Shredder (Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles)

Oroku Saki / The Shredder
Shredder in the first TMNT comic.
Publication information
Publisher	Mirage Studios,Image Comics, and IDW Publishing.
First appearance	Eastman and Laird's Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles #1 (May 1984)
Created by	Kevin Eastman Peter Laird
In-story information
Alter ego	Oroku Saki (traditionally) Raphael (Image comics) Ch'rell/Oroku Saki (2003 series) Oroku Yoshi (Mirage Volume 4) Eric Sacks (Nintendo 3DS)
Team affiliations	Foot Clan
Abilities	Genius-level intellect Master strategist, tactician, manipulator and deceiver Peak physical condition Mastery of martial arts, ninjutsu and hand-to-hand combat Highly skilled in stealth Immense strength, speed, durability and reflexes Limited invulnerability Claws and blades on armor can cut through almost anything

Oroku "The Shredder" Saki is a fictional character in the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles comics and all of its related media. At one point or another in every incarnation of the TMNT stories, he has been the archenemy and rival of Splinter and the turtles, and usually serves as the main villain. He is the leader of the criminal organization known as the Foot Clan

Shredder's physical appearance remains fairly consistent in most incarnations of the character. Saki is a muscular Japanese man, most frequently seen in "the Shredder" persona, wearing a suit of armor vaguely based on that of a samurai, sometimes with a cape. The armor consists of blade-covered metal plaques on his shoulders, forearms, hands (sometimes just his left hand, because he is left-handed), and shins; he wears a purple, gray, blue, or red robe that variously appears to be simple fabric or a form of chain mail. He also tends to wear a metal helmet with a trident-shaped ornament on top, and a metal ninja style mask which covers his face, leaving only his eyes visible. In the 2003 TMNT series, the Shredder is a red alien Utrom named Ch'rell, who utilized an indestructible exo-suit to disguise himself as a human named Oroku Saki.

Kevin Eastman got the idea for Shredder's armor from large trapezoidal cheese graters which he envisioned on a villainous character's (originally named "The Grater" or "Grate Man") arms. He then said, "Could you imagine a character with weapons on his arms like this?" While Peter Laird suggested the name The Shredder. Although Shredder is often depicted as the main antagonist in the Ninja Turtles franchise, it was never the creators' intention to be the case in his original inception in the Mirage Comics:

In truth, though many TMNT fans who became fans via the first animated series see Shredder as a REALLY important part of an ongoing, long-running battle with the Turtles, I don't think Kevin or I ever did. Yes, he was an important part of their history, and they probably would not have come into existence without his involvement in their world (or more accurately Splinter's world)... but that's about it. Other than bringing Shredder back for "Return to New York" (and the few issues preceding that set that arc up), I never missed him in any of the other TMNT books I worked on.