While Shredder and Krang are two of the worst villains in the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles universe, there is one person who is far more despicable.
When considering the most despicable villains in the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles universe, one may be tempted to name Shredder or Krang as the worst of the worst, but there is another villain who is far more loathsome despite not being as well known as the other two.
Shredder made his first appearance in Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles #1 by Kevin Eastman and Peter Laird. In his debut issue, Shredder was the main antagonist of the Ninja Turtles, but unfortunately for him, his reign was pretty short-lived. The very same issue in which he was introduced, Shredder was gruesomely murdered by the Turtles and didn’t really become a recurring villain until the ‘80s Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles animated series–a series that incidentally introduced Krang. Krang is an extraterrestrial conqueror from Dimension X who was banished from his home world to Earth and was determined to return and take control of his former empire. Unlike Shredder, who originated as a gritty villain in a dark comic, Krang was a much more colorful villain geared more directly for kids. While the two are incredibly different, both Shredder and Krang are still effective and intimidating villains–but there is still one far worse than either of them.
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In Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles #35 by Kevin Eastman, Tom Waltz, and Mateus Santolouco, Master Shredder is working with a local gang in New York City to expand his Foot Clan empire, and the leader of that gang is Casey Jones’ father, Hun. Hun had been shown a number of times throughout this series, and each time readers are alerted to the fact that he is a despicable man who only cares about himself. However, in this issue, the TMNT villain goes from bad to worse. In a previous comic during this run, Shredder has a run-in with Casey and stabs him in the gut, and in this issue, Shredder tells Hun to either convert Casey to his cause or to finish the job–and Hun complies without protest or complaint.
Even before working for Shredder, Hun was a truly evil man especially when it came to his son. In the first few issues of this TMNT run, Casey suffered severe physical and emotional abuse at the hands of his father. It got so bad, in fact, that Splinter had to intervene and fight Casey's father to save Casey’s life, but rather than allowing that experience to have a profound effect on him, Casey’s father stewed in humiliation and went even deeper into his violent, pathetic excuse for a life. Hun is a man who beat his own child for no reason, so when Shredder offered him money to do so, he happily accepted his mission.
Hun is a worse villain than Shredder and Krang not because his villainy stretches across the world or even across multiple dimensions, but because he represents a very real evil in the world whereas Shredder and Krang, in the end, are cartoon villains. Shredder leads an army of ninjas on a mission to take over the world. Krang was designed to intrigue children who were watching the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles cartoon series. Hun, however, is an abuser and a low-life scum who would do anything for money even if it meant hurting his own family–making Hun a worse Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles villain than Shredder or Krang.
Spencer Connolly is a Staff Writer for Screen Rant. With years of writing and journalism experience under his belt, Spencer joined Screen Rant in 2020. Prior to writing for Screen Rant, Spencer was a Photojournalist and News Producer. Throughout his career as a journalist and even his entire life, Spencer always had a deep love for comics and is now applying everything he has learned throughout his career to the fun and informative articles he writes for Screen Rant. You can follow Spencer on Twitter: @TheSpencerVerse.