Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Character: Master Splinter

Hey everyone!

It's been a few days, but here's my look at Master Splinter, the ninjutsu master and sensei of the turtle brothers. Here we go!

Master Splinter

Master Splinter is the sensei/father figure of the family. He is the one who took the turtles in after they were all mutated and taught them ninjutsu. He is a mutated rat, often portrayed as older, sometimes elderly. The biggest differences between all the series is Master Splinter's origin. 

TMNT 1987

Source: turtlepedia.wikia.com

In this show, Master Splinter was originally Master Yoshi before mutating into a rat along with the turtles. Yoshi had been living in the sewers after Saki forced Yoshi into exile. While living in the sewers he came across the four turtles in a glowing pink ooze and got some on himself as well.

The idea was that the ooze spliced Yoshi's DNA with the last animal that he touched, which was a rat in the sewers. The turtles' DNA was then spliced with Yoshi's human DNA, making them humanoid mutant turtles.

Master Splinter takes on more the role of a teacher to his turtle students in this show. He generally doesn't take a part of any of the turtles battles with the Shredder, preferring to have them learn on their own. He does interfere occasionally when the turtles are close to being defeated.

This Master Splinter has the personality of a wise old ninjutsu master. He is always calm, collected, and willing to give his students some helpful advice and wisdom. He is patient with his students, although their antics do exasperate him from time to time. In this show, Splinter is portrayed as a short, older rat, although not quite elderly. He looks as though he could be in his late forties or fifties as a human.


TMNT 2003

Source: tysonstv.blogspot.com

In this show, the origin of Master Splinter follows the comic with some modifications. Splinter was Master Yoshi's pet rat. He learned ninjutsu from Yoshi by mimicking his movements.

When Yoshi was slain by the Shredder and his cohorts, Splinter was left to wander the streets and sewers. He happened upon an accident where a bowl with four turtles had fallen into the sewers along with a canister of glowing ooze. He gathered up the turtles, getting some of the ooze on him.

The ooze mutated him into a humanoid rat, giving him intelligence. The four turtles were mutated into humanoid turtles. Splinter took them in as his own and began training the four in the art of ninjutsu.

In this show, Splinter is both a teacher and a father to the turtles. He always fondly calls them his sons and he shows the protective love of a parent. However, he is also a strict teacher and is very firm with his sons. Splinter is involved more with the battles between his sons, often showing his great skills, particularly in his fight with the Shredder.

Splinter retains his calm and wise personality, but he also has the personality of a protective father. He is reluctant at first to let his sons go up to the surface. He also tells them to not face the Shredder when they learn of him. This protectiveness is also shown in the episode when Casey finds the turtle's lair. Since Splinter didn't know him, he attacked Casey, thinking of him as a threat to his family. Splinter has a very dry sense of humor that can be pretty hilarious at times. His humor often shows up when he's relaxing with his family.

Splinter in this show is portrayed as an short elderly humanoid rat. However, don't let that fool you, because Splinter is incredibly talented and powerful, which he shows as he often joins his sons in battle. In this show, Splinter has a fondness for soap operas. It isn't explored much, but there is an occasional mentioning of it. 

TMNT 2012 

Source: turtlepedia.wikia.com

In this show, the origin of Splinter follows the 1980s version where he was Master Yoshi before he was mutated into a rat. The only difference is that the mutagen ooze comes from an alien race called the Kraang.

Splinter in this show keeps his strict teacher and loving father personality, although he may be portrayed as more firm than in previous shows. He seems to have more of a sense of humor, although it is still fairly dry. He shows to be a loving father, which was explored more in the episode where he is  mind controlled by the Rat King. That episode is the first episode that the turtles refer to him as "father." They usually call him "Sensei."

So far in the series, we haven't seen Splinter take much part in the battles that his sons have faced, except for the season finale. Even during those times, you can see that his skills are impressive. It is uncertain why Splinter chooses not to help his sons, although when April brings it up, he becomes defensive and drops the subject. Apparently there is some emotional reason for him to not fight. However, the battle between Splinter and Shredder during the season finale was incredible to watch and we can see Splinter is a formidable fighter.

When he was human, Splinter had a wife and daughter that were killed in a terrible fire while he was fighting the Shredder. This is likely the source of his decision to protect his sons and to choose not to fight.

This Splinter is portrayed to be quite a bit taller and younger than his previous incarnations. This is probably to model more closely the age that Splinter would be if he were still Yoshi. He looks to be in his early forties.

Overall, Splinter is an interesting character, mainly in his interaction with his turtle students. I love the fact that Splinter often becomes a father to these four turtles and you can see how he cares for his adopted turtle sons. I also like how the 2012 series is giving Splinter more background. His unwillingness to fight along with his sons is a very interesting development and I hope the show explores it more.

That's all I have on Master Splinter. Until later, folks!