the android body easily has the upper hand over the Bubble Walker. It is virtually indestructible. Even after blowing up the Technodrome, the Turtles could not damage that suit.
What Makes Krang A Challenging Opponent?
Krang might not look like much but he is extremely intelligent. His true power lies in his mind but that does not mean he is physically weak.
His android suit allows him to defend himself while being mobile. The suit’s hands can shapeshift into weapons and even gadgets (which is what he does in an episode to contact Shredder with his communicator). The arms can turn themselves into jet wings as well.
Later on in the series, Krang is shown to be using psychic powers as he hypnotizes a soldier to obey him and Shredder. This technique is not foolproof however and can only work on someone with a weak will.
The Krang from the Archie Comics has another cool ability – he cdan attach his body to another living creature’s head and gain absolute control over it. This is how he had taken control of Shredder after the latter was knocked out. It was essential for the other being to be unconscious for Krang to take over their body.
Where Else Has He Appeared?
Apart from appearing in the 1987 animated series, Krang has also been a part of the 2003 Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, albeit as a cameo in ‘Secret Origins Part 3’.
He also appeared in Turtles Forever, which is a crossover between the 1987 and the 2003 Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. Here, the 1987 Krang tries to find his 2003 counterpart but ultimately, fails at doing so.
He then appeared in the 2012 Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, this time with a different name called Kraang Prime. Here, he is the leader of a faction of the Utroms known as ‘the Kraang’.
When it comes to films, Krang has minor role in a short fan film known as Casey Jones. He has also made a lice-action appearance in 2016’s Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Out of the Shadows.
Something about having a wiggly brain as a terrifying villain is strange. But then it is quite common for certain villains to rely on their wits alone and what signifies that better than the brain itself. And yet, even the creepy character design isn’t enough to stress out the super cool ninja turtles.
And with that, today’s video comes to an end. What did you think of Krang? Did you enjoy this video? If yes, then don’t forget to like and comment on this video. Till then, goodbye. And have a nice one!