NAME: Splinter. In the original cartoon, when he was human, he was called Yoshi, He was named Splinter as he could chop through wood with his bare hands, "splintering" the wood. But in the 2003 cartoon, movies he was always called Splinter.
Age: In the all mediums as a rat, he looks like he can be older than 50, however the original toon Splinter looks the youngest. This also takes into account that, when he was the human Yoshi, he looks in his 30s.
Height: 4'10". Slightly smaller than the turtles.
Weapon: Doesn't really have one, unless you count his wooden walking stick.
Good or Bad Guy?: Good guy.
No. of appearances?: Appears in every TMNT movie and almost every cartoon episode, appears in most TMNT comics.
Words that Describe Splinter: wise, all-knowing, calm, collected, defender, pacifist, ninjitsu expert, kind, generous, loving, sharp-minded, intuitive, magical, uncanny, hypnotist, reliable, enlightened, unaggressive, stern, strict & educated.
Favourite Quote?: sometimes says in cartoon "the wise turtle always...".
Status: Main Character. Master over the 4 turtles and brilliant Ninjitsu master.
Voiced By: By Peter Reneday for the original cartoon, by Kevin Clash in TMNT movies 1&2, James Murray in TMNT 3. Darren Dunstan in the 2003 cartoon.
TMNT Review HQ Analysis: Splinter is the mentor and father figure to the turtles. He is a master of Ninjitsu, a martial art, and trains the turtles extensively, as they will have to defend for themselves in a world where they are outcasts, and outnumbered vastly by the human population.
He is wise and seems to be rarely scared or frightened in life. He is well-educated and tells the turtles some words of wisdom. The turtles and Splinter met through the situation where the turtles were crawling in ooze in the sewers, and mutated. Since then they have been very close to one another.
The origin story of Splinter varies in the different mediums. In the original cartoon, was actually called Hamato Yoshi when he used to be human and was the leader of the Foot Clan. Shredder,(known as Oroku Saki back then) his arch-nemesis, framed Yoshi for trying to kill the dojo master in Japan. Yoshi then fled to the New York sewers and came mostly in contact with the rats, and because of that, the ooze turned him into this humanized rat. He found the 4 turtles at the scene as well. Splinter called the turtles after his favourite Renaissance artists, Leonardo, Raphael, Michaelangelo & Donatello.
In the comics, Splinter was only ever a rat, and never a human. He was a pet rat of Master Yoshi, and learned his Ninjitsu in his cage. Yoshi was in the brunt of a fierce love-rival for a woman named Tang Shen. He was called Oruku Nagi. Yoshi killed Nagi after he seriously gave Tang Shen a beat-down. For this, Nagi's brother Oruku Saki claimed revenge when he killed the couple, leaving Splinter on his own in the sewers of New York. The mutation is just the same as in the cartoons. To great sadness Splinter dies in issue 10 of Volume 4 of the Mirage comics. He died of natural causes when he was alone.
In the more recent 2003 cartoon, it's more like the origin from the comics, however he was not a member of the Foot Clan here, and no woman anguish. Splinter had a master Yoshi, who was a different person, and got killed by Shredder for defending the alien race of the utroms. It was Hun who Splinter scratched in the face as Yoshi was attacked and not Shredder.
The origin story in the TMNT movies is very similar to the comic one. Except, Nagi is cut out and Shredder(Oruku Saki) has an engraved scar on his face after Splinter attacking him when Yoshi has been slain. Shredder slices off part of Splinter's ear in the process.
Splinter has much resemblence to the Obi-wan Kenobi character in the "Star Wars" movies, with wearing a cloak, detecting an evil unseen presence, and performing mind tricks like hypnotizing and other things that are not of this Earth.
