OOC: Application
Mun
Name: Jenn
Livejournal Username: icelightning
E-mail: icecreamlightning AT gmail DOT com
AIM/MSN: (AIM) IcedNinjaGirlJen
Current Characters at Luceti: N/A
Character
Name: Hamato Splinter
Fandom: Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (2003)
Gender: Male
Age: Technically 20ish; Mentally acts/Physically looks in his 70s
Time Period: After Good Genes
Wing Color: Gray
History: [Note: I'm writing my own history because I want something more comprehensive than what's available.]
Outside History here (See 2003 series).
Splinter started his life as an ordinary feral rat in Japan. He one day entered the house owned by the Ancient One, and instead of being killed, he found himself adopted by that man's daughter, Tang Shen, and his adopted son, Hamato Yoshi. The Ancient One was a powerful ninja and Yoshi followed in his footsteps, surpassing his master in skill. The Ancient One's other adopted son, Yukio Mashimi, grew jealous of the love between Yoshi and Tang Shen, and killed her. Shortly after, after Yoshi avenged her death and due to certain events, Yoshi moved to New York City.
It was Yoshi that taught Splinter everything he knew about Ninjutsu. He learned by watching and mimicking his master's movements as Yoshi practiced within his dojo. Splinter was happy. However, not too long after they had moved to New York City, Yoshi was ambushed and viciously tortured within his own apartment. When he would not give his attackers the information they sought, they slayed him. Splinter attempted to save his beloved master, but was thrown aside after scarring one of the attackers, and could only watch as Yoshi was murdered.
Without a home or a family, Splinter wandered, eventually making his burrow within the sewers.
The day that portion of his life ended was marked by a freak accident. Four hatchling red-eared sliders fell into the sewers and became covered in glowing, green ooze from a broken canister. Splinter felt pity for them and gathered them up in a coffee can. The next morning, Splinter and all four turtles woke up bigger and more intelligent. The infant turtles followed him everywhere, except when he went to the surface to forage. As the turtles grew older, they continued to change and eventually began to walk on their hind legs and speak., and eventually all the turtles were speaking and walking on their hind legs. Splinter, knowing that the surface world would not understand them and that they would need to remain hidden, began teaching the turtles the ways of Ninjutsu. He became their father and sensei.
He named his four sons from a book on Renaissance Art. Leonardo is the leader who always watched over his younger siblings and constantly strove to perfect his ninjutsu. Donatello is and a techie with an interest in archeology, astronomy, languages, robotics, and more. Raphael is the angry hothead that will react first and ask questions later, especially if his family was in danger. Michelangelo, is an immature fan of comic books and video games but equally as skilled as his brothers in Ninjutsu, if not moreso.
When his sons were fifteen, their Lair was attacked by small, evil chocobo-shaped robots with powerful jaws. These 'Mouser' robots destroyed their home and separated the turtles from their father, forcing the turtles to the streets of New York City. There, they faced their first battle against gang members from the Purple Dragons which lead into their first real ninja fight against a group of Foot Clan ninja. When they reunited with Splinter, he lead them to their new home that he had only found a short time previous.
Shortly after, his sons brought home their first human friend, April O'Neil. She was the assistant of the egocentric scientist that had designed the robots, Baxter Stockman, whom had set the bots upon her once she figured out he was using the robots for purposes beyond solving the city's rat problem (such as robbing banks). The turtles rescued her, and after a major misunderstanding and a lot of fainting, she vowed to help the turtles take Stockman down. They managed to destroy his Mouser factory, although he got away. April grows to become a central figure in the Splinter's and the turtles' lives as their first contact with the outside world. Later on, they found out that Baxter was funded by the Foot Clan.
They were eventually introduced to the second central human friend in their lives--Casey Jones. Raph met him after going topside to calm down from losing his anger and nearly braining Mikey during a training session. Raph stopeds him from making a similar mistake, and after a initial animosity, they became fast friends. Splinter only wished that he was a better guest.
Sometime afterwards, a mysterious power outage brought the turtles out of the Lair and into their second skirmish with the Foot Clan. Although the turtles initially were unable to prevent the ninja from stealing a sword from a museum, they were able to later recover it. The leader of this clan, Oroku Saki, otherwise known as the Shredder, was the man who tortured, then killed Splinter's master when Yoshi would not give him the information he desired.
The turtles also met the leader of the notorious Purple Dragons gang, a towering muscular man named Hun. He was one of Yoshi's attackers, and was the one whom Splinter had permanently scarred the face of. They only had extended contact with Hun after Casey got himself captured by the gang and they were forced to save his sorry butt.
Eventually, Saki grew tired of the turtles ruining his plans, and attempted to trick Leonardo into joining him. His brothers followed him and after a huge argument between Leo and Raph, Leonardo came to his senses. They come to Splinter, who informs them of what had happened to his beloved Master Yoshi so many years ago. The next day, Leonardo refused to join Saki, and they found out that Saki is really the Shredder.
A massive battle ensued, and the turtles managed to escape with their lives only to be separated. Leonardo was the last to be reunited with his family and received assistance by a mysterious figure known as a Guardian when he's surrounded by Foot Ninja. Splinter, who had gone out searching for his sons after he realized they had left the lair, accompanied them to face off against the Shredder. He dealt what should have been a fatal blow by dropping an entire water tower on Shredder, but unbeknownst to them, Saki survived.
