#tmnt headhunter

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Revealing my redesign and rewrite of Kujikiri!

● Kiri is quite well known as the mercenary Headhunter, a professional assassin who has a habit of taking something from her victims as a trophy, much like a sport hunter (as her name itself suggests).

● His weapon of choice is a TESSEN with nine blades and engravings of three paulownia flowers amidst mists, strangely with a kind of fur covering part of the exposed blade tips, similar to cloud engravings, but when touched or exposed to wind, it releases a pleasant-smelling smoke that is actually glass powder containing a fragrant poison (which, when inhaled, begins to irritate and damage the lungs).

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Did you know that Shredder had a romantic interest long before Kitsune was created?

Her only appearance was in a largely forgotten comic from the 90s; her name was Headhunter. She was an assassin hired by Foot Clan ninjas to eliminate Oroku Saki (Shredder himself).

However, she fails in her mission (being interrupted by a vigilante who was pursuing her) and, on top of that, becomes involved with Shredder, resulting in a daughter whom she left for her brother to raise before disappearing completely.

It's said that she's still hiding from the Foot Clan to this day. Could this be why she's never appeared in the franchise again?

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I drew Kujikiri here with a different outfit; I enjoyed creating the mist effect on her kimono.

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Did you know that there's another clan in Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, surrounded by legends and mysteries?

Perfect, here at IMAGE COMICS we have some concepts that I found while digging deep into the TEENAGE MUTANT NINJA TURTLES universe. Among various characters and antagonists, we have THE KOMODO HOUSE. Legends say they came from the Ryu, Japanese dragons that are linked to water and storms, ancient rulers of ancient Japan who, after the First World War, were considered extinct.

Its only surviving member is Go Komodo, who, from what I understand, owns KOMODO INDUSTRIES, dealing with genetic technology and even mutations on the surface. However, Go Komodo uses mutants as experiments to awaken the "dormant dragon side" that he possesses. He believes in his family's legends because he has the ability to communicate mentally with reptiles, turning Komodo dragons into his pets.

Go Komodo has only one sister, Kujikiri (I prefer to call her just Kiri to avoid confusion with the Kuji-kiri technique), who is the infamous mercenary Headhunter. She was once hired by Foot Clan ninjas to put an end to Oroku Saki, but she failed and ended up getting involved with him, resulting in a daughter, Pimiko.

Kiri didn't want Pimiko, so she fled the Foot Clan while still pregnant, leaving the baby in the care of Go Komodo (her brother). As a result, Pimiko grew up unaware that she was descended from a ninja clan leader and elite assassin, only being trained by Go Komodo to become a kunoichi, who personally handpicked her ninjas. She took after her father and didn't even know it!

Okay, this family could appear in a Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles series like the 2003 one or Batman vs. Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, my god, a clan like that would be incredible to see! I can already see Go being a rival to Shredder when it comes to who has the best clan, and the turtles having to decide who they would favor in the sabotage of the day, because if they sabotage one, they favor the other clan.

Along with that, we might have something related to Kiri's escape, like Saki suspecting that Go Komodo is hiding her from him, Go fearing that Shredder will discover that he's keeping his niece, who is also an heiress to the Oroku lineage, because if Shredder finds out, Go will be barbecued! And who knows if Headhunter is alive somewhere.

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I drew Kujikiri and Pimiko in a different style; I'm trying out new things in these drawings and I'm going for a Scooby-Doo Inc. style.

Actually, I've already drawn Galahad in this style, and I plan to show it soon. If I'm taking a long time, it's because I'm drawing non-stop.

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I made a simpler design for this character so I could draw her more often.

In theory, it turned out pretty good. I showed it to a friend and she said it looked ELEGANT, which I didn