We welcome you back to our channel, where we now have another fun Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles video for you. We will discuss Master Splinter today and what makes him the unquestioned greatest master of all time.
Unquestionably one of the best fighters in the world, Master Splinter continuously reminds his sons that there is still so much to learn. If not for Master Splinter, the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles would be drowning.
Even in the first issues of the comics, Splinter was in charge of raising them all after they were all exposed to the substance that caused their mutations and instructing them in ninjutsu. Splinter must receive instruction for the Turtles, but where did he acquire his knowledge? The medium in which the Turtles are depicted will determine the solution to that.
Hamato Yoshi (also known by his aliases Master Splinter or Splinter) was a mutant rat that appeared in the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles 2012 series. He is renowned for being the adoptive father and instructor of all four Ninja Turtles, the husband of Tang Shen, the long-lost biological father of Miwa/Karai, as well as the adoptive father and sworn enemy of The Shredder.
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Splinter’s First Time on Television (TMNT 1987)
While living in Japan, Yoshi was the head of a ninja organization known as The Foot. One of his students, Oroku Saki, vehemently disagreed with him and attempted to usurp his position of leadership. Finally, after being wrongly accused of attempting to assassinate someone, he was exiled from the clan.
Yoshi arrived in America after fleeing poverty. He made friends with the rats in the gutters where he was forced to live to survive. One day, when she returned from the pet store, a young child was carrying four newborn turtles in a fish tank. After the child tripped and fell, the turtles slid down a drain and hit Yoshi, sending the bowl tumbling to the ground.
When Yoshi got home, he saw the turtle wallowing in what appeared to be a shimmering “goo.” It turned out to be some type of mutagen, causing anyone who touched it to take on the appearance of the creature with whom it had most recently come into contact. Yoshi had lately humanized the turtles (as part of his effort to fix them up), and Yoshi himself had recently been exposed to rats, which caused him to develop rat mutations.
Splinter’s persona evolved throughout the course of the episode, along with his humanity. He forfeited the opportunity to return to human form at the beginning of the story in order to save the Turtles, but he still had aspirations of doing so. In “Splinter No More,” Donatello could use the goo that changed them to temporarily return Yoshi’s human form, but the result was short-lived.
After observing how humans may occasionally treat one another, Splinter came to the conclusion that he preferred his new condition, primarily because of the bond he had formed with his students. This change in perspective is supported when he informs Shredder that Hamato Yoshi has passed away in the Return of the Technodrome. At the time of Were-Rats right from Channel 6, he was unconcerned about his mutant rat condition and jokingly remarked that being a rat allowed him to live with and care for the four Turtles.
In contrast to what the Movie, the Mirage Studios, and 2003 storylines stated, Splinter has a closer connection with the Turtles that is more akin to that of a teacher and his pupils. In fact, the 1987 turtles in Turtles Forever are taken aback when the turtles from 2003 refer to Splinter as “Father.”
Splinter did, however, briefly display fatherly care for Leonardo in the episode “The Old Switcheroo” when Leonardo was slightly hurt by one of Donatello’s significant inventions. Leonardo is Splinter’s most talented pupil, as he says in the series’ episode “Snakes Alive!” In the episode “Splinter No More,” Splinter even has the option to reclaim his human identity, but he quickly finds that he loves living with the turtles instead.
The Turtles may always count on Master Splinter for a clever or insightful statement to try to make things easier for them. When it seems like the turtles are destined for an unavoidable fate, he will also demonstrate a little ninja prowess just in time. In regards to having Shredder as a rival, Splinter frequently engaged in combat with the Rat King. Being a mutant rat made him susceptible to the Rat King’s control, and at first, he was brainwashed into attempting to assassinate the Turtles.
But over time, the Rat King’s hold on him began to diminish. In the episode “Splinter Vanishes”, Splinter demonstrated that he was not only resistant to the Rat King’s magic but also capable of swaying his rats to avoid him.