Later, when the turtles were returning home from deep underground exploration, the Foot were swarming the sewers, and they were all forced to temporarily live in April's apartment. Shredder still managed to find them, and Leonardo was almost fatally beaten by the Foot before Shredder set April's entire building ablaze. The turtles, Splinter, April, and Casey barely managed to escape with their lives as the building explodes. Leonardo pulled through as they recuperated in Northampton, and they eventually returned to New York to finish business with the Shredder. With Shredder falsely believing them dead, they were able to infiltrate his headquarters and, in a climatic "final battle" with help from the Guardians, were able to defeat Shredder, once again falsely believing he wass dead. The turtles use the sword they recovered earlier to permanently fry all technology in Shredder's building.
However, during this battle, Splinter had been gravely injured, and was missing by the time they returned to his last location. The turtles infiltrate the Guardian's stronghold, thinking they may know about Splinter's whereabouts, and discovered both Splinter in stasis and the aliens living within the building. Then, during a fight, they accidentally stepped onto a Transmat device that teleported them to another world. They met up with the Fugitoid, a brilliant scientist stuck in his former robot's body, and protected him from the Tricertops-like Triceratons and the human-like Federation that both want the plans to his Transmat-like device. With it, either would easily win the war against the other. After a long adventure, the turtles and Fugitoid were rescued by being Transmatted back home in the nick of time. They were shocked to find that Splinter was safe and sound, and that the aliens were healing him, not holding him captive.
They learn that the aliens are the peaceful Utroms, and that Shredder was an evil Utrom prisoner that they were transporting. He made them crash land in ancient Japan, created the Foot clan, and indirectly caused the Utroms to develop the Transmat device, which created the ooze responsible for changing Splinter and the turtles. After they learn about their past, the Utroms and Fugitoid used the device to escape from attacks by Shredder and the US military. Shredder was perceived to be dead again.
In the power vacuum left by Shredder, a gang war began that claims many innocent lives. Shredder's adopted human daughter, Karai, came from Japan to lead the Foot and struck a deal with the turtles to help her restore order to New York City. In exchange, she offered to end the Foot's vendetta against the turtles and Master Splinter. They agreed and managed to end the war, but were unaware that Shredder was recuperating in secret. When he recovered, he tried to kill the turtles yet again with a robotic Master Splinter copy, only for the real Splinter and the turtles to defeat it and trace its signal. They managed to destroy the ship that the signal came from, once again fighting the Foot and Shredder, whom once again they believed to be dead.
Sometime afterwards, the turtles followed Splinter when he left to go to another dimension and accidentally entered themselves into a intergalactic fighting tournament, the Battle Nexus Tournament. Splinter was not only a previous champion, but so was Master Yoshi. Donatello lost in the early rounds, Leonardo was poisoned, Splinter showed a father's love by forfeiting instead of fighting against him, and both Raphael and Michelangelo progressed through the tournament. The host of the tournament and ruler of the Battle Nexus, the Ultimate Daimyo, was poisoned as well. Splinter was blamed and thrown into prison. It all turned out to be a plot by the son of the Daimyo, the Ultimate Ninja and Draco, whom had lost to Splinter in a previous tournament. The Daimyo and Leonardo are cured, and both the Ultimate Ninja and Draco fell into a dimensional rift created by Draco's inability to control the power of the Daimyo's Warstaff. The Daimyo regained control of the Warstaff and closed the rift. Immediately afterward, Michelangelo managed to win the tournament (some say by a fluke), and constantly reminded his brothers of this, much to their chagrin.
After an alien invasion and a brief guant by the turtles to other dimensions, courtesy of an old enemy, the turtles found out that Shredder's Foot had built a spaceship, and he planned to rendezvous with some allies off planet. Splinter and the turtles hitched a ride on the spaceship and stopped the Shredder but paid a heavy price. Each one of them was injured, and Leonardo was stabbed by Karai and lost a piece of his shell. With Fugitoid's help, they overloaded the starship's core, even though they knew it would kill them.
It did not, as the Utrom came at the last moment and teleported everyone out of the starship in time. They sentenced Shredder to a permanent exile and returned Splinter and the turtles to Earth. Casey and April took them to the farmhouse to recooperate.
But one thing would not heal: Leonardo's spirit. His body healed, but his behavior became increasingly erratic and angry. He became obsessed with training, with being ready for anything. Eventually, during a moment of anger, he attacked and injured Splinter. Knowing that he was not the one whom would be able to help Leonardo with his rage, he sent his son to study with the Ancient One. With the Ancient One's help, Leonardo regained balance within himself.
While he was gone, his family was attacked by Karai, whom wanted to avenge her father's banishment. Splinter and his sons barely escaped with their lives, and were only reunited by Leonardo when he returned home. They found a new Lair to call home, and Leonardo threatened Karai to never harm his family again.
Shortly afterward, an outbreak of a virus began mutating creatures and people in New York City. Donatello was injured in the first fight against the creatures and the cut on his leg refused to heal. Over time, as they battle the monsters with equipment that Donatello had built, he became ill. His illness was a result of being infected with the Outbreak virus, and he mutated into a horrible gortesque creature. His brothers went to great lengths to cure him, including teaming up with some of their worst enemies, while Splinter remained at Donatello's side. He, as well as everything else infected with the virus, was eventually cured.
Splinter is taken a few days after these events, when Donatello is still weak and recuperating from his ordeal.
Personality: (Please consider here things such as habits, likes and dislikes, thought patterns, experiences and so on. This section should be fairly detailed!)
