Splinter (TMNT 2003)

Splinter is adoptive father of Leonard, Raphael, Donatello and Michelangelo.

He is voiced by Darren Dunstan who also voices Maximillion J. Pegasus from Yu-Gi-Oh!.

Appearance
Splinter is depicted as having gray fur instead of the brown fur of his other incarnations.

He does not wield a traditional Japanese weapon, Splinter carries a cane which he can utilize as a weapon (like a Jo staff) with fierce proficiency.

Background
He once was a pet for a renowned martial artist named Hamato Yoshi in Japan. It was from watching Yoshi that Splinter first learned the art of ninjitsu which he then passes on to the Turtles.

Splinter escapes from his cage during the murder, and attacks Saki, clawing at his face. Saki in turn slices his ear off. It is suggested that this mutilation is the reason Saki took the Shredder disguise to hide the scars. In contrast, in the 2003 TMNT cartoon it was Hun's face who Splinter clawed.

Without a home, Splinter is forced to run away and live in New York City's sewers. Due to a traffic accident, four baby turtles and a canister of radioactive ooze are sent down into the sewer. The canister mutates both Splinter and the turtles. Splinter names the four turtles Leonardo, Donatello, Raphael, and Michelangelo (after a book on Renaissance artists that he found in a storm drain) and trains them in the arts of ninjutsu, so that they can take revenge for his dead master, while raising them as his own sons.

Plot
He possesses a significant reputation as a ninja master; in a multi-part episode, he is revealed to be a champion of the Battle Nexus, a multi-dimension-spanning contest where the greatest combatants of various dimensions come together to fight each other for the title of Battle Nexus Champion. When the Turtles learn of the Battle Nexus, they participate as well, resulting in Splinter forfeiting when called upon to fight Michelangelo, as he wishes to allow his sons the opportunity to fight where he succeeded in the past.

In the 2003 episode, "Fast Forward", Splinter is sent to the future with the Turtles, but the villain, Viral, blasts Splinter with a decompiler ray that scatters his bits all over the internet. While Splinter wasn't seen much in the "Back to the Sewers" season, the focus of those episodes is the Turtles' efforts to find Splinter's data bits by traveling all over cyberspace. Splinter is restored in the final episode and helps defeat the Cyber Shredder.

Trivia

 * Unlike the previous animated series, the Turtles often refer to Splinter as their father, rather than their master and he refers the Turtles as his sons.