Slash (Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles)

Slash
Publication information
Publisher	Archie Comics
First appearance	1990
Created by	Kevin Eastman
In-story information
Alter ego	Spike
Team affiliations	Foot Clan Mighty Mutanimals Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles
Notable aliases	Fifth Turtle
Abilities	Superhuman breath, durability, hearing, sight, smell, speed, strength Incredible stamina and agility Master of stealth Expert in a variety of weapons Expert hand-to-hand combat High temper Highly skilled in ninjutsu

Slash is a fictional character in the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles comics and all related media. He was created by Kevin Eastman.

Comic books

Archie Comics

He appeared in the Archie comics series as part of a snapping turtle alien species. He lived on a tropical planet that was destroyed by alien invaders. Slash soon met Krang and made a deal with him to help him back to Earth. Under Krang's leadership, Slash fought the turtles while Krang sought a new body: Shredder's body.

He met the Mighty Mutanimals in the last issue of their regular series, and eventually befriended them. After they were killed by the cyborg Gang of Four on behalf of Null, the demonic archenemy of the Mutanimals, Slash accompanied the Turtles and their time-travelling future counterparts to avenge their deaths, and ultimately sacrificed himself to save the Turtles when Maligna, Nulls partner and queen of the murderous Malignoid insect race, intended to destroy the Earth, by plunging Maligna's hive-ship into the sun.

IDW Comics

Slash is an experiment of Stockgen's that is freed due to April O'Neil's diversion to grab their Turtle Tracker. He punches out one of Krang's Rock Soldiers and escapes the lab into the night. Before leaving, he takes a miniature palm tree from the tank.

Prior to his escape, Slash, then called Specimen 6, was a snapping turtle that was injected with mutagen from DNA of a mutant cat named Old Hob to turn him into another mutant to hunt down the Turtles and Splinter. As Specimen 6's size and strength increased, his mind became unstable and he turned savage which led him to be contained.

After his escape from Stockgen's, Specimen 6 lurked around New York as a mindless monster damaging property, scaring, and injuring people. The beast was called "Slash" for his slashing rampage. Slash's latest attacks were striking at Michelangelo's pizza delivery friend Woody with minor injuries and leaving claw marks on April's van.

Slash spotted the Turtles and decided to follow them after ripping off the black shirt of a thug the Turtles have just beaten and turning it into a mask similar to the Turtles. He followed them all the way to an abandoned church which the Turtles take as their new home. Slash then starts to attack them in the basement of the bunker shelter of the church. His strength and speed were too much for the Turtles even when they temporarily subdue him. When Slash was about to kill an unconscious Michelangelo, Leonardo threw a shuriken at him to get his attention. Leo tried to reason with Slash that they were experimented at Stockgen's too, but the reckless beast jumped him and was accidentally impaled by one of Leo's swords. Slash pulled out Leo's sword and ripped off his mask then fell into the sewer system of the basement as he gave in to his wound.

Slash is revealed to have survived and is washed ashore. He is awakened by Old Hob who tells Slash that they should team up together to hunt everyone in Stockmen's. The mutant cat became responsible for Slash's actions thereafter, and Slash—perhaps understanding that Hob had no desire to hurt him—followed him faithfully. Later on, during the City Fall arc, Michelangelo gives Slash a candy bar which he instantly falls in love with, Therefore an forming an lasting admiration for Michelangelo. Because of this, Slash helps the turtles escape from one of Shredder's traps. He was an integral part of the mission to reclaim Leonardo from the Foot Clan, and developed a strong antipathy towards Hun, whom he knew as the "Dragon Man." At the mission's conclusion, he was given a new black mask by Leonardo, as well as a bladed gauntlet.

Slash's life changed forever when Hob began producing new mutants, but discovered that Lindsey Baker's psychotropic compound was crucial to the process. He took a syringe of Splinter's compound-infused blood, declaring that he wanted to be a "hero" like Michelangelo. Mikey tried to reassure Slash that he himself was not even a hero and that the two of them were both still just children, but Slash injected himself anyway. After a few minutes of agonizing pain, he suddenly began to think more clearly and speak more eloquently than before. With his new intelligence, he became the co-founder of Hob's new mutant army, the Mutanimals, and was involved in Hob and Splinter's attack on the Foot Clan.