Master Splinter is every bit the stereotypical wise old Japanese martial arts master, except he's a rat. He is strict and unrelentless in training; polite, formal, and passive in speech; and is completely confounded by most modern day technology. Except for the tv remote; that, he has mastered. He uses it to keep abreast of the news and current events as well as his "programs".
Also like the typical Japanese older man, he shows his affection in quiet actions rather than words. He does not need to tell his sons that he loves them--they simply know from how proud he is, or the way he touches their shoulders. Splinter will listen to them, without interruption, when they lay their souls bare to him, waiting until they are finished to share his wisdom. Of course, he can also be a complete nag when he wants to be, having gone so far as to be accused of backseat driving and "backseat ninjaing" by Donatello. He is not above making an example of one of them if he, and by extension, his brothers, needs to be corrected of a misconception. The rat does everything in his power to protect his family, teaching them martial arts and about the surface world that, in his eyes, will never understand them.
It is also for this reason that he will keep secrets from his children, especially when he believes the truth might make his foolhardy sons rush headlong into danger or taint the lessons he has taught them. They tend to do that often enough without him egging them on. While he is slowly allowing them more independence as they age, as he will not be with them and cannot watch over them forever, Splinter still has to put his foot down. When he does, his word is authoritative and final; there are no questions, and explanations for his decisions are unnecessary. The turtles know better than to argue with this tone. And he is not above smacking their heads with his cane when they act stupid enough to deserve it. Tough love to prepare them for what lies ahead.
It is his love that has also narrowed his world. He regards everything with a cautious suspicion, and he is understandably paranoid of what the surface world might think of (or even worse, do to) his family. Splinter already lost his family once when Yoshi died, and he refuses to lose it again. Even if his children sometimes annoy him when they get underfoot and make him feel like a tired old... rat. Sometimes, he would rather not know all the trouble his sons tend to get into without even trying.
This does not mean that Splinter is without humor. Considering his four sons, he would not have survived without it. He is very good at making up quotes that sound completely geniune. ("Although, next time, you would be wise to heed the ancient Japanese proverb... 'Phone first!'") Splinter's humor is subtle, sometimes to subtle for his sons to detect. Which is probably a good thing, because he likes to mess with them every now and then, such as with the quotes.
However, humor has its place, and its place is not with ninjutsu. His training is methodical in nature, helping his sons push to new limits. Splinter expects the same amount of focus from his sons as he gives to them--his complete and undivided attention at the task at hand. This is why Leonardo is his favorite student--not son, student--both have the same focus and drive to improve themselves. Michelangelo has raw talent, but a lack of discipline that often tests Master Splinter's patience. Donatello may not be the best at ninjutsu (in comparison to his brothers), but his gift with technology has kept his family safe and comfortable in ways that Splinter could not. And Raphael, while headstrong and rash, will protect those he loves at any cost. He knows there is a limit to how long Raphael and Michelangelo can meditate. Each of his sons has their strengths and their weaknesses, and Splinter knows them all.
Splinter knows that even his discipline has limits. He was ill prepared to raise four children, achieving sentience at the same time as them, only having the advantage of a more mature mind. His resourcefulness and patience were the only reasons they managed to scrape by in the early years, besides just sheer luck. Because of his lack of his exposure to parenting, beyond what little he saw between the Ancient One and his family, Master Splinter had to choose his battles. He chose Ninjutsu over trying to drill manners into the heads of Raphael and Michelangelo, or to teach his sons besides Leonardo to keep their rooms clean. He taught his children how to scavenge, how to remain hidden from the world that might even seek to destroy them. What he taught his sons the most was how to survive, not fine dining and etiquette. Not to say that Splinter isn't courteous and friendly to those within his circle of trust--because he is. But he must decide to trust someone before he does. He does not trust easily, and especially not anyone outside of his "family". Splinter doesn't even trust his children to stay out of trouble. While Splinter is respectful, he is not trusting.
Splinter, above everything else, does nearly everything he does for the sake of his sons. They are his family, his everything. Without them, he would be lost.
Strengths: (Physical, mental and emotional; PLEASE PROVIDE CANON EXAMPLES)
Physical:
Splinter is pretty much a tenth tenth tenth degree black belt, which would be pretty obvious in any fight ever that he's a part of. Also, he is able to use his tail as a weapon, such as when he used it to take out a Mouser. Not only is he healthy for his age, he still has very sharp hearing, often hearing sounds that others cannot, and a powerful sense of smell, often allowing him to "sense" the presence of others because of their scent.
Although he is a rat, he can both stand upright and speak. His tail helps increase his ability to balance, and he, like most rats, is an excellent climber.
Knowledge/Mental:
Splinter is a highly skilled practicioner of Ninjutsu. Not only has he won the Battle Nexus Championship, where the strongest warriors across the multiverse gather, but he also has trained his sons in everything they know and in their own weapons. Despite his age, he can still hand them their shells whenever he pleases.
He knows how to meditate and is often seen doing so. He can also cook, having not managed to poison his turtles and even being shown as making sushi in the comics (although he is from the 2003 series, which rarely shows more "domestic" moments). Splinter is an expert forager as well, allowing him and his sons to survive their early years.
Lastly, he can keep the turtles in line, to a point, able to silence them with a look or to end an argument by just stating that he forbids whatever foolish thing they are trying to do. He is the only one capable of doing so. For this reason alone, he should be considered awesome. It's unfortunate that he still hasn't been able to teach them how to listen.