In Turtles Forever, Splinter makes a brief appearance and meets the Turtles from the 2003 television series. He is shown feeding Leo and Raph back in 2003 some rice to strengthen their bodies and spirits. He never once revealed to them about him being Hamato Yoshi, and after that, he vanished without a trace.
The Master Returns In The 2003 Remake (TMNT 2003)
When Splinter first arrived in Japan, he was just a regular rat that managed to get inside the Ancient One’s house. He was discovered, but the Ancient One’s adoptive daughter, Tang Shen, saved him and kept him as a pet. Similar to earlier iterations, Hamato Yoshi and an envious rival— this time Yukio Mashimi, Yoshi’s boyhood friend— became tragically involved with Tang Shen. Eventually, the two of them became Guardians and joined the Utroms.
Mashimi killed Tang Shen and revealed the location of the Utroms to The Shredder out of envy towards Yoshi’s success as a Guardian and his love for Tang Shen. In retaliation, Yoshi murdered Mashimi and fled to America, taking the Utroms and the pet of Tang Shen along with him, and renaming him Splinter. Splinter cohabitated quietly with his Master while in New York and studied ninjitsu by imitating Yoshi as he practiced.
Later, The Shredder would hunt down Yoshi and kill him after attempting to coerce him into disclosing where the Utroms were. In another universe, Splinter scratched Hun rather than Shredder when his sensei Yoshi was being assaulted.
Soon after, he saw an almost tragic accident when a young man prevented an elderly blind man from being run over. But while doing so, he ran upon a young man carrying a tank that had four newborn turtles that had fallen into the sewer. In the meantime, the vehicle that almost ran over the man swerved, causing a canister of green goo to spill out. The turtles were covered by the contents of the canister when it broke open.
Splinter discovered the turtles coated in mutagen made by the Utroms while exploring the sewers. They were led to his nest by him. He grabbed them up while dousing himself in the slime, feeling sorry for them. The turtles had increased in size when he woke up the following morning, and he realized that the ooze had altered both the turtles and him. Except on the surface, the turtles accompanied him everywhere. Eventually, he takes the decision to nurture them as his own, after which he starts teaching them Ninjutsu. Splinter selected monikers for all the turtles from a worn Renaissance art book he pulled from the storm drain.
He collected Yoshi’s remains during the turtles’ infancy and transported the turtles back to Japan in order to bury Yoshi’s bones close to the Ancient One’s residence. The Ancient One, who was startled by his new condition, asked about Yoshi. Splinter told him of Yoshi’s fate and accused the Tribunal of standing by and doing nothing.
The Ancient One and Splinter could not glimpse the Bone Demon, which the turtles believe to have seen. The infants tried to persuade Splinter the following day that they had seen the demon, and although he was still unable to see him, he felt his presence. They followed the demon to the artifacts after following the Ancient One all the way into the Tribunal Monastery.
Infuriated by their interference, the demon snatches the elders and plans to slay them both. The masters were able to overcome him because the turtles conquered their fear and destroyed the necklace that made him invisible. Although they were permitted to let Splinter remember, the Tribunal praises them and acknowledges how unique the turtles are while erasing their memory of the journey. Then, in order to send everyone home, they created a portal leading back to Splinter’s lair and gave each of them their new masks.
The turtles were constantly admonished by Splinter not to approach the surface under any circumstances. They defied him in “The Lesson” and tried to disguise the fact that they were teaching a little child how to cope with bullies. When they were attempting to keep their secret, Splinter observed how guilty they appeared but chose to ignore it. He found them topside one night, reprimanded them for instructing when they weren’t ready themselves, and disciplined them for defying him.
The four Turtles weren’t completely aware of the horror he was preparing them for until “The Shredder Strikes Part 1,” in which they discovered the Shredder’s malice and wrath and how he murdered Splinter’s Master, Yoshi. To prevent the spread of darkness throughout New York along with the world, the Turtles then began their battle with the Shredder.
