Krang

For other uses, see Krang (disambiguation).

Krang
Krang inside his mechanical suit
Publication information
Created by	Kevin Eastman Peter Laird
In-story information
Team affiliations	Foot Clan

Krang is a fictional supervillain who appears in the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles TV shows and most frequently in the 1987 STH cartoon and its associated media, such as the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Adventures comic book and most of the classic TMNT video games.

Krang's first comics appearance was in Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Adventures vol. 1, #1, published by Archie Comics in August 1988. In the TV series, Krang was voiced by Pat Fraley.

Biography

Prior to the start of the 1987 Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles cartoon, Krang was in command of an army of Rock Soldiers under the leadership of General Traag, and took the completed Technodrome, a powerful mobile battle fortress, and banished Von Drakus who helped Krang build it to Earth. When he was banished from Dimension X, Krang was stripped of his body and reduced to a brain-like form.

While on Earth, Krang allied himself with the Shredder, who, along with his robotic Foot Soldier army, moved into the Technodrome. In exchange, the Shredder had to design and build a new body for Krang, a human-shaped exo-suit. Shredder lived up to his part of the bargain in the season 1 episode Shredder was Splintered, in no small part because he was unable to deal with the Turtles and needed Krang's help. Indeed, in the season 3 episode Shredderville, the Turtles have a dream of a parallel world in which they never lived, and Shredder had no problem taking over the world. In this world, Shredder abandoned Krang after his conquest was complete, leaving him with no body and a heavily-damaged Technodrome.

Krang's ultimate goal is to take over the Earth; it probably only became his objective after he was exiled on the Earth, but this point is never made clear. Every plan Krang conceives is either aimed at that goal, or towards the short-term objective of powering-up the Technodrome. He does not share Shredder's obsession with the Turtles and Splinter; while Shredder sees them as mortal enemies, Krang seems to regard them more like annoyances to be destroyed when they interfere in his plans.

Counting from the first meeting between the Turtles and Shredder and Krang, Krang spent seven seasons in the Technodrome, either somewhere on Earth or in Dimension X, scheming to power up his battle fortress and take over the Earth. Eventually the Turtles managed to banish the Technodrome back to Dimension X without Krang and Shredder. At that point they began operating out of an old science building. Krang and Shredder eventually returned to the Technodrome in the season 8 episode Turtle Trek, but the Turtles destroy the engines of the Technodrome, trapping it and its inhabitants in Dimension X and putting an end to Krang's plans.

Krang spent the next two years in Dimension X, until he was contacted by Dregg. Dregg arranged for him and Shredder to come back to Earth, to help him fight the Turtles. However, Dregg betrays them, and drains Krang's intelligence. Shredder escapes and restores Krang, but Dregg captures them again. Finally, the Turtles spoil his plan and transport Shredder and Krang back to Dimension X.

In the series finale, Divide and Conquer, the Turtles return to the Technodrome to take Krang's android body, which they need to fight Dregg. Krang is nowhere to be seen, but it is assumed that he is still somewhere in Dimension X.

In the Archie Comics series, Krang was depicted as far more evil and wicked than in the cartoon. He was said to have the blood of whole races on his hands, like Wingnut and Screwloose's home planet Huanu.

Abilities

Krang used a large, bulky, powerful mechanical body. Krang rested inside a cockpit within the torso. Originally, the suit had a microchip installed that allowed both Krang and the robot to change his size to near Godzilla proportions. This chip was subsequently destroyed in the first episode the suit debuted, though it was apparently repaired in a later episode in which the suit is brought to life by a computer chip from a videogame being played by Bebop and Rocksteady, only for the robot's entire body to be destroyed by a powerful explosive developed by an at the time amnesiac Shredder after Michaelangelo managed to take control of the machine via his own copy of the same game, though he obviously found a way to somehow repair it in Turtles Forever, as he again uses its ability to increase in size. The Utrom Shredder Ch'Rell co-opted this technology and quickly defeated Krang in direct hand to hand combat in a matter of seconds.

Even without the microchip, the exosuit had many capabilities. The hands could shapeshift into various weapons (axes, maces, pincers) and even a communication device. In later episodes, however, Krang could be seen changing his arms from a collection of different types he had in his personal quarters aboard the Technodrome. Krang's suit also could "grow" jet wings in place of his arms, which he used to manage a quick escape with Shredder in its first appearance.