Emotional:
Splinter can keep his cool under pressure, such as during the heat of battle, and even while fighting with Shredder to avenge his master. He can keep secrets, especially in the cases of protecting his family, such as the death of his master, from anyone; Splinter was worried his son's lives would be tainted by the poison of hatred or the sorrow he felt at the loss. He can take charge of a situation, such as when the turtles were attacked at April's apartment while Leonardo was too injured to lead. His will to protect his family and loved ones is what keeps him going.
Also, when you make him angry, he does not lose himself to rage. In fact, if anything, he may become even more dangerous. This is one of the reasons why the turtles listen to him--when he is angry, he means business. And he will punish you by making you train 72 hours straight when you're a turtle tot and disobey his direct command about not going to the surface instead of losing himself to anger and beating the crap out of you.
Weaknesses: (Physical, mental and emotional; PLEASE PROVIDE CANON EXAMPLES)
Physical:
First off, Splinter is very, very short, only 4'10" in height. His appearance also tends to startle people, even causing April to faint upon their first meeting. Splinter, based on his behavior and appearance, is effectively in his "seventies", although still very healthy for his age. Not having the muscle definition as his sons, being leaner, he is obviously not capable of some feats of strength that they are. However, he doesn't need it and can easily kick their shells without it.
Mental:
Technology is his greatest foe and weakness; in one instance, he managed to press every single button on a vehicle's remote except the big red one he was supposed to push. While adaptive like any rat, Splinter can be overzealous in his fear of the surface world; his sons make friends with those that Splinter would have never thought to meet. Because he experienced only a small portion of the human world through the eyes of a normal rat, he knows little of the human world or of society in general. However, has augmented his knowledge from watching television, especially the news, from observing humans, and with society in general by fighting in the Battle Nexus Championship.
Because of his problems with technology, please expect him to have hilarious difficulties with the journaling system.
Emotional:
His biggest emotional weakness is being paranoid of the surface (cue a long sequence of moments in the young turtle's lives where he tells them, repeatedly, that they must not go to the surface). While perfectly understandable, having seen his own master slain, it is also his most limiting trait. He missed out on mutually beneficial relationships, such as the relationships that the turtles make with some of New York's homeless. In this way, and in this particular instance, he can be also seen as sometimes too stern, making the turtles fearful of the world around them when they were younger.
Luceti will be tough on him in this aspect--his sons are known, yet accepted. It will take him by surprise. And, likely, it will take him a while to come to terms with it enough for him to really start venturing outside of the "Lair" more regularly. While this place is similar to the Battle Nexus, it is full of humans.
In a related note, Splinter also has trust issues, as stated in his personality. He has seen much in his short life--he saw his own master tortured and slayed before his very eyes. The rat knows how evil a person can really be, and how prejudice is a human condition. While some can work to overcome it or already minimize it, it remains. He has seen how callous humans can act to those unlike them, such as when Bishop was going to dissect Michelangelo or when Bishop took his own DNA. He even watches his sons with a careful eye, suspecting them when they tried to hide the fact they were heading to the surface to train a young Casey Jones. This paranoia has, unfortunately, filtered into the minds of his sons, and colored their interactions with the rest of the world. In a way, he could be even considered racist, not realizing that the prejudice he feels towards the human race is the exact same one that he fears being subjected to.
Samples (ALL samples must be set in Luceti-verse.)
First Person: (Please make this a total of ten complete sentences or longer; a complete sentence contains at least one subject, one object and one verb.)
[ACTION]
What have my sons been up to in my absence? Ah, I believe this is one of Raphael's...
...
...
... Is that alcohol that he is holding in his hand? And what is this talk about them being pirates? They are ninja!
...
[There are sounds of Splinter messing with the device. In fact, this is exactly how his voice post starts.]
[VOICE]
Is this thing on? Ah, yes, I believe it is recording my voice now. Very well.
... RAPHAEL! MICHELANGELO You are to come back to our home at once!
[There is a long pause.]
Now, how do I shut this contraption off? No, no. No. That is not it. Donatello! Donatello, come and fix this blasted device! It is not working again! It--
[And it abruptly ends.]
Third Person: (Samples must be 300 words or above. Remember to write using proper grammar, verb tenses, and paragraphs.)
Splinter did not know what to make of Luceti. It was not home; it was not New York City. They lived on the surface. Daylight streamed into their house.
The last time he had lived in a place such as this had been at the farmhouse, during their visits there. But that had been alone, isolated. There were neighbors, but they were easily avoided, when his sons bothered to try.
But this was not. It was a part of a community, part of a village. It was on the outskirts, the very edge--and for that, Splinter approved--but that was not what troubled him.
Unlike the Battle Nexus, this village was mostly populated from humans. From other worlds, and other earths, if he could believe his son Donatello. But humans were just the same, and their reactions were just the same, just muted. Except when they screamed--that was no different. It was just fewer people screamed, fewer immediately considered them dangerous. He supposed, after waking up with wings, those such as themselves would not appear so foreign to the mind. If one could grow wings, then why should a giant, talking rat not be able to do the same?
But they were still human, and humans were still a species capable of great evil... and great good. But it was not the good humans he was worried about. There was a variety of humans here, and not all of them could be good. Even less could be trusted. No, most could definitely not be trusted. They did not understand them. Those that did not outright fear them regarded them as a sort of curiosity. Something interesting, something diferrent, but not necessarily regarded as intellectual equals. Perhaps some would, but Splinter would not "keep his hopes up".
This place was, in a way, more dangerous than home. His sons would be complacent and become used to a world where they could walk around without being outright considered monsters. Then, they would all return home, and his sons would crave to have that same sort of luxury.
It was dangerous and full of opportunity. Splinter did not trust it.
