He's a staple of the TMNT franchise. While Laird and Eastman may not have intended it, the Shredder has become the Big Bad of the TMNT universe. But which version is your favorite? They're all so different.

- Mirage Shredder was great, but died too quickly, I think... but I'll admit, I haven't read much of the Mirage comics. I know I probably should.

- '87 Shredder was a typical 80s cartoon villain... a bumbling, incompetent fool. But I did like his married couple banter with Krang. It was fun.

- Movie Shredder was okay... but I wish had a bigger goal here than just being the world's biggest petty thief. Oh, don't get me wrong, he is AWESOME in terms of scare factor and sheer badassery, and as a kid you don't question it, but re-watching it when you're older - yeah, you notice he's NOT REALLY DOING MUCH with his evil ninja clan. "Your empire flourishes, Master Shredder!" Yes, his empire of stolen purses and TVs!

- Never saw a frame of Next Mutation, so no opinion.

- I have to go with Ch'rell. As controversial a decision as I know it was, I think 2003's move, making the Shredder an Utrom was brilliant. It tied him in with the Turtles' origin very cleanly.

I also think the 2k3 Shredder had the best balance between the two extremes of "Ninja Crime Lord" and "evil invading alien war criminal."

- I liked Karai a lot. Would like to see more done with her, but with Nick in the picture and wanting to take us back to 1987, I expect her to fade into limbo.

- The Tengu Shredder was... okay. He had moments, but he required a lot of retconning. But I can't call him the original Shredder... I call him "the prequel."

- Never saw Cyber Shredder. No opinion

So yeah, for me, Ch'rell wins.

I like Hawt Chick Shredder.

So, that's a vote for Karai, then?

While there will always be a warm place in my heart for "Uncle Phil" Shredder, Ch'rell - The 2003 Utrom Shredder is the most interesting and menacing. He's my favorite.

I was already in love with 2k3 Shredder before I found out he was an Utrom. He was terrifying and fascinating. "How did he survive that fall? How could he walk through fire? There's something more we're not seeing here... did he just say he "conquered Japan"? MOTHERhug LEONARDO JUST CUT HIS HEAD OFF YOU CAN'T DO THAT IN A CHILDREN'S CARTOON." His being an Utrom COULD have led the character down a bad path, but the show made it WORK, and he never lost any of his villain cred - the Turtles never genuinely, decisively beat him in a straight fight.

I think Ch'rell was the most well-rounded, menacing and properly utilized version of the character we've ever received. And I didn't care that he was an Utrom. When he was in that Oroku Saki suit, he was still Oroku Saki. And when he wasn't...he was STILL Oroku Saki. Proof that was good writing, you can completely alter a character and yet keep them fundamentaly the same.

Plus, making Shredder and Utrom was a clever way of tying hte Foot Ninja aspect of the TMNT mythos into the outer space and Utrom aspect, both of which were always very disparate in the comics.


As for Mirage Shredder, well, there's three Mirage Shredders if you want to get technical.

The original Shredder, Oroku Saki, died in TMNT (Vol. 1) #1. The Clone Shredder appeared in Leonardo (Microseries) #1, TMNT (Vol. 1) #10, 20 and 21. He was involved in two of the best story arcs from the comic, but again, was only in 4 issues before getting decapitated.

Then there was Shark Shredder who appeared in three issues of Tales of the TMNT (Vol. 2). His little story arc was cool, but a side story at best and really just a mutated shadow of the Shredder's former glory.

Its funny, but in the original Mirage TMNT comics, the Shredder's legacy has always been far more important than the character himself, as even across his three different versions, he's only been in a total of seven issues.


EDIT:


Oh yeah, and Vicious, I suppose you missed one:

Archie Shredder.

He was a decent fusion of the Old Toons Shredder and the Mirage Shredder. Menacing but with humorous undertones. He didn't get the opportunity to shine, though, until close to the end of the series when all the Future Turtles stuff started happening. He's not my favorite Shredder, but considering the competition, he's probably my 2nd or 3rd.

Comic Shredder, Uncle Phil Shredder and Movie Shredder are my faves.