The Ancient One is frequently joined by Splinter, who keeps expressing his greatest worries about the safety of his kids and the strict training techniques used by the Ninja Tribunal once they recruited them to face Tengu Shredder. He had dreams about his boys dying in combat, so when it really happened, he was devastated. He was relieved to see that his boys only suffered a knockout and vanquished the Tengu Shredder.
Splinter did not make many physical appearances in “Back to the Sewer,” but Viral did make him appear as tiny data fragments scattered throughout Cyberspace. The only times he was ever physically shown were in the first episode of BTTS, Tempus Fugit, when he was first dispersed into a billion data pieces, and the final episode, “Wedding Bells and Bytes,” when he was brought back to real life and visited April and Casey’s marriage ceremony, which was televised.
Nevertheless, he did show up in a couple of flashbacks. Splinter is depicted as having a deep love for his boys. The face of Splinter was also changed to more closely resemble his appearance in the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, where he now has a Japanese goatee.
Hamato Yoshi’s Legacy Still Alive in 2012 (TMNT 2012)
Splinter is shown telling the Turtles the vital tale of his mutation in Part 1 of the “Rise of the Turtles.” He also saved the Mutagen container that caused their collective mutation as a cute souvenir. Splinter grudgingly agrees to let the Turtles wander the magical alleys of New York City in honor of their fifteenth “birthday.”
Splinter tells Leonardo about his conflict with The Shredder in Part 2 of the “Rise of the Turtles” when Leonardo asks if he can really handle becoming the head of his siblings. In “Turtle Temper,” Splinter demonstrates to a cranky Raphael that being angry might, in fact, put your neighbors in danger. Splinter retells his complicated history again and again. He says that one of the members of his family was slaughtered right in front of his eyes as a result of his rage at The Shredder.
Splinter only makes a brief appearance in New Friend, Old Enemy, when he spots Leonardo making a familiar move during a sparring session with Raph (Leonardo, Mikey, and others were taught this move). They rapidly come to the realization that Chris Bradford, Mikey’s new pal, is one of the lethal top henchmen of The Shredder.
Splinter unintentionally captures the Turtles in the lair performing a ridiculous skateboarding feat in “I Think His Name is Baxter Stockman.” He bans them from leaving for a whole week, but they slip away against Splinter’s orders and come upon Baxter Stockman, a lone man in a robotic armor, who is attempting to break into a tower to get vengeance on those who dismissed him.
They first easily overcome him, but the fight develops into far more than they had envisioned. Splinter is not happy at all that they deceived him, but he does offer them some sound advice on their encounter with Stockman: “Never fight the armor, fight the man within.”
In “Metalhead,” Splinter persuades Donatello—who is discovering his personal Bo staff for being comparatively useless in battle— that employing martial arts may occasionally be more successful than relying on mechanical devices. When The Kraang takes control of Metalhead, a robot that Donnie himself created, he magically learns his lesson. He manages to destroy the machine with only part of his personal Bō staff!
When Splinter learns that April has a natural capacity to perceive interior sentiments in Monkey Brains, he falls rather enamored with her (something that he could not adapt to appropriately). Splinter wants to train her to evolve into a Kunoichi (a female ninja) in retaliation.
The Comic That Explained It All (IDW)
Even though Splinter was formerly Hamato Yoshi and still possesses all of his abilities and experiences, he has never killed anybody in his new mutated body and doesn’t intend to either.
Splinter finds it difficult to remain composed. He desires to kill Saki and cease his terrible deeds before he ruins the lives of many others. If he wants to survive this predicament, Splinter understands he must maintain emotional control.
Splinter had an unexpected flashback to a time when he was Hamato Yoshi. When Master Masato shows up, Yoshi is brutalizing one of his friends. He is told to stop and follow him. As they proceed into the forest, Masato commands Yoshi to remain silent.
Masato teaches Yoshi that while fire is a necessary tool, it must be carefully regulated to prevent personal harm. Yoshi must learn to manage his anger before it swallows him, says Masato, who compares it to fire. He gives Yoshi the instruction to reflect on this till he is at peace with it. Yoshi was first incensed over being sent out to meditate alone, but he later saw that his anger validated Master Masato’s point. He spent several hours in silent meditation.