Name: Jenn
Livejournal Username: icelightning
E-mail: icecreamlightning AT gmail DOT com
AIM/MSN: (AIM) IcedNinjaGirlJen
Current Characters at Luceti: N/A
Character
Name: Hamato Splinter
Fandom: Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (2003)
Gender: Male
Age: Technically 20ish; Mentally acts/Physically looks in his 70s
Time Period: After Good Genes
Wing Color: Gray
History: [Note: I'm writing my own history because I want something more comprehensive than what's available.]
Outside History here (See 2003 series).
Splinter started his life as an ordinary feral rat in Japan. He one day entered the house owned by the Ancient One, and instead of being killed, he found himself adopted by that man's daughter, Tang Shen, and his adopted son, Hamato Yoshi. The Ancient One was a powerful ninja and Yoshi followed in his footsteps, surpassing his master in skill. The Ancient One's other adopted son, Yukio Mashimi, grew jealous of the love between Yoshi and Tang Shen, and killed her. Shortly after, after Yoshi avenged her death and due to certain events, Yoshi moved to New York City.
It was Yoshi that taught Splinter everything he knew about Ninjutsu. He learned by watching and mimicking his master's movements as Yoshi practiced within his dojo. Splinter was happy. However, not too long after they had moved to New York City, Yoshi was ambushed and viciously tortured within his own apartment. When he would not give his attackers the information they sought, they slayed him. Splinter attempted to save his beloved master, but was thrown aside after scarring one of the attackers, and could only watch as Yoshi was murdered.
Without a home or a family, Splinter wandered, eventually making his burrow within the sewers.
The day that portion of his life ended was marked by a freak accident. Four hatchling red-eared sliders fell into the sewers and became covered in glowing, green ooze from a broken canister. Splinter felt pity for them and gathered them up in a coffee can. The next morning, Splinter and all four turtles woke up bigger and more intelligent. The infant turtles followed him everywhere, except when he went to the surface to forage. As the turtles grew older, they continued to change and eventually began to walk on their hind legs and speak., and eventually all the turtles were speaking and walking on their hind legs. Splinter, knowing that the surface world would not understand them and that they would need to remain hidden, began teaching the turtles the ways of Ninjutsu. He became their father and sensei.
He named his four sons from a book on Renaissance Art. Leonardo is the leader who always watched over his younger siblings and constantly strove to perfect his ninjutsu. Donatello is and a techie with an interest in archeology, astronomy, languages, robotics, and more. Raphael is the angry hothead that will react first and ask questions later, especially if his family was in danger. Michelangelo, is an immature fan of comic books and video games but equally as skilled as his brothers in Ninjutsu, if not moreso.
When his sons were fifteen, their Lair was attacked by small, evil chocobo-shaped robots with powerful jaws. These 'Mouser' robots destroyed their home and separated the turtles from their father, forcing the turtles to the streets of New York City. There, they faced their first battle against gang members from the Purple Dragons which lead into their first real ninja fight against a group of Foot Clan ninja. When they reunited with Splinter, he lead them to their new home that he had only found a short time previous.
Shortly after, his sons brought home their first human friend, April O'Neil. She was the assistant of the egocentric scientist that had designed the robots, Baxter Stockman, whom had set the bots upon her once she figured out he was using the robots for purposes beyond solving the city's rat problem (such as robbing banks). The turtles rescued her, and after a major misunderstanding and a lot of fainting, she vowed to help the turtles take Stockman down. They managed to destroy his Mouser factory, although he got away. April grows to become a central figure in the Splinter's and the turtles' lives as their first contact with the outside world. Later on, they found out that Baxter was funded by the Foot Clan.
They were eventually introduced to the second central human friend in their lives--Casey Jones. Raph met him after going topside to calm down from losing his anger and nearly braining Mikey during a training session. Raph stopeds him from making a similar mistake, and after a initial animosity, they became fast friends. Splinter only wished that he was a better guest.
Sometime afterwards, a mysterious power outage brought the turtles out of the Lair and into their second skirmish with the Foot Clan. Although the turtles initially were unable to prevent the ninja from stealing a sword from a museum, they were able to later recover it. The leader of this clan, Oroku Saki, otherwise known as the Shredder, was the man who tortured, then killed Splinter's master when Yoshi would not give him the information he desired.
The turtles also met the leader of the notorious Purple Dragons gang, a towering muscular man named Hun. He was one of Yoshi's attackers, and was the one whom Splinter had permanently scarred the face of. They only had extended contact with Hun after Casey got himself captured by the gang and they were forced to save his sorry butt.
Eventually, Saki grew tired of the turtles ruining his plans, and attempted to trick Leonardo into joining him. His brothers followed him and after a huge argument between Leo and Raph, Leonardo came to his senses. They come to Splinter, who informs them of what had happened to his beloved Master Yoshi so many years ago. The next day, Leonardo refused to join Saki, and they found out that Saki is really the Shredder.
A massive battle ensued, and the turtles managed to escape with their lives only to be separated. Leonardo was the last to be reunited with his family and received assistance by a mysterious figure known as a Guardian when he's surrounded by Foot Ninja. Splinter, who had gone out searching for his sons after he realized they had left the lair, accompanied them to face off against the Shredder. He dealt what should have been a fatal blow by dropping an entire water tower on Shredder, but unbeknownst to them, Saki survived.