I voted for 87 Shredder...as campy and incompetent as he was (much like Original MOTU Skeletor) I grew up loving this incarnation of Shredder with the Movie Shredder/Super Shredder (go Kevin Nash!) being a close second. I haven't watched much of the 2k3 series and didn't like what I saw and less when I learned that Shredder was really an alien. What's wrong with him being a ninja clan lord/criminal mastermind?

Dark Destroyer

Reading Shredder's 2003 cartoon bio on the TMNTPedia I discovered there's a lot of the 2003 cartoon story arc I apparently missed. Was his history covered in the "lost season"? I need to get these on DVD. What a great series!

Utrom Shredder hands (tendrils?) down.

Anyone who didn't vote for Ch'rell isn't paying attention.

This one.

I grew up with Uncle Phil Shredder and Movie Shredder and I love them to death but Ch'rell actually wins just by being the most menacing. The Uncle Phil Shredder is great for the comedy routine and the only time he really came out as menacing is when he blew up the Channel 6 building and it seemed so out of character for him. Movie Shredder almost wins out, but the whole Super Shredder bit just makes me wanna ask them what the heck were they thinking.

Ch'rell played it cool from the beginning. Business man front, control of a ninja clan, a street gang, a mad scientist in his pocket, and his first meeting with one of the turtles he almost convinces Leo to join him. And the supoosed first end with Leo cutting his head off was killer especially since he got up at the end and walked away. That left me goin HUHBAWHATZITGOINON!, and even after the reveal that he was a Krang wannabe it still was intriguing. He had backstory, he had competant help (well better than 2 moron mutants), and even after he was taken out his legacy continued, even if it meant he wasn't the original.

anime Shredder just to be different

For now, I vote Uncle Phil Shredder, as he's the one I grew up on. I haven't watched enough of the 2k3 series to really appreciate Utrom Shredder.

Next Mutation Shredder could possibly be considered the same as Movie Shredder, if you want to get technical.

The Next Mutation followed the continuity of the live action movies. The Turtles lived in the subway lair and Shredder referenced chopping off Splinter's ear, something he only ever did in the Movie continuity.


Of course, no explanation was given as to how Shredder survived being crushed by a pier or why he wasn't Super Shredder anymore.

Then again, it didn't really matter. They wrote Shredder out after the second episode. Venus magically "releases his evil" or whatever and he becomes a good guy. He popped up toward the end of the series as a homeless guy trying to make up for all the bad things he did.

Or something. It's been a while. Next Mutation was really a very bad TV show. If we can thank 2007's TMNT film for ANYTHING, it's that it offered an alternate continuation of the Movie timeline.

I wonder what this thread will look like after "Turtles Forever" airs.

For me it's a tie between 2003 Utrom Shredder and Archie Shredder. When will Mirage release "Forever War"?

Been cancelled. For good this time.

Details are in the thread about Viacom buying the rights to the Turtles. Forever War got killed in the deal, essentially.

Was anyone else creeped out by that video?

Forever War is finished? Dammit, now the Archiverse lacks a true conclusion...

Well, there's always "Year of the Turtle", but most folks like to pretend that one's non-canon because they don't like it.

Dan Slott wrote 'Year of the Turtle', heheh

I don't suppose someone did a fancomic of what Forever War might be, based on the covers Chris Allan did?

You can sorta plot where the story would go. After the first issue (outlined by Chris Allan where Future Don dies bringing the Turtles to the future to stop Shredder from messing with time), the Turtles arrive at a more dystopian future time. One shot villains (Wyrm, the bug exterminator guy, that fake Predator Tox something, maybe evil version of the Chameleon from Archie issues #11-something and #60-something. Armaggon too since he's a time traveller) who make up Shredder's minions capture the Turtles (seen in the cover).

Usual 'master plan explantion' thing then 'death trap' but they're rescued by... the Mutanimals! In the other timeline, they survived being murdered by the Gang of Four. (I guess the cover showed the return in Ninjara but I'd rather have the Mutanimals. Verminator-X would be there as well) Regroup, planning, assault of the citadel/mcguffin which would involve the time portal and control of all time and space.

