"Superfly seems to be building something. I mean, we're talking Gru/Megamind-type stuff. He's knocking off insanely highly technical shipments. State of the art. Incredibly expensive. And he pays off thugs to do his dirty work so he can stay completely under the radar. Nobody's ever seen his face...Because he kills everyone who does."
— April O'Neil on Superfly, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayhem
These heroes in a half-shell, since May 1984 have encountered multiple characters who are willing to not just use their force in combat, but also possess enough intelligence to plan very well to show that they are incredible masterminds.
All spoilers are unmarked. You Have Been Warned!
Comics
- Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (Mirage): Karai is the leader of the Japanese branch of the Foot Clan. After the Turtles kill the Shredder, the NYC branch of the Foot falls into chaos, breaking up into factions that begin to fight each other. Karai is sent to NYC to restore order to the Foot. Karai learns about the Turtles and offers them a truce with the Foot if they help end the war. The most dangerous faction in the war, a group of zealots loyal to the Shredder, calling themselves the Shredder Elite are intent on killing the Turtles and the rest of the Foot. Karai confronts the Elite, wearing the Shredder's armor and orders the Elite to kill themselves, with one of them complying and leaving the others shocked enough for the Turtles to launch a surprise attack. When one of the Elite is about to kill Karai, she manages to impale him with a broken lamp. With the Elite dead, the war is over. However Karai remains morally ambiguous, secretly dressing up her ninjas as the Turtles in training sessions, musing about killing the Turtles when they are in a helpless state and provoking a war between the Foot and some inter dimensional warriors. When Karai hires Leonardo to protect her from one of these warriors, Karai conceals the truth about their feud from Leonardo and plans to execute the warrior after Leonardo defeats him.
- Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Legend Soul Winter: Oroku Saki AKA Shredder, as presented in this darker take on TMNT franchise, is a powerful Japanese Samurai lord, who has a long history with the Turtles and Splinter. Being their sworn enemy, Shredder at one point has a mental fight with Splinter, solely to draw him out to the open, so that Shredder could surround them with his Foot Clan warriors. Managing to quickly overwhelm them, Shredder decided to let them go, enjoying feeling of victory and desiring to feel it again in the future. Sensing that Splinter summoned a great God of the animals, Animus, to cure one of the wounded turtles, Shredder immediately tracks down their location and after easily apprehending an attacking Mutant Turtle, healed the wounded Turtle and when asked why, he answered "Everything beautiful... bleeds".
- Mighty Morphin Power Rangers/Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles:
- The Shredder is the dangerous, ruthless, and honorable leader of the Foot Clan. After he manipulates the undercover Green Ranger Tommy into a trap and steals his Dragonzord, Shredder teams with Rita Repulsa to take down their collective foes. Shredder works with Rita to remove the Power Rangers' abilities and unleash monsters on the Turtles, before personally using a Zord to try to wipe them out himself. Though beaten, Shredder is willing to go out fighting, and later flees from Rita's alliance when he discovers she has teamed with Kraang to enslave humanity. Proclaiming that Earth belongs to him and no one else, Shredder allies with the Turtles and Rangers to fight off the invading Dimension X armies, and regularly goes out of his way to save his allies. Ultimately using a Zord to take down Kraang's giant robot form, Shredder saves the world with the heroes and, though he parts ways amicably with the Turtles, he reveals he has allied with Lord Zedd to further scheme the conquest of Earth.
- Rita Repulsa is a charming enchantress whose skills for subterfuge and manipulation are more competent than ever. Rita first duels Shredder for the Dragonzord he stole from Tommy before the villains decide to work together, leading the Power Rangers into an ambush and removing their powers before unleashing monsters that nearly kills the Turtles. When their initial plan is defeated, Rita takes the opportunity to coerce Shredder into escaping with her to Dimension X, the witch having her own plans to use its advanced technology and an alliance with Kraang to win the day. Rita betrays Shredder and teams with Kraang to invade Earth, staging a variety of assaults and transforming minions into powerful mutants to weaken Earth's defenses. Deducing that Casey Jones has faked his allegiance to her, Rita transforms him into her puppet and uses him to nearly eliminate the Turtles and pave the way for Dimension X's victory.
- Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: The Last Ronin: Michelangelo, the last Ronin, is the last surviving member of the Hamato clan and seeks to avenge the deaths of his family. Through sheer cunning and perseverance, Michelangelo builds up his skills to become a brilliant but utterly ruthless fighter to defeat his family's killers. Michelangelo seeks out and tracks the ruthless Olgoi-Khorkhoi/Death Worm, through his minions before killing Olgoi-Khorkhoi in a duel. Using his skills and strategy to fight his family's killer Shredder 2.0, Michelangelo ruthlessly dismantles his empire by taking out his defenses and mooks. Eventually fighting Shredder himself in pitched combat, Michelangelo defeats him in a Mutual Kill before passing on and reuniting with his family in the afterlife.
