Tokka and Rahzar
Encyclopedia
Tokka and Rahzar are two fictional mutant
villain
s in the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles
universe. They first appeared in the 1991 film Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles II: The Secret of the Ooze
. Rahzar was played by Mark Ginther and Tokka was played by Kurt Bryant. They were both voice-acted by Frank Welker
.
The design of Tokka in the movie was inspired by the drawings of comic book artist and writer Stephen R. Bissette
. Bissette's noted works include Aliens: Tribes, Tyrant, Taboo, and his award winning run in Saga of the Swamp Thing
, among numerous articles and books on comics and horror films.
found out that the substance that mutated the Turtles had been created by TGRI (Techno-Global Research Industries), he sent his Foot Soldiers
to steal the ooze and kidnap head TGRI scientist, Professor Jordan Perry. Shredder instructs Perry to use the ooze to mutate an Alligator Snapping Turtle
and a Gray Wolf
, kidnapped from the Bronx Zoo
, thus creating Tokka and Rahzar. However, Jordan had secretly altered the mutagen, and as a result, the two mutants had the intelligence of human infants. Saki ordered the monsters to face him in battle, to teach them who their master was, the infantile mutants misinterpreted the word "master", thinking it meant "mamma" and hugged him instead. Angered, Shredder ordered them to be destroyed, but Perry had sympathy for them and showed Saki their total obedience to him and that, as they were "playing" in the junkyard, lifting a large truck as if it were a toy, they had great strength. This prompted Shredder to keep them alive.
Despite their low intelligence, the two mutants' incredible physical strength made them more than a match for the Turtles. On their first encounter at Shredder and Tatsu's junkyard base, the Turtles were ill-prepared and barely managed to escape when trying to save their brother Raphael
from capture and rescue Dr. Perry. During the escape they trapped Tokka in a manhole from the waist down. Michaelangelo teased Tokka and tickled
the bottom of the snapper's clawed feet. April O'Neil
was confronted by the Foot with a message for the Turtles: If they didn't meet the Foot at a construction site near the docks, Shredder would set Tokka and Rahzar out again into Central Park. As many people would get hurt, The Turtles and Splinter
agreed that there was no other choice but to face Shredder. But the professor had a plan; with the help of Donatello
and Keno, Dr. Perry prepared an anti-mutagen to de-mutate Tokka and Rahzar, which had to be ingested.
During their second encounter at the construction site, amidst a distraction, Leonardo
and Michaelangelo trick Tokka and Rahzar into eating the antidote (they froze the concoction into ice cubes and then hid them in a box of donuts, which they then offered to the two mutants as the "ritual of the traditional pre-fight donut"). Rahzar and Tokka devoured some of the donuts with continued coaxing from the Turtles. Surprisingly, Rahzar, regardless of his infant-like mentality, figured that something was wrong with the situation, and crushed one of the donuts in his claw, to discover the anti-mutagen cube. Enraged, Tokka and Rahzar smashed Michaelangelo through a wall and into the Dockshore Club interrupting a crowded dance concert by Vanilla Ice
.
As the final showdown commenced at the club; Leo and Raph were fending off Rahzar and Tokka's snapping attacks. Dr. Perry informed them that their repeated burping was slowing the anti-mutagen and that carbon dioxide was needed to speed up the demutation. The Turtles knocked their foes off their feet and flat on their backs with a couple of barrels they found somewhere in the concert, and then the turtles shoved fire extinguishers into the creatures' mouths, which administered the needed carbon dioxide to reverse the mutation. Finally, the antidote took effect and the two mutants returned to their normal animal forms. What happened to them after this is unknown.
Not long after their first battle with the Turtles at the Crystal Palace Mall, they were captured by Dirk Savage. The animated versions were more intelligent and more eloquent, particularly Rahzar. Rahzar states to Tokka, "...You are my only friend."
Tokka has a very uncontrolled appetite which leads him into Dirk Savage's trap which consists of a buffet. The Snapper gets captured by the Mutant Hunter after he devours the smorgasbord. Even though Rahzar made a big deal of his friend being captured, and he was shown attacking Dirk later on, it was never shown if he ever got reunited with Tokka, even after the bad guys were defeated.
Their look in the cartoon was very much like that of their action figures, made two years prior to their toon appearance.
In this episode, their names were spelled Toka and Razar.
Toka was voiced by Rob Paulsen
, while Razar was voiced by Townsend Coleman
.
, Ch'rell, the Utrom Shredder, uses mutagen obtained from the universe of the 1987 animated series to mutate his human troops, with two of these mutated soldiers taking on forms identical to Tokka and Rahzar. However, they are later dispatched by the 2003 incarnations of Donatello and Raphael with the aid of the 1987 Party Wagon.
