As the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles’ most iconic villain, it’s hard to imagine what the franchise would be like without the Shredder. However, it may be a surprise to discover that the Shredder was originally planned to be a one-off villain and was actual killed off in the first issue of the original comic. Following his death, the character would be brought back to life in a very bizarre manner much later in the comic and would go on to become one of the most beloved villains of all time.
In the first issue of the mutated forms. While raising them, Splinter trained his adoptive turtle children in the ways of the ninja so that he could one day avenge the death of Hamato Yoshi.
After finishing the story, Splinter informs the turtles that they are now ready to take on such a task and sends Raphael to issue a challenge to the Shredder. Easily fighting his way into the Shredder’s compound, Raphael throws a dagger through his window; attached is a note challenging him to a death battle. Accepting their , the Shredder arrives on the scene with his Foot Clan only to be surprised by the appearance and skill of the turtles. After defeating the Foot Clan and landing a death blow on the Shredder, Leonardo hands him his sword to commit seppuku. Refusing, Shredder pulls the pin on a grenade, intending to kill them all. However, the Shredder was then knocked off the building they were fighting on, along with the grenade, which exploded before he hit the ground.
Though the Foot Clan continued to appear in the comic, there was no indication of the Shredder reappearing for quite some time. Shredder wouldn’t return to the comics until the one-issue Leonardo micro-series two years later, acting as the leader of the Foot Clan once more. However, it would be revealed in a later issue of the main series that this Shredder was just a worm-like clone that shared the original Shredder’s memories. With that in mind, the original Shredder actually stayed dead throughout the rest of the series.
Though he returned later on in the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles comic, Shredder’s death in the first issue feels definitive, as if it wasn’t even planned for him to come back. This theory is somewhat confirmed by the convoluted way in which he was eventually brought back. Despite being a huge threat to the turtles in the comics, Shredder became a much more prominent character in the popular animated series, which positioned the Shredder and Krang as the turtles' main antagonists. Regardless of how it happened, if the first issue had been the Shredder’s last appearance as well as his death, the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles wouldn’t be the same.