Later, when the turtles were returning home from deep underground exploration, the Foot were swarming the sewers, and they were all forced to temporarily live in April's apartment. Shredder still managed to find them, and Leonardo was almost fatally beaten by the Foot before Shredder set April's entire building ablaze. The turtles, Splinter, April, and Casey barely managed to escape with their lives as the building explodes. Leonardo pulled through as they recuperated in Northampton, and they eventually returned to New York to finish business with the Shredder. With Shredder falsely believing them dead, they were able to infiltrate his headquarters and, in a climatic "final battle" with help from the Guardians, were able to defeat Shredder, once again falsely believing he wass dead. The turtles use the sword they recovered earlier to permanently fry all technology in Shredder's building.
However, during this battle, Splinter had been gravely injured, and was missing by the time they returned to his last location. The turtles infiltrate the Guardian's stronghold, thinking they may know about Splinter's whereabouts, and discovered both Splinter in stasis and the aliens living within the building. Then, during a fight, they accidentally stepped onto a Transmat device that teleported them to another world. They met up with the Fugitoid, a brilliant scientist stuck in his former robot's body, and protected him from the Tricertops-like Triceratons and the human-like Federation that both want the plans to his Transmat-like device. With it, either would easily win the war against the other. After a long adventure, the turtles and Fugitoid were rescued by being Transmatted back home in the nick of time. They were shocked to find that Splinter was safe and sound, and that the aliens were healing him, not holding him captive.
They learn that the aliens are the peaceful Utroms, and that Shredder was an evil Utrom prisoner that they were transporting. He made them crash land in ancient Japan, created the Foot clan, and indirectly caused the Utroms to develop the Transmat device, which created the ooze responsible for changing Splinter and the turtles. After they learn about their past, the Utroms and Fugitoid used the device to escape from attacks by Shredder and the US military. Shredder was perceived to be dead again.
In the power vacuum left by Shredder, a gang war began that claims many innocent lives. Shredder's adopted human daughter, Karai, came from Japan to lead the Foot and struck a deal with the turtles to help her restore order to New York City. In exchange, she offered to end the Foot's vendetta against the turtles and Master Splinter. They agreed and managed to end the war, but were unaware that Shredder was recuperating in secret. When he recovered, he tried to kill the turtles yet again with a robotic Master Splinter copy, only for the real Splinter and the turtles to defeat it and trace its signal. They managed to destroy the ship that the signal came from, once again fighting the Foot and Shredder, whom once again they believed to be dead.
Sometime afterwards, the turtles followed Splinter when he left to go to another dimension and accidentally entered themselves into a intergalactic fighting tournament, the Battle Nexus Tournament. Splinter was not only a previous champion, but so was Master Yoshi. Donatello lost in the early rounds, Leonardo was poisoned, Splinter showed a father's love by forfeiting instead of fighting against him, and both Raphael and Michelangelo progressed through the tournament. The host of the tournament and ruler of the Battle Nexus, the Ultimate Daimyo, was poisoned as well. Splinter was blamed and thrown into prison. It all turned out to be a plot by the son of the Daimyo, the Ultimate Ninja and Draco, whom had lost to Splinter in a previous tournament. The Daimyo and Leonardo are cured, and both the Ultimate Ninja and Draco fell into a dimensional rift created by Draco's inability to control the power of the Daimyo's Warstaff. The Daimyo regained control of the Warstaff and closed the rift. Immediately afterward, Michelangelo managed to win the tournament (some say by a fluke), and constantly reminded his brothers of this, much to their chagrin.
After an alien invasion and a brief guant by the turtles to other dimensions, courtesy of an old enemy, the turtles found out that Shredder's Foot had built a spaceship, and he planned to rendezvous with some allies off planet. Splinter and the turtles hitched a ride on the spaceship and stopped the Shredder but paid a heavy price. Each one of them was injured, and Leonardo was stabbed by Karai and lost a piece of his shell. With Fugitoid's help, they overloaded the starship's core, even though they knew it would kill them.
It did not, as the Utrom came at the last moment and teleported everyone out of the starship in time. They sentenced Shredder to a permanent exile and returned Splinter and the turtles to Earth. Casey and April took them to the farmhouse to recooperate.
But one thing would not heal: Leonardo's spirit. His body healed, but his behavior became increasingly erratic and angry. He became obsessed with training, with being ready for anything. Eventually, during a moment of anger, he attacked and injured Splinter. Knowing that he was not the one whom would be able to help Leonardo with his rage, he sent his son to study with the Ancient One. With the Ancient One's help, Leonardo regained balance within himself.
While he was gone, his family was attacked by Karai, whom wanted to avenge her father's banishment. Splinter and his sons barely escaped with their lives, and were only reunited by Leonardo when he returned home. They found a new Lair to call home, and Leonardo threatened Karai to never harm his family again.
Shortly afterward, an outbreak of a virus began mutating creatures and people in New York City. Donatello was injured in the first fight against the creatures and the cut on his leg refused to heal. Over time, as they battle the monsters with equipment that Donatello had built, he became ill. His illness was a result of being infected with the Outbreak virus, and he mutated into a horrible gortesque creature. His brothers went to great lengths to cure him, including teaming up with some of their worst enemies, while Splinter remained at Donatello's side. He, as well as everything else infected with the virus, was eventually cured.
Splinter is taken a few days after these events, when Donatello is still weak and recuperating from his ordeal.
Personality: (Please consider here things such as habits, likes and dislikes, thought patterns, experiences and so on. This section should be fairly detailed!)
Master Splinter is every bit the stereotypical wise old Japanese martial arts master, except he's a rat. He is strict and unrelentless in training; polite, formal, and passive in speech; and is completely confounded by most modern day technology. Except for the tv remote; that, he has mastered. He uses it to keep abreast of the news and current events as well as his "programs".