They are in both versions of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Turtles in Time
. In the original arcade version, they are the bosses of the pirate ship level, while in the Super NES
version, they have been moved to the new Technodrome
level.
They are paired together as a double-boss
. They can team up in their attacks in the SNES version; one of their moves involves Tokka withdrawing into his shell and Rahzar hopping on top and riding around the screen chaotically like a skateboard. Their low intelligence from the movie is also included in the game: they will often accidentally hit each other instead of the player, and will take damage for it. In the Super Nintendo Version, Tokka is also able to use an ice breath attack, while Rahzar uses a fire breath attack. Just like in the movie, when the player defeats them in the game, they de-mutate to normal animals. It is possible to attack Rahzar after he has de-mutated. He makes a 'Yelp' sound. Also, in the game, their names have the spelling of the movie, not the later spelling of the TV show. The Super NES version borrows a quote from the movie which Tokka and Rahzar said, right before the fight: "Master say have fun." "FUN!" In the movie, they say this when they're tearing up a backstreet to lure the Turtles into a confrontation.
They also made an appearance in the NES
game Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles III: The Manhattan Project
. Here you must fight them as separate bosses. Rahzar appears in the Technodrome level immediately before Shredder, and uses an ice breath attack. Tokka appears as the boss of the rooftop level and carries a shield for blocking jump kicks. Plus, there was an electric billboard in the background and Tokka would be able to uppercut you into it, making you take double damage. Also, in this game Rahzar's name is spelled Rahzer.
They also return in the modern remake TMNT Turtles in Time Re-Shelled for the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3. They again are featured as a double-boss in the pirate ship level.
Mutant
In biology and especially genetics, a mutant is an individual, organism, or new genetic character, arising or resulting from an instance of mutation, which is a base-pair sequence change within the DNA of a gene or chromosome of an organism resulting in the creation of a new character or trait not...
villain
Villain
A villain is an "evil" character in a story, whether a historical narrative or, especially, a work of fiction. The villain usually is the antagonist, the character who tends to have a negative effect on other characters...
s in the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles
The Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles are a fictional team of four teenage anthropomorphic turtles, who were trained by their anthropomorphic rat sensei in the art of ninjutsu and named after four Renaissance artists...
universe. They first appeared in the 1991 film Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles II: The Secret of the Ooze
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles II: The Secret of the Ooze
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles II: The Secret of the Ooze is a 1991 American live-action film, It is the second Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles film, being the direct sequel to the 1990 film, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. The Secret of the Ooze was then followed by a third film in 1993, and a fourth...
. Rahzar was played by Mark Ginther and Tokka was played by Kurt Bryant. They were both voice-acted by Frank Welker
Frank Welker
Franklin Wendell "Frank" Welker is an American actor who specializes in voice acting and has contributed character voices and other vocal effects to American television and motion pictures.-Acting career:...
.
The design of Tokka in the movie was inspired by the drawings of comic book artist and writer Stephen R. Bissette
Stephen R. Bissette
Stephen R. Bissette is an American comics artist, editor, and publisher with a focus on the horror genre. He is best known for working with writer Alan Moore and inker John Totleben on the DC comic Swamp Thing in the 1980s....
. Bissette's noted works include Aliens: Tribes, Tyrant, Taboo, and his award winning run in Saga of the Swamp Thing
Swamp Thing comics
The fictional character Swamp Thing has appeared in four comic book series to date, including several specials, and has crossed over into other DC Comics titles. The series found immense popularity upon its 1970s debut and during the mid-late 1980s under Alan Moore, Steve Bissette, and John...
, among numerous articles and books on comics and horror films.
Film
When The ShredderShredder (TMNT)
The Shredder is a fictional character and primary antagonist from the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles franchise. At one point or another in every incarnation of the TMNT stories, he has been the archenemy of Splinter and the Turtles...
found out that the substance that mutated the Turtles had been created by TGRI (Techno-Global Research Industries), he sent his Foot Soldiers
Foot Clan
The Foot Clan is a fictional ninjutsu clan in the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles universe and the Turtles' main antagonists. It is usually led by the Shredder. The Foot Clan was originally a parody of the criminal ninja clan the Hand in the Daredevil comics...
to steal the ooze and kidnap head TGRI scientist, Professor Jordan Perry. Shredder instructs Perry to use the ooze to mutate an Alligator Snapping Turtle
Alligator Snapping Turtle
The alligator snapping turtle is one of the largest freshwater turtles in the world. It is not closely related to, but is often associated with the common snapping turtle. They are the sole living member of the genus Macrochelys--while common snappers are in the genus Chelydra...
and a Gray Wolf
Gray Wolf
The gray wolf , also known as the wolf, is the largest extant wild member of the Canidae family...
