Splinter

Splinter

35
    Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles
Photo Credit: Everett Collection

Character Analysis

(Avoiding Spoilers)

Grew Up… as a “normal” rat. He served his master well. And when an evil warrior killed his master, Splinter leapt at the attacker’s face – losing his ear in the battle. Splinter soon transformed into a large talking rat after a run-in with the same mysterious ooze that transformed the teenage mutant ninja turtles, his apprentices.

Living… in a sewer with four young ninja turtles – Leonardo, Donatello, Michelangelo and Raphael. Splinter treats them like his own children, but trains them with an iron fist.

Profession... ninja master. Splinter uses soft-spoken Zen-Koan-like teachings as his main source of lecture. Sometimes his lessons go over the turtles’ teenage heads. But when the day is done, Splinter has raised some intelligent, moral martial artists.

Interests… meditation and training. Splinter might seem like a square old fogey, but he’s actually interested in the hip lingo of his young counterparts. Once when the turtles are shouting out expressions, Splinter throws in his two cents: “I always liked ‘Cowabunga!’”

Relationship Status… single. Splinter is too old now to start thinking about a mate. He instead turns his thoughts to the next generation of ninja warriors.

Challenge… raising the four teenage turtles into true ninjas. With Leonardo as his most loyal apprentice, Splinter tries to spread the noble warrior code through all four. But sometimes he runs into problems. Michelangelo seems too interested in pizza parties, and Raphael is often too headstrong to be part of a foursome. Splinter has a lot of work to do before the four will be true mean, green, fighting machines.

Personality… wise, a rat of few words. Still, Splinter seems to embrace the new culture of Western technology, even listening to a Walkman. He takes his teachings seriously, but he also knows when to lighten up. Splinter always follows a successful joke with this proud but poorly worded remark: “I made a funny!” He even comes to like cheese pizza.

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