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In Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: The Armageddon Game #4, an iconic enemy of the Splinter Clan is prepared to go to war after losing everything.
When the Rat King decided to kick off his ominous Armageddon Game, he assembled a Trio of Terror consisting of the worst villains the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles have ever known. Since then, Baxter Stockman and Null have embarked on a joint crusade to set Mutant Town ablaze from within, all while Krang plotted a course of action that could do the same to the rest of the world. Of course, such a massive undertaking requires nothing short of an alien army, and Krang has just lost control of his at the worst possible time.
As Utrom assassins embark on an all-out assault of the Splinter Clan’s stronghold in the pages of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: The Armageddon Game #4 (by Kevin Eastman, Tom Waltz, Sophie Campbell, Fero Pe, Ronda Pattison, and Shawn Lee), their handlers back on Burnow Island are alerted to an impending attack on their own soil. After gruesomely severing ties with Leatherhead and acquiring a new mechanical body, Krang has finally returned to his old home in the hopes of picking up where he previously left off. Unfortunately, the greeting Krang receives is anything but welcoming, especially since the Utroms of Burnow Island swore their allegiance to his biggest rival long ago.
Krang is No Longer the General of the Utrom Army
While the Utroms as a species have been a part of the TMNT franchise from nearly the very beginning, Krang was the one to become a household name following his debut on the original 1987 animated series. Over the years, Krang and the Utroms have undergone numerous iterations. This includes Ch’rell, who is currently on his second incarnation. The first, from 2003’s animated Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, stood in for both Krang and the Shredder, acting as the series’ primary antagonist across multiple seasons.
In the comics, however, Ch’rell has never achieved anywhere near that level of infamy, although it looks like he might soon. Long described as having an overt proclivity toward violence, Ch’rell earned his former place as a colonel in Krang’s army thanks to his battlefield prowess and tactical mind. This was all the reason the benevolent Utrom leader Ma’riell needed to keep Ch’rell in stasis following his and Krang’s defeat, but it didn’t take long after being released by his supporters for the latter to take over Burnow Island again. And, now that Krang has returned, Ch’rell has been given an opportunity to cement his place as the rightful leader of his people, which may have dire consequences.
An Utrom Invasion May Be Worse Than TMNT’s Armageddon Game
Without his army, Krang is a rogue agent at best, which is far from what the Rat King had hoped for when he recruited the Utrom menace into his Trio of Terror. This alone is enough to upset the wider conspiracy at hand, but it could also have a more immediate impact depending on what Ch’rell does next. Unlike Krang, Ch’rell has no reason to work alongside the rest of the Rat King’s players. As such, it would be nothing for him to turn on them rather than simply take Krang’s place at the table, though that is hardly the worst that could happen.
Beyond Ch’rell having no concern for Krang’s alliances, the former doesn’t share his predecessor’s disdain for the Triceratons their people have lorded over for so long. In fact, Ch’rell has led the charge in turning superpowered Triceraton clones into hosts for the next generation of Utroms as well as those currently eking out an existence on Burnow Island. This coupled with all their other resources makes this army deadlier than anything that has come before, so much so that they might just usher in the end of the world before the Armageddon Game even gets the chance.