Series
- Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (2003): Agent John Bishop is the leader and founder of the Earth Protection Force, an anti-alien task force Bishop designed after undergoing trauma and experimentation at the hands of aliens. Believing that all aliens and mutations are enemies of humanity, Bishop keeps himself alive for centuries to secure humanity's "safety", creating an entire clone army under the U.S. government's nose and even successfully staging an alien invasion to gain more funding for the EPF. Bishop is as dangerous in combat as he is in strategy, as he dances around entire groups of trained combatants including the Turtles, Karai and Hun, always using nothing but his surroundings and quick-thinking to get the upper hand and keep up. By the year 2105, Bishop has come to see the error in his hatred of all aliens, and develops a peace treaty between several alien worlds and Earth, becoming the beloved President of the new galactic federation and keeping the peace with a gentle but firm hand.
- Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (2012):
- Savanti Romero is a brilliant, suave former Time Master who seeks control of all of time and space. Attempting to seize control of the Time Scepter, Savanti causes chaos to lure the turtles into a trap and seize it. Defeated, Savanti lays a trap to attack Renet and take her time travel device to recruit all of history's most famous supernatural monsters and help reshape humanity into monsters. Savanti manipulates the Pharaoh into his service and later preys on the emotions of both Dr. Frankenstein and Frankenstein's Monster to get them to do his bidding. Forcing Count Dracula under his wing, Savanti ultimately plans to transform all of humanity into monsters like himself.
- Count Dracula is the vampire lord himself, who allies with Savanti to conquer all of time. Having reigned over Transylvania for ages, Dracula agrees to an alliance with Savanti Romero and turns Raphael into his thrall, using him to outwit the rest of the Turtles regularly. After hypnotizing Frankenstein's Monster into joining them, Dracula turns Casey and April into vampires and begins spreading his vampirism across New York, using his servants' knowledge of the Turtles to ambush their hideout. Dracula schemes to betray Savanti and turn all of humankind into vampires, and he nearly succeeds, before deciding to instead put aside their differences and destroy the Turtles together.
- "The Tale of Tiger Claw": Alopex is Tiger Claw's long lost sister who seeks revenge on her sibling for their past. Mutated into her current form by Utroms, Alopex was pressured by Tiger Claw into becoming a criminal for years, until her conscience pushed her to betray and nearly murder her brother, slicing off his tail in the process. Years later, Alopex returns to New York to finish Tiger Claw off, stealing the Cursed Blades of Vengeance and testing them out on Casey with plans to curse Tiger Claw with them. Though initially an enemy of the Turtles as well, Alopex winds up teaming with them to take down Tiger Claw and save Casey's life, and though Alopex ultimately lets go of her hatred for Tiger Claw, she nonetheless slices his arm off when he tries to take advantage of her mercy.
- Rise of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles' "Bad Hair Day": The yokai masseur is a spa and resort employee who's secretly a thief and a Mad Scientist. Plotting to rob the Hirsuté Resort and Spa's guests, the masseur convinces Leonardo into trying out his personal hair tonic so he'll be accepted into the club. Once Leo grows a seemingly sentient wig, the masseur sneaks into the club, hiding in plain sight while the hair on Leo's scalp manipulates his body into sleepwalking and pillaging the guests all while no one notices. After Leo discovers their schemes and apprehends the masseur and the wig, the wig scurries onto the masseur's head instead, thus making it appear like he's innocent and Leo is guilty; Leo is immediately sent to jail while the masseur and his hair are rewarded with all the valuables they stole.
Films (Western Animation & Live Action)
- TMNT: Max Winters was once the conquering warlord Yaotl, who laid siege to the world over in his successful domination. After a ritual to harness the Stars of Kikan granted him immortality but doomed his armies, Yaotl spent millennia taking part in civilizations that rose and fell until establishing his current business empire as Winters. Reviving his four stone Generals and conscripting the Foot clan, Winters seeks to round up the 13 monsters the ritual unleashed and return them to their home dimension so as to atone for his crimes. When betrayed by his Generals, Winters allies with the Turtles and helps take them down, saving the world in the process and finally ending Winters' curse of immortality, which he accepts with joy, happy to finally be able to die in peace.
- Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayhem: Superfly is the master criminal terrorizing New York, with plans on global domination for his kind. Once an ordinary house fly who was mutated by Baxter Stockman, Superfly witnessed his creator die in front of him, and after raising his fellow mutants as a family, Superfly was subject to extreme prejudice by humankind. Determined to gain acceptance for all mutants, Superfly begins a highly successful crime wave to steal technology across New York, eliminating anyone who sees his face and keeping his true identity a secret. Superfly plans to use his scientific mind to build a device that will transform all animal life on Earth into mutants, becoming the dominant species over humanity. When the Turtles and his family turn on him, Superfly fights them all to a standstill, and even when his machine is broken, Superfly utilizes the mutagen inside to become a gigantic monster that nearly destroys New York with his own two hands.
Video Games
- Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Shredder's Revenge: The Shredder, once again the nefarious leader of the Foot Clan, comes up with a plan to finally destroy the Turtles and conquer New York. Launching yet another invasion, he has his minions recover scattered pieces of Krang's suit, forcing the Turtles to give chase after him. Interfering himself multiple times, he fights them himself before revealing that the whole chase was a diversion for his real plan, which was to convert the Statue of Liberty into a giant mech to crush the Turtles. Even when they triumph over it, Shredder pulls out a vial of Mutagen and transforms himself into Super Shredder, fighting them in one last brutal fight.
