Splinter

Splinter's History

Born in Japan into a peacekeeping ninja clan called The Hamato Clan, Hamato Yoshi enrolled into a Martial Arts school before he could inherit his father's role as clan leader. His skills were only rivaled by fellow student Oroku Saki, who was Yoshi's adoptive brother, originally from one of the wiped out rival clans, the Foot. Not only were they rivals in Martial Arts but also for the love of a beautiful woman named Tang Shen, who eventually chose to marry Yoshi. Saki could not accept this and once insulted Yoshi in front of her. Yoshi lost his temper and struck Saki to the ground. This attack solidified Saki's hatred for Yoshi and he vowed revenge. During this time, Saki learned of his true heritage and rebuilt the Foot Clan, rechristening himself as "the Shredder". One night, he came to Yoshi's home armed with razor sharp claw weapons and challenged him to a duel to the death. Yoshi accepted, and the two tore through Yoshi's home, catching it on fire. Just as Saki was about to kill Yoshi, Shen interfered and took the fatal blow for herself. Yoshi escaped without knowing the fate of his baby daughter Miwa, who Shredder secretly raised as his daughter, Karai.

Yoshi made his way to America and attempted to make a new life in New York City. One day, out of loneliness, he visited a pet store and purchased four baby turtles. Walking home, he bumped into a man and felt off about him, so he decided to follow. He came into an alley and overheard a conversation between two strange men, later shown to be members of the Kraang. His foot spooked a rat hiding in the alley, causing the villains to spot him and attempt to kill him. Yoshi fought back but accidentally broke a canister of Mutagen they were holding in the process, spilling it all over himself and the turtles. Yoshi escaped down a sewer drain, now mutated into a humanoid rat. The turtles also mutated, gaining humanoid bodies and intelligence from Splinter's DNA. Yoshi, knowing that they would be persecuted by humans, took to hiding in the shadows. He kept the turtles and struggled to care for them. Eventually, he found himself and the turtles hunted by unknown creatures. In one battle, he defended his reptilian wards and emerged victorious but he and the turtles were washed away into the sewers. Fortunately, they survived and Splinter was saved by the turtles and they wound up in a place that would become their home.

Splinter adopted these turtles as his sons and students and has raised them in the sewers of New York ever since. He started training them in his Ninjutsu techniques because he knew that, one day, his sons would want to explore the surface, but he knew it would also be dangerous. He took on the name of Splinter and gave the turtles names of painters and sculptors from a book of Renaissance Art that he found in a storm drain.