, kidnapped from the Bronx Zoo
Bronx Zoo
The Bronx Zoo is located in the Bronx borough of New York City, within Bronx Park. It is the largest metropolitan zoo in the United States, comprising of park lands and naturalistic habitats, through which the Bronx River flows....
, thus creating Tokka and Rahzar. However, Jordan had secretly altered the mutagen, and as a result, the two mutants had the intelligence of human infants. Saki ordered the monsters to face him in battle, to teach them who their master was, the infantile mutants misinterpreted the word "master", thinking it meant "mamma" and hugged him instead. Angered, Shredder ordered them to be destroyed, but Perry had sympathy for them and showed Saki their total obedience to him and that, as they were "playing" in the junkyard, lifting a large truck as if it were a toy, they had great strength. This prompted Shredder to keep them alive.
Despite their low intelligence, the two mutants' incredible physical strength made them more than a match for the Turtles. On their first encounter at Shredder and Tatsu's junkyard base, the Turtles were ill-prepared and barely managed to escape when trying to save their brother Raphael
Raphael (TMNT)
Raphael , a fictional character, is one of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles .In the Mirage/Image comics all four turtles wear red bandanas over their eyes, but unlike his brothers in other versions, he is the only one who keeps a red bandana...
from capture and rescue Dr. Perry. During the escape they trapped Tokka in a manhole from the waist down. Michaelangelo teased Tokka and tickled
Tickling
Tickling is the act of touching a part of the body so as to cause involuntary twitching movements and/or laughter. The word evolved from the Middle English tikelen, perhaps frequentative of ticken, to touch lightly. The idiom tickled pink means to be pleased or delighted.In 1897, psychologists G...
the bottom of the snapper's clawed feet. April O'Neil
April O'Neil
April O'Neil is a fictional character in the Mirage Studios franchise Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. In each of the many TMNT continuities, she is a good friend of the Turtles: Leonardo, Raphael, Donatello and Michelangelo.-Comics:...
was confronted by the Foot with a message for the Turtles: If they didn't meet the Foot at a construction site near the docks, Shredder would set Tokka and Rahzar out again into Central Park. As many people would get hurt, The Turtles and Splinter
Splinter (TMNT)
Master Splinter, or simply Splinter is a fictional character in the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles universe. -Origin Story:Splinter has two origin stories, and which one is used depends on the medium...
agreed that there was no other choice but to face Shredder. But the professor had a plan; with the help of Donatello
Donatello (TMNT)
Donatello is a fictional character and one of the four main characters in the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles comics and all related media. He is co-creator Peter Laird's favorite Turtle....
and Keno, Dr. Perry prepared an anti-mutagen to de-mutate Tokka and Rahzar, which had to be ingested.
During their second encounter at the construction site, amidst a distraction, Leonardo
Leonardo (TMNT)
Leonardo is a fictional character that appears in the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles comics and all related media.In the Mirage comics all four turtles wear red bandanas, but in other versions, he wears a blue bandana. His signature weapons are two ninjaken , which are universally referred to as...
and Michaelangelo trick Tokka and Rahzar into eating the antidote (they froze the concoction into ice cubes and then hid them in a box of donuts, which they then offered to the two mutants as the "ritual of the traditional pre-fight donut"). Rahzar and Tokka devoured some of the donuts with continued coaxing from the Turtles. Surprisingly, Rahzar, regardless of his infant-like mentality, figured that something was wrong with the situation, and crushed one of the donuts in his claw, to discover the anti-mutagen cube. Enraged, Tokka and Rahzar smashed Michaelangelo through a wall and into the Dockshore Club interrupting a crowded dance concert by Vanilla Ice
Vanilla Ice
Robert Matthew Van Winkle , best known by his stage name Vanilla Ice, is an American rapper, extreme athlete and home improvement television personality...
.
As the final showdown commenced at the club; Leo and Raph were fending off Rahzar and Tokka's snapping attacks. Dr. Perry informed them that their repeated burping was slowing the anti-mutagen and that carbon dioxide was needed to speed up the demutation. The Turtles knocked their foes off their feet and flat on their backs with a couple of barrels they found somewhere in the concert, and then the turtles shoved fire extinguishers into the creatures' mouths, which administered the needed carbon dioxide to reverse the mutation. Finally, the antidote took effect and the two mutants returned to their normal animal forms. What happened to them after this is unknown.
1987 cartoon series
Tokka and Rahzar only appeared once in the seventh season of the 1987 cartoon series. In 1993, they were featured in the season 7 episode "Dirk Savage: Mutant Hunter". They were out-of-control mutants created when the Shredder exposed zoo animals to mutagen years earlier (whether this refers to when he created Bebop and Rocksteady or Groundchuck and Dirtbag, is not made clear).Not long after their first battle with the Turtles at the Crystal Palace Mall, they were captured by Dirk Savage. The animated versions were more intelligent and more eloquent, particularly Rahzar. Rahzar states to Tokka, "...You are my only friend."