Also like the typical Japanese older man, he shows his affection in quiet actions rather than words. He does not need to tell his sons that he loves them--they simply know from how proud he is, or the way he touches their shoulders. Splinter will listen to them, without interruption, when they lay their souls bare to him, waiting until they are finished to share his wisdom. Of course, he can also be a complete nag when he wants to be, having gone so far as to be accused of backseat driving and "backseat ninjaing" by Donatello. He is not above making an example of one of them if he, and by extension, his brothers, needs to be corrected of a misconception. The rat does everything in his power to protect his family, teaching them martial arts and about the surface world that, in his eyes, will never understand them.
It is also for this reason that he will keep secrets from his children, especially when he believes the truth might make his foolhardy sons rush headlong into danger or taint the lessons he has taught them. They tend to do that often enough without him egging them on. While he is slowly allowing them more independence as they age, as he will not be with them and cannot watch over them forever, Splinter still has to put his foot down. When he does, his word is authoritative and final; there are no questions, and explanations for his decisions are unnecessary. The turtles know better than to argue with this tone. And he is not above smacking their heads with his cane when they act stupid enough to deserve it. Tough love to prepare them for what lies ahead.
It is his love that has also narrowed his world. He regards everything with a cautious suspicion, and he is understandably paranoid of what the surface world might think of (or even worse, do to) his family. Splinter already lost his family once when Yoshi died, and he refuses to lose it again. Even if his children sometimes annoy him when they get underfoot and make him feel like a tired old... rat. Sometimes, he would rather not know all the trouble his sons tend to get into without even trying.
This does not mean that Splinter is without humor. Considering his four sons, he would not have survived without it. He is very good at making up quotes that sound completely geniune. ("Although, next time, you would be wise to heed the ancient Japanese proverb... 'Phone first!'") Splinter's humor is subtle, sometimes to subtle for his sons to detect. Which is probably a good thing, because he likes to mess with them every now and then, such as with the quotes.
However, humor has its place, and its place is not with ninjutsu. His training is methodical in nature, helping his sons push to new limits. Splinter expects the same amount of focus from his sons as he gives to them--his complete and undivided attention at the task at hand. This is why Leonardo is his favorite student--not son, student--both have the same focus and drive to improve themselves. Michelangelo has raw talent, but a lack of discipline that often tests Master Splinter's patience. Donatello may not be the best at ninjutsu (in comparison to his brothers), but his gift with technology has kept his family safe and comfortable in ways that Splinter could not. And Raphael, while headstrong and rash, will protect those he loves at any cost. He knows there is a limit to how long Raphael and Michelangelo can meditate. Each of his sons has their strengths and their weaknesses, and Splinter knows them all.
Splinter knows that even his discipline has limits. He was ill prepared to raise four children, achieving sentience at the same time as them, only having the advantage of a more mature mind. His resourcefulness and patience were the only reasons they managed to scrape by in the early years, besides just sheer luck. Because of his lack of his exposure to parenting, beyond what little he saw between the Ancient One and his family, Master Splinter had to choose his battles. He chose Ninjutsu over trying to drill manners into the heads of Raphael and Michelangelo, or to teach his sons besides Leonardo to keep their rooms clean. He taught his children how to scavenge, how to remain hidden from the world that might even seek to destroy them. What he taught his sons the most was how to survive, not fine dining and etiquette. Not to say that Splinter isn't courteous and friendly to those within his circle of trust--because he is. But he must decide to trust someone before he does. He does not trust easily, and especially not anyone outside of his "family". Splinter doesn't even trust his children to stay out of trouble. While Splinter is respectful, he is not trusting.
Splinter, above everything else, does nearly everything he does for the sake of his sons. They are his family, his everything. Without them, he would be lost.
Strengths: (Physical, mental and emotional; PLEASE PROVIDE CANON EXAMPLES)
Physical:
Splinter is pretty much a tenth tenth tenth degree black belt, which would be pretty obvious in any fight ever that he's a part of. Also, he is able to use his tail as a weapon, such as when he used it to take out a Mouser. Not only is he healthy for his age, he still has very sharp hearing, often hearing sounds that others cannot, and a powerful sense of smell, often allowing him to "sense" the presence of others because of their scent.
Although he is a rat, he can both stand upright and speak. His tail helps increase his ability to balance, and he, like most rats, is an excellent climber.
Knowledge/Mental:
Splinter is a highly skilled practicioner of Ninjutsu. Not only has he won the Battle Nexus Championship, where the strongest warriors across the multiverse gather, but he also has trained his sons in everything they know and in their own weapons. Despite his age, he can still hand them their shells whenever he pleases.
He knows how to meditate and is often seen doing so. He can also cook, having not managed to poison his turtles and even being shown as making sushi in the comics (although he is from the 2003 series, which rarely shows more "domestic" moments). Splinter is an expert forager as well, allowing him and his sons to survive their early years.
Lastly, he can keep the turtles in line, to a point, able to silence them with a look or to end an argument by just stating that he forbids whatever foolish thing they are trying to do. He is the only one capable of doing so. For this reason alone, he should be considered awesome. It's unfortunate that he still hasn't been able to teach them how to listen.