Another turning point came shortly after Slash's hero Michelangelo was briefly inducted into the Mutanimals, much to Slash's delight. However, he was horrified to discover that Hob had been stockpiling weapons in a secret warehouse and had hired Hun to handle the matters for him. As a result, he broke ties with the Mutanimals, despite his enduring fondness for them. When Mikey offered to let Slash stay with him in his family's old lair under the church, Slash declined, saying that he needed to spend some time as his own master, but that Mikey would always be his hero.

Despite striking out alone, Slash reunited with both the Mutanimals and the Turtles the following Christmas. He brought an assortment of candy bars, and his very presence terrified Woody Dirkins despite his now-friendly demeanor.

Television

1987 TV series

This version is Bebop's ordinary pet turtle that was mutated by Rocksteady to carry out the assignment that Shredder wanted them to do. In this incarnation his obsession with palm trees was in particularly focused on the plastic tree in his bowl before mutation which he called his "Binky". When Bebop accidentally dropped it down an air duct, Slash went berserk and stole Shredder's Shaolin swords and then chased them through the Technodrome before going to Earth due to some quick thinking on Bebop's part. There, Slash ran into a corrupt businessman that wanted to build condos in the sewers. After being thwarted by the TMNT, the businessman decided to tarnish the Turtles' reputations, deciding to send Slash to smash the Freedom Bell (a patriotic landmark in the city), which would give the Turtles a bad name. The Turtles eventually found Slash, who was able to take on all four of them himself. He was eventually sent into space aboard a trash rocket, but the trash contained a small plastic palm tree, so he was content.

Slash returned in "Donatello Trashes Slash" where he ran into an alien race of super-intelligent beings that hooked Slash up to a machine that gave him genius level intelligence (gaining a British accent as prominent evidence). He returned to Earth with all sorts of fancy weaponry and equipment of his own design and planning to turn everyone on the planet into turtles so that he would be the number one supreme turtle. Slash managed to turn Vernon Fenwick and Burne Thompson into turtles and was planning to use the Channel 6 satellite dish to turn the entire city into turtles. Donatello tricked Slash by telling him that if he just turned the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles into humans, then Slash would be the only mutated turtle. When Slash tried to blast Don, the heroic turtle threw Vernon and Burne into the way to revert them to normal. As Slash fought the Ninja Turtles, he fell off the roof and onto the street, which reverted him back to his low-level (even more so) intelligence. The Ninja Turtles led him back to the trash rocket and sent him back to space.

In "Night of the Rogues," Slash (alongside Rat King, Leatherhead, Tempestra, Antrax, Scumbug, and Chrome Dome) is enlisted by Shredder to help defeat the Ninja Turtles. After their payment was destroyed, Slash and the other villains eventually ran off.

2012 TV series

In the series, he was introduced Raphael pet box turtle Spike, who used to listen to his owner's angry ranting about his troubles with his family for the majority of his life, and also learned ninjutsu by watching Raphael practice in his room. Although no one knew at the time, Spike developed a hatred for the other Turtles, especially Leonardo, who Raphael was at odds with the most, thanks to hearing only Raphael's angry, one-sided rants all his life. Raphael loved Spike and protected him with his life, often being most concerned about him when danger is about. In Slash and Destroy, Spike drinks from a jar of mutagen, mutating into a towering, hulking mutant turtle. When Raphael discovers him, Spike offers to become his new partner, so they can take on the Kraang on their own terms, which worked out very well. Spike also renames himself Slash, and comes to wield a giant mace in battle. To Raphael's horror, however, Slash ferociously beats down Donatello and Michelangelo, believing Raphael doesn't need them. Slash's murderous spree nearly claims Mikey's life, until Raphael finally confronts him, calling him a "freak". Hurt and angered, Slash engages his former owner, but is defeated and falls off of a rooftop. He survives and retreats into the night, though the incident leaves Raphael with a lasting regret.

Slash is later seen being kept as a prisoner of the Kraang in Metalhead Rewired. When Metalhead frees him and the other captured mutants, he takes part in the battle to ensure everyone's escape. During the fight, he saves Raphael from a Kraang and respectfully nods before fleeing back to New York. Slash would end up captured again in Newtralized, but is saved by the Newtralizer. Slash pledges his brotherhood to the Newtralizer, and together they embark on a violent but effective crusade against the Kraang. However, it's revealed that Slash, in spite of his dislike of the other turtles, still shares the same beliefs they were taught regarding the protection of the innocent (though is much more brash and violent about his methods), showing him to be more of an anti-hero who genuinely wants to defeat the Kraang and save humanity. This puts him at odds with the amoral Newtralizer, who is prepared to destroy New York and kill all humans to defeat the Kraang, pressuring Slash to help him since they are "brothers". Realizing the position he put Raphael in, he ends up siding with the Turtles against the Newtralizer, who tries to destroy them all. The Newtralizer is defeated, and Slash makes amends with Raphael, but respectfully declines his offer to rejoin the Turtles before departing. In the season finale, Raphael expresses concern regarding Slash's status during the Kraang invasion of New York.