Krang also occasionally employed a machine he referred to as a 'walker'. This device was primarily a set of mechanical legs attached to a platform with either glass or some form of transparent but protective covering through which Krang could see, and holes for him to extend his tentacles through so that he could manipulate objects. This particular mode of transport was the version used for the first toy of Krang produced by the toy company Playmates. There were also two toys of Krang and his android body, one a large-scale figure and the other in in scale with the regular-sized figures. Both came with removable Krang figures.

Utroms

Krang's physical appearance was inspired by the Utroms from the original TMNT comic book and in the 2003 animated series there is an Utrom named Krang. However, in the 1987 cartoon, Krang is not an Utrom. There are several important differences:

• The Utroms come from another planet in the Milky Way galaxy, while in the 1987 cartoon Krang comes from Dimension X.
• The Utroms are naturally brain-like aliens, while in the first animated series Krang is an alien who has been stripped of his body and left with only his brain.
• Krang never refers to himself as an Utrom, nor does anyone else, in the 1987 version.

In the 1987 animated series, Krang's natural physical shape is not brain-like, and when he cloned himself in Invasion of the Krangazoids, his clones, though initially brain-creatures like himself, continued developing until they had complete bodies, leading to the thought that Krang's true form is a large reptilian creature. However, in yet another episode (The Four Musketurtles), members of Krang's species appeared in a flashback looking just like him without the body, using bubble-walkers like his own to move. This is considered to be one of multiple mistakes within the series, and has been contradicted many times on the show. 

The Dan Berger run on the TMNT comic strip in the mid-1990s indicated that Krang was indeed an Utrom criminal.

While the race of Utroms were not in any way part of the 1987 cartoon, other than being represented by Krang, they would appear in the 2003 TMNT series. Krang of the 1987 universe comes face to face with the Utrom Shredder during Turtles Forever. Krang is initially pleased with his resemblance to the Shredder's Utrom form.

Other series

Krang was supposed to appear in Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles 2: The Secret of the Ooze under the false identity of Professor Jordan Perry but it was scrapped though he did make a very brief cameo on a triangular pyramid while the professor put the canistar of ooze on the holder. He also made a cameo appearance in the 2003 series as an Utrom in the episode "Secret Origins Part 3". As the Utroms are walking to the transmat to go home one of them complains, "I hate walking on my tentacles". Then, another Utrom replies "Oh, shut up, Krang!". This Krang was voiced by Wayne Grayson.

Krang also appeares in the 2009 crossover movie, Turtles Forever, in which he, Shredder and the turtles from the 1987 show end up in the 2003 universe. Although Shredder was able to find his 2003 counterpart, he was unable to find Krang's, even though he exists in this universe (albeit as a regular, non-evil Utrom). Krang is voiced here by Bradford Cameron.

Krang appears briefly in the 2011 fan film Casey Jones.

Video games

Krang frequently appears in TMNT games as either a final boss or the penultimate boss, as the final boss before fighting Shredder.

• In the first arcade game (and the version ported to the NES), he is one of the bosses of the final Technodrome stage. He is the penultimate boss of the game.
• In Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Fall of the Foot Clan, he is the final boss, rather than Shredder.
• In Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles III: The Manhattan Project, he is once again the penultimate boss.
• In Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles II: Back from the Sewers, he has two boss battles. The first is at the end of the third level, where he fights the Turtles in his walker. He is also the final boss, and fights the Turtles in his exosuit.
• In Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Turtles in Time, Krang initially makes an appearance in the opening, using his giant-sized exosuit to steal the Statue of Liberty. The exosuit appears once again in its giant form on the opening stage, "Big Apple: 3 AM", and near the end of the game he has two boss battles. The Turtles face him first at the end of "Neon Night Riders", and destroy his exosuit. The Turtles face him again in "Starbase: Where No Turtle Has Gone Before", where with his exosuit destroyed, Krang instead flies an archetypal flying saucer. In the XBLA remake, Krang is voiced by Wayne Grayson.
• In Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: The Hyperstone Heist, he is the mid-level boss of the final stage, featuring the exosuit.
• In the Mega Drive/Genesis version of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Tournament Fighters, Krang appears as a non-playable boss with his exosuit.

Utroms

In Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Smash-Up, an Utrominator (from the 2003 episode Same As It Never Was) is a player character. It features a visible Utrom inside the stomach cavity of the suit, it is a homage to Krang.

External links

• Krang's profile on the Official TMNT website.
• Krang's Android Body on X-Entertainment.
• Krang - A Tribute on The Rubber Chicken.