Tokka has a very uncontrolled appetite which leads him into Dirk Savage's trap which consists of a buffet. The Snapper gets captured by the Mutant Hunter after he devours the smorgasbord. Even though Rahzar made a big deal of his friend being captured, and he was shown attacking Dirk later on, it was never shown if he ever got reunited with Tokka, even after the bad guys were defeated.
Their look in the cartoon was very much like that of their action figures, made two years prior to their toon appearance.
In this episode, their names were spelled Toka and Razar.
Toka was voiced by Rob Paulsen
Rob Paulsen
Robert Fredrick "Rob" Paulsen III , sometimes credited as Rob Paulson, is an American voice actor, best known as the voice behind Raphael from the 1987 cartoon of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, Yakko Warner and Dr...
, while Razar was voiced by Townsend Coleman
Townsend Coleman
Townsend Coleman is an American voice actor who performed in many animated series and TV commercials beginning in the early 1980s...
.
Turtles Forever
During the course of Turtles ForeverTurtles Forever
Turtles Forever, also known as Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Turtles Forever or TMNT: Turtles Forever is a 2009 made-for-tv animated movie that was produced by 4Kids Entertainment...
, Ch'rell, the Utrom Shredder, uses mutagen obtained from the universe of the 1987 animated series to mutate his human troops, with two of these mutated soldiers taking on forms identical to Tokka and Rahzar. However, they are later dispatched by the 2003 incarnations of Donatello and Raphael with the aid of the 1987 Party Wagon.
Games
Although the old TMNT videogames are based on the 1987 cartoon version of the franchise, and the first game listed here came out in 1991, two years before Tokka and Rahzar appeared on that show, the two mutants are nonetheless part of three of the games.They are in both versions of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Turtles in Time
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Turtles in Time
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Turtles in Time, released as Teenage Mutant Hero Turtles: Turtles in Time in Europe, is an arcade video game produced by Konami. A sequel to the original Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles arcade game, it is a scrolling beat 'em up based mainly on the 1987 TMNT animated...
. In the original arcade version, they are the bosses of the pirate ship level, while in the Super NES
Super Nintendo Entertainment System
The Super Nintendo Entertainment System is a 16-bit video game console that was released by Nintendo in North America, Europe, Australasia , and South America between 1990 and 1993. In Japan and Southeast Asia, the system is called the , or SFC for short...
version, they have been moved to the new Technodrome
Technodrome
The Technodrome is the semi-spherical tank-like metallic mobile subterranean fortress of Krang and Shredder, the main villains in the 1987 Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles cartoon, the Archie Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Adventures comics and most TMNT video game adaptations. The Technodrome was also...
level.
They are paired together as a double-boss
Boss (video games)
A boss is an enemy-based challenge which is found in video games. A fight with a boss character is commonly referred to as a boss battle or boss fight...
. They can team up in their attacks in the SNES version; one of their moves involves Tokka withdrawing into his shell and Rahzar hopping on top and riding around the screen chaotically like a skateboard. Their low intelligence from the movie is also included in the game: they will often accidentally hit each other instead of the player, and will take damage for it. In the Super Nintendo Version, Tokka is also able to use an ice breath attack, while Rahzar uses a fire breath attack. Just like in the movie, when the player defeats them in the game, they de-mutate to normal animals. It is possible to attack Rahzar after he has de-mutated. He makes a 'Yelp' sound. Also, in the game, their names have the spelling of the movie, not the later spelling of the TV show. The Super NES version borrows a quote from the movie which Tokka and Rahzar said, right before the fight: "Master say have fun." "FUN!" In the movie, they say this when they're tearing up a backstreet to lure the Turtles into a confrontation.
They also made an appearance in the NES
Nintendo Entertainment System
The Nintendo Entertainment System is an 8-bit video game console that was released by Nintendo in North America during 1985, in Europe during 1986 and Australia in 1987...
game Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles III: The Manhattan Project
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles III: The Manhattan Project
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles III: The Manhattan Project, released as Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles 2: The Manhattan Project in Japan, is a side-scrolling beat-'em-up released by Konami for the Nintendo Entertainment System in North America in...
. Here you must fight them as separate bosses. Rahzar appears in the Technodrome level immediately before Shredder, and uses an ice breath attack. Tokka appears as the boss of the rooftop level and carries a shield for blocking jump kicks. Plus, there was an electric billboard in the background and Tokka would be able to uppercut you into it, making you take double damage. Also, in this game Rahzar's name is spelled Rahzer.
They also return in the modern remake TMNT Turtles in Time Re-Shelled for the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3. They again are featured as a double-boss in the pirate ship level.
External links
- Dirk Savage: Mutant Hunter at the Official Ninja Turtles website.