Ends with a final confrontation between arch enemies Splinter and Shredder (as seen in the final cover). The Turtles have to travel back to their own time to stop Shredder from starting the mess in the first place (with the Mutantimals in tow, thereby altering the fixed timeline where they die). Shredder tries to stop them but Splinter sacrifices himself by hurling both of them into the nexus, trapping himself and Shredder in a time loop, forcing them to fight their 'Forever War' for all eternity.

His last words to the Turtles would be telling them that the usual 'nothing more I could teach you', ' you are now men, no longer teenagers', 'farewell, my sons'. The Turtles (plus Mutanimals) would be back in New York, stopping Shredder's plan but exposing themselves to the media and the world in general (similar to Gargoyles) as Mutant Ninja Turtles. End.

edit - just googled the original covers. It's Golani, Al Falqa, Katmandu who're helping the Turtles. Sarnath might have joined the bad guys. And I forgot about Rat King being in one of the covers.

You know what's funny about the old 87 Shredder? a black man playing a Japanese person.

Yes. Hillarious.

You know what's funny about Looney Tunes?

A human voicing a rabbit.

Hilarious, I tell you.

James Avery seems like an odd choice in voice casting even when playing a white villain like Fang from 1986's anime movie "Fist of the North Star", i dunno why some voice directors chose him to play white or different race characters?

Because it's called VOICE ACTING!

Hint... Cree Summer... Penny from Inspector Gadget, Hyena on Gargoyles, Elmyra on Tiny Toons... she's black too.

So it's funny that a guy has talent and range. Gotcha.

Yeah, really.

Nine times out of ten, race isn't a factor when casting for a cartoon character. The directors just choose whoever's voice sounds right for the part, regardless of the actor's color.

Hell, some times gender doesn't even matter. Peppermint Patty was voiced by a boy in several classic Peanuts specials, and women play young male characters all the time.

I don't know how "ZOMG a black guy playing an asian character in a cartoon!!111!!" is somehow a big deal.

Shredder from the end of Turtles in Time.

Well, in the new "Re-Shelled" version, that's Scottie Ray from the current show.

This. This SO much.

Incidentally, as others have said, I too grew up on 87 Shredder, but he still ranks way down my list now. He's a joke, and nearly impossible to take as a credible threat.



Also this, so very much. Plus the Archie bit. Pity he never got to don his own Cyber Samurai armor.

Or that we'll ever see how his story ends.



Nothing; he still was.



Next Mutation had a lot of great ideas and cool concepts, usually with a lot of bad execution.

--LBD "Nytetrayn"

Well ok so race and gender doesn't matter in voice acting! much like June Foray usually would play young boy characters like Rocky the flying squirrel. And you gotta be kiddin', a boy playing Peppermint Patty? WOW! i never knew, i also never knew how butch she sounded like.

...okay, after Turtles Forever, I will admit that Ch'rell is a pretty awesome Shredder. Holy crap.

Seriously, of every Shredder I've ever seen, Ch'rell is the most worthy of the name.

Anyone who prefers the '87 version isn't interested in a villain, but in comic relief, in my opinion.

You want a legitimate threat? You want 2K3.

I still want a figure of that version. Even his action figure is better than the ones for the original.

And that video needs to go on YouTube.

--LBD "Nytetrayn"

Definitely Ch'Rell.

I tried posting it on YouTube, but because of the scenes from the 87 show, it doesn't work in the US.

Live Video pulled it, so here it is:

Now you've really got me wanting to see what kind of video you'd make for Megabyte...

Another awesome one, Vicious. Especially the special guest appearance in the middle there.

While it put into perspective how silly Old Toon Shredder was, it also showed how freakin' badass 2k3 Shredder and just how absolutely epic the 2k3 series was in its prime. I need to go back and rewatch "Shredder Strikes", "Shredder Strikes Back" and "Return to New York".

Them's some damn good cartoons.

Yeah. I'm going through the 2k3 series (Well, up through season five) right now. Just got through Shredder Strikes the other day. Holy jive he's badass.

Well that decided my vote, Ch'rell it is.


Now I wish I'd watched the 2k series, guess I'll hafta go to Youtube when I have time.

I agree that Ch'rell is the best, but I think some kind of honorable mention should go to the Tengu Shredder. I thought he was really cool as well.