Yoshi stumbles into a brook after being scared by an approaching person. At first, he is furious, but when he realizes that a lovely woman has approached him, his anger diminishes. Tang Shen, the woman, offers to start a fire so Yoshi may dry his wet garments. Yoshi’s rage began to subside during that first chat, and as a result, the two started seeing one other more frequently until they eventually got married.
Masato complements Yoshi on his improved attention and talent as a consequence of managing his anger as they are having tea together. The adulation given to Yoshi irritates the other present person, Oroku Saki. Masato informs both of them that they’ve been given a mission to exact revenge on a clan lord’s murdered son. Later that evening, after Masato has explained the strategy, the two depart.
When Saki decides that a change in strategy is required, Saki and Yoshi are outside the facility they are to penetrate to assassinate their target. Saki will distract the guards while Yoshi infiltrates the facility to kill the target. Yoshi arrived at the scene blindly, missing the element of surprise and fighting two armed men because Oroku Saki’s rage had impaired his judgment.
The lord they were assigned to assassinate nearly defeats him, but he manages to kill the two, thanks to his love for Tang Shen and his desperation to see her once more. Yoshi staggered home, terrified he wouldn’t see Tang Shen for the last time before he passed away. She urged him to keep fighting, reasoning that if he could get home, he would undoubtedly live. She also let him know that he would soon become a parent. Tang Shen and Yoshi had 3 additional boys during the following few years.
Until Saki became the Jōnin of the Foot Clan, Yoshi had finally found the tranquility he had long wanted. In a fit of wrath at Saki’s heinous deeds, Yoshi quit the Foot Clan and walked away (the following occurrences are witnessed in “The Secret History of the Foot Clan”). Yoshi’s disobedience, however, cost Tang Shen, and Yoshi and his kids were forced to escape for their lives. Yoshi was furious when his youngest kid, who was accompanying him on the run, questioned why did they have only berries for supper.
When Master Masato’s advice came back to him, he sobbed and expressed regret for being upset with his son. Even though Yoshi still grieves for losing his wife, he acknowledges that Tang Shen is significantly represented in their sons: her curiosity and intellect though his son in purple, her zeal through his son in red, and her care for everyone else through his son in blue, along with her zest for life through his sons in purple and orange).
Splinter is happy that the Shredder is unaware that his sons are still alive while he battles the Foot Ninja. He is aware that he will require the surprise element to help them carry out what he has just come to learn is necessary: the Shredder must perish. Splinter questions the Shredder if he recalls the statement he made before Oroku Saki slew him in his prior incarnation: whether they would encounter again so that it would be the demise of Saki. Countless Foot Ninja now lie fallen at his feet.
Hamato Yoshi is a part of the Foot Clan, which Oroku Saki commands in feudal Japan’s history. Yoshi quits after witnessing Saki make a callous decision and is labeled a traitor. Then Saki gives the clan the command to murder Yoshi’s wife and his four boys. Saki slays Yoshi and his kids after eluding arrest for eleven years. Tang Shen, Yoshi’s wife, is killed by the Foot Clan, and as she passes away, she asks that the entire family be safe.
Yoshi and his sons have been reborn as Splinter, a rat, and four turtles in the present. They are kept at StockGen, a research facility controlled by Professor Baxter Stockman, who has covertly aligned himself with the Kraang, a vicious Utrom from Dimension X. The Foot Clan, however, is still active, and one night they breach into StockGen and steal certain chemicals. After a protracted chase, these chemicals transform Splinter and the turtles into sentient beings or humanoids.
After 15 months of preparation, the Turtles unite in the shadows to battle formidable foes like Krang and his Dimension X allies as well as the Foot Clan, who is commanded by the resurrected Oroku Saki, who is now called the Shredder.
