Oroku Saki

Few villains can claim they were there at the very beginning — but Oroku Saki was present on page one, debuting in the legendary Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles #1 in 1984, the scrappy black-and-white Mirage Comics debut that launched one of pop culture's most enduring franchises. Created by Kevin Eastman and Peter Laird, this Bronze Age antagonist has been a dark cornerstone of the TMNT universe for four decades, sharing those iconic early pages with Raphael, Leonardo, Donatello, Michelangelo, and Splinter. With two key-issue appearances to his name and a presence stretching all the way to 2024, Oroku Saki is a figure whose shadow falls across the entire history of the franchise — and any collector serious about TMNT knows that chasing his appearances means chasing the very soul of the series.