Emotional:
Splinter can keep his cool under pressure, such as during the heat of battle, and even while fighting with Shredder to avenge his master. He can keep secrets, especially in the cases of protecting his family, such as the death of his master, from anyone; Splinter was worried his son's lives would be tainted by the poison of hatred or the sorrow he felt at the loss. He can take charge of a situation, such as when the turtles were attacked at April's apartment while Leonardo was too injured to lead. His will to protect his family and loved ones is what keeps him going.
Also, when you make him angry, he does not lose himself to rage. In fact, if anything, he may become even more dangerous. This is one of the reasons why the turtles listen to him--when he is angry, he means business. And he will punish you by making you train 72 hours straight when you're a turtle tot and disobey his direct command about not going to the surface instead of losing himself to anger and beating the crap out of you.
Weaknesses: (Physical, mental and emotional; PLEASE PROVIDE CANON EXAMPLES)
Physical:
First off, Splinter is very, very short, only 4'10" in height. His appearance also tends to startle people, even causing April to faint upon their first meeting. Splinter, based on his behavior and appearance, is effectively in his "seventies", although still very healthy for his age. Not having the muscle definition as his sons, being leaner, he is obviously not capable of some feats of strength that they are. However, he doesn't need it and can easily kick their shells without it.
Mental:
Technology is his greatest foe and weakness; in one instance, he managed to press every single button on a vehicle's remote except the big red one he was supposed to push. While adaptive like any rat, Splinter can be overzealous in his fear of the surface world; his sons make friends with those that Splinter would have never thought to meet. Because he experienced only a small portion of the human world through the eyes of a normal rat, he knows little of the human world or of society in general. However, has augmented his knowledge from watching television, especially the news, from observing humans, and with society in general by fighting in the Battle Nexus Championship.
Because of his problems with technology, please expect him to have hilarious difficulties with the journaling system.
Emotional:
His biggest emotional weakness is being paranoid of the surface (cue a long sequence of moments in the young turtle's lives where he tells them, repeatedly, that they must not go to the surface). While perfectly understandable, having seen his own master slain, it is also his most limiting trait. He missed out on mutually beneficial relationships, such as the relationships that the turtles make with some of New York's homeless. In this way, and in this particular instance, he can be also seen as sometimes too stern, making the turtles fearful of the world around them when they were younger.
Luceti will be tough on him in this aspect--his sons are known, yet accepted. It will take him by surprise. And, likely, it will take him a while to come to terms with it enough for him to really start venturing outside of the "Lair" more regularly. While this place is similar to the Battle Nexus, it is full of humans.
In a related note, Splinter also has trust issues, as stated in his personality. He has seen much in his short life--he saw his own master tortured and slayed before his very eyes. The rat knows how evil a person can really be, and how prejudice is a human condition. While some can work to overcome it or already minimize it, it remains. He has seen how callous humans can act to those unlike them, such as when Bishop was going to dissect Michelangelo or when Bishop took his own DNA. He even watches his sons with a careful eye, suspecting them when they tried to hide the fact they were heading to the surface to train a young Casey Jones. This paranoia has, unfortunately, filtered into the minds of his sons, and colored their interactions with the rest of the world. In a way, he could be even considered racist, not realizing that the prejudice he feels towards the human race is the exact same one that he fears being subjected to.
Samples (ALL samples must be set in Luceti-verse.)
First Person: (Please make this a total of ten complete sentences or longer; a complete sentence contains at least one subject, one object and one verb.)
[ACTION]
What have my sons been up to in my absence? Ah, I believe this is one of Raphael's...
...
...
... Is that alcohol that he is holding in his hand? And what is this talk about them being pirates? They are ninja!
...
[There are sounds of Splinter messing with the device. In fact, this is exactly how his voice post starts.]
[VOICE]
Is this thing on? Ah, yes, I believe it is recording my voice now. Very well.
... RAPHAEL! MICHELANGELO You are to come back to our home at once!
[There is a long pause.]
Now, how do I shut this contraption off? No, no. No. That is not it. Donatello! Donatello, come and fix this blasted device! It is not working again! It--
[And it abruptly ends.]
Third Person: (Samples must be 300 words or above. Remember to write using proper grammar, verb tenses, and paragraphs.)
Splinter did not know what to make of Luceti. It was not home; it was not New York City. They lived on the surface. Daylight streamed into their house.
The last time he had lived in a place such as this had been at the farmhouse, during their visits there. But that had been alone, isolated. There were neighbors, but they were easily avoided, when his sons bothered to try.
But this was not. It was a part of a community, part of a village. It was on the outskirts, the very edge--and for that, Splinter approved--but that was not what troubled him.
Unlike the Battle Nexus, this village was mostly populated from humans. From other worlds, and other earths, if he could believe his son Donatello. But humans were just the same, and their reactions were just the same, just muted. Except when they screamed--that was no different. It was just fewer people screamed, fewer immediately considered them dangerous. He supposed, after waking up with wings, those such as themselves would not appear so foreign to the mind. If one could grow wings, then why should a giant, talking rat not be able to do the same?
But they were still human, and humans were still a species capable of great evil... and great good. But it was not the good humans he was worried about. There was a variety of humans here, and not all of them could be good. Even less could be trusted. No, most could definitely not be trusted. They did not understand them. Those that did not outright fear them regarded them as a sort of curiosity. Something interesting, something diferrent, but not necessarily regarded as intellectual equals. Perhaps some would, but Splinter would not "keep his hopes up".
This place was, in a way, more dangerous than home. His sons would be complacent and become used to a world where they could walk around without being outright considered monsters. Then, they would all return home, and his sons would crave to have that same sort of luxury.
It was dangerous and full of opportunity. Splinter did not trust it.