Interesting Facts You Should Know About Splinter
The genesis of Splinter depends significantly on the media, although there are generally two basic ones. In the authentic live-action movies and the 2003 animated picture, he begins as a rat who masters the martial arts by imitating his instructor, who is later killed by The Shredder, the head of the Foot Clan.
However, in the 1987 animated film, Splinter was initially Hamato Yoshi, who fled to the United States after losing the Foot Clan to Saki. He got in touch with some strange ooze while rescuing some turtles in the United States. The ooze transforms everybody who touches it into a copy of the last creature it touched, making the Turtles more human-like, while Yoshi later touches some rats and becomes Hamato Splinter.
There have been two distinct live-action Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles movie series to date. The foremost trilogy is well-liked by most, partly because of nostalgia but also because of the outstanding design work and ability to seamlessly blend the cartoon’s humor with the grim tone fans were familiar with from the comics.
Kevin Clash, popularly known as Elmo, provides the voice of Splinter in the first couple of installments of that trilogy. Tony Shalhoub, who is well-known for a number of roles but is most recognized for his involvement in the USA Television series Monk, provides Splinter’s voice in the more recent duology, which has a fanbase of its own.
April gets transformed into a cat in the second season of the 1987 television series “The Cat Woman From Channel Six” after having her Genes partially mingled with a feline due to a teleporter. A lot of cats were depicted in the episode, including Donatello fending off a tiger, that too, with his stick, but finally, one of the cats found its way inside the Turtles’ center of operations. Splinter just about manages to drive the straightforward house cat away before confessing it’s the one thing that genuinely frightens him.
The realm of voice work is always intriguing to see since actors frequently portray roles that are either very close to themselves in prior characters or quite different from them. Hoon Lee, who had throughout the years played a number of parts in both live-action and animated productions, provided the voice of Splinter once the Ninja Turtles made their television debut on Nickelodeon in 2012. However, in the most recent “Rise of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles,” the actor was chosen to portray Oroku Saki, who serves as both the Turtles’ most significant ally and their deadliest foe.
The classic Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles made an attempt to indicate that people who were transformed into animals would also acquire certain traits from the creatures with which they were combined. When April transformed into a cat, she was compelled to move and even purr like a cat. As for Splinter, he claims in “Splinter No More” that he has been able to aid the Turtles by using his rat-like night vision, unquestionably which qualifies one as a great ninja.
There are three separate TMNT/Batman crossover arcs in the comics. Excluding the final one, each one has interactions between the characters in their own worlds. In the final one, the worlds of the Turtles and Batman are combined, weakening both universes. Batman enrolls as a pupil under Splinter, who takes him in and puts him through training with the other Turtles. The Splinter is himself merged with Alfred.
Yoshi, Splinter’s birth name, is Japanese for “like, adore, enjoy,” or “joyful creature.” The meaning of Splinter’s last name, “Hamato,” is “sea/beach, river/coast, family/bank door.” “Hamato Yoshi,” when spelled entirely in Hiragana, means “Alright still.”
Splinter is seen in “I, Monster,” resting on it not just in his bedroom but also in other spaces like the common area and the Dōjō. Tatami, a form of traditional Japanese moveable flooring mat, serves as Splinter’s bed. In order to avoid sleeping directly on the mat, which has a rougher surface, it is usual to place a futon on top of the mat.
What Makes Him A Challenging Opponent
Splinter has the capacity to fight instinctively in “Monkey Brains.” Splinter’s fighting skills in Part 2 of the “Annihilation: Earth!” are excellent enough to enable him to outmatch several Triceraton warriors in hand-to-hand battle. Splinter was one of the best fighters on Earth and a fearsome opponent thanks to his fighting prowess and mutant talents. The Mutagen Ooze transformed Splinter into a mutant with considerable superhuman levels of innate powers. He most likely has night vision as other rats do. He had demonstrated that he could smell a nut from outside his cage via Baxter Stockman’s glass when in his feral form.