Slash made his return in Battle for New York, where he leads the Mighty Mutanimals, consisting of Leatherhead as the 2nd in command, Tyler Rockwell the brains, and Piegon Pete the spy/decoy. He was first seen fighting the Kraang that were pursuing the turtles. Despite both Raph and Mikey's support Leo is shown to distrust him, considering the last encounters they fought. However, with counsel from Jack Krutzman and Splinter, the two were able to overcome their differences and work together to stop the Kraang from mutating Earth and saving New York's citizen trapped in Dimension X. Slash explains that since his mutation, his mind has become much more stable; in other words, the mutagen had affected his mind, leaving him one-tracked. He told an impressed Leonardo that he tried to model himself after the best leader he knew-Leo himself.

The Mutanimals confronted Tigerclaw in Clash of the Mutanimals, but were easily defeated by the Shredder's lieutenant. Slash and Rockwell would be taken back to the Foot's headquarters, where Baxter Stockman administered a worm embedded with his experimental mind control serum. Slash and Rockwell were turned into sleeper agents that were rescued by their friends, but viciously attacked them once they were brought to the Turtles' lair. The two kidnapped Raphael and had him turned into a sleeper agent as well, but the Turtles, Leatherhead, and Pete were able to free the three from the Shredder's control. All eight mutants then assaulted Shredder, and Slash defeated him by crushing him under a statue before the group retreated. Slash then made amends with Splinter, who he had earlier attacked while under the Shredder's control.

In "Dinosaurs Seen In Sewers", while on the trail of a supposed "dino-man" in the sewers, Slash and Rockwell encountered the genuine article: a crazed, alien Triceraton scout named Zog. Slash and Rockwell were quickly subdued by the alien, and Rockwell warned the Turtles about Zog's presence in the sewers before getting the two of them to the lair, where they healed from their injuries. They recover enough to join the battle against the Triceraton Empire in the season finale "Annihilation: Earth", alongside many of the Hamato Clan's allies, but their combined might is still no match for the alien invasion. Slash is captured by the Triceratons and ends up being sucked into the black hole that destroys Earth, killing him. However, Professor Honeycutt rescued the Turtles from this event and then traveled back in time to six months earlier in order to prevent it from occurring. Ultimately, the Turtles are able to change the timeline and save Slash and the rest of the world in "Earth's Last Stand".

In "The Big Blowout" (the last episode of the Crossover Tales saga), Slash and the Mutanimals were enlisted by the Turtles, April, Casey, Karai and Shinigami to put an end to Bebop (Anton Zeck) and Rocksteady (Ivan Steranko).

Video games

Slash appeared in two video games. The first was Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles III: The Manhattan Project for the NES, as one of the mini bosses. He jumps off the back of Bebop's truck. Here Slash fights with a long kris, and leaps around the screen, making him hard to hit. He also enters his shell and rolls up and down along the screen.

He returns in Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles IV: Turtles in Time, the SNES version of the 4-player arcade game of similar name. He is the boss of the Prehistoric stage, replacing the Cement Man boss from the arcade version. Considered one of the hardest bosses of the game, he slices with his kris in combo attacks and can block the player's attacks. If Slash blocks too often, he suddenly busts out rolled in a ball, knocking the player to the floor.

In both appearances, Slash is based more on his action figure design and original concept, than on his cartoon version. In addition to his kris, and unlike the other turtles, he has a pair of twin metal claws attached to a band on his hand.

Slash also appears as a boss in the 2014 3DS game, voiced by André Sogliuzzo.

Action figures

Slash was made into an action figure as part of the 1990 Playmates Toys set.

A new Slash action figure has been released by Playmates Toys in 2014 as part of the basic figure set. The biography claimed that Slash's team is the Kraang, even though he is an enemy to them. There will also be a 3-Pack action figure that features Spike (along with Ice Cream Kitty and Dr. Cluckingsworth M.D.).

External links

• Slash at Comic Vine