Splinter is very powerful for a mutant and has shown to be tougher than he seems. In Part 2 of “The Invasion,” he demonstrated his power by slapping Dogpound in the face, throwing him into the air, and then using his rage to rip the massive pillars from his back in retaliation for Leatherhead and Leo. Even while it could essentially be a technical talent, he was powerful enough to use the Shredder in Part 2 of “The Invasion” to send his adversaries flying at high speeds. Some types of metal, like Shredder’s retractable blade in Part 2 of the “Showdown,” may be broken by Splinter’s teeth.
Splinter has incredible leg strength, which enables him to leap extraordinary distances and heights. Even better, he can skip to Shredder’s window. He is proven to exhibit several skills shared by common rats, including the ability to sprint on all fours. He can get behind Dogpound, thanks to his quickness.
Splinter has quick reflexes and has demonstrated in several combat situations that he can deflect incoming blows. Splinter appears to be in great shape to battle without wearing out as quickly as other humans do for a mutant his age, which is around 50 years old. He could fight Shredder to a standstill, demonstrating that he is healthy enough to withstand his blows.
Splinter has a very high threshold for pain. He was always more than competent in battling efficiently against Shredder, even when many large pillars crashed on him during another battle. He was resilient enough to withstand the mace strike from the mind-controlled Slash.
He managed to live despite constantly being struck by heavy metal structural beams as he fell from very high sewer. Splinter is incredibly nimble, and he utilized this to his advantage while facing off against opponents. For instance, he was able to outmaneuver Shredder during their second encounter duel, thanks to his astonishing mobility.
Splinter has mastered healing procedures to recover from severe trauma injuries via years of consistent practice. Splinter is likely familiar with various healing modalities because he taught his adopted sons— Donatello, Leonardo, Michelangelo, and Raphael— how to recover from fatal poisonings, as was made evident in numerous episodes. Splinter is an expert in Ninjutsu, making him very knowledgeable, quick, and stronger. As seen in “It Came From The Depths,” he can defeat greater opponents with little to no effort. He swiftly and efficiently dispatched 3 Shredder mutants in “Return to New York.”
Given that he spent 15 years training his four boys, he is a terrific teacher to anyone who would like to train. He even gives April the skills she needs to protect herself from danger. In fact, he even said that people usually choose their weapons rather than the other way round.
He is adept at spotting approaching enemies. This is either because of the great hearing he acquired when he transformed or because of his “balanced mind,” because while he was a human, he could not hear the sounds that April was listening to. He seems to have the same unusual sensitivity gift as April does. Splinter is adept at using a variety of weapons and can transform regular objects into weapons.
Pressure point methods, which Splinter is an expert at using, have the power to shock anyone. He applies this strategy, for instance, to Raphael after he boasted about his “win.” Splinter has received training in stealth as a ninja techniques. He is naturally brilliant and has sharpened his mind by learning fighting strategies.
The Sensei Of All Time
The head of the Hamato Clan, Hamato Yuuta, whose conflict with none other than the Foot Clan ended when he was a boy, is the father of Hamato Yoshi and the chosen successor. Shredder slays him in the Triceraton invasion, but this effort is thwarted when the turtles go backward in time to rescue Earth.
Super Shredder once more kills him in Part 1 of the “Requiem,” Season 4 finale, and he is cremated at the O’Neil farm. Leonardo, who reluctantly assumes the more difficult father-like job of sensei on his behalf, receives wisdom and guidance from his spirit as he proceeds to watch over his clan from the heavenly spheres.
Splinter may be afraid about the Turtles leaving him in the future since the Rat King used this idea against him in “I, Monster” to try to take control of his thoughts. Anyone who touches the Turtles offends Splinter, it appears. This is made clear in “It Came From The Depths,” as he fights Leatherhead for threatening the Turtles. According to “Panic in the Sewers,” Splinter’s biggest nightmare is losing his clan to the Shredder once more. He finally apologizes for pushing the Turtles’ practice to the point that they were drained, anxious, and impatient out of fear of losing them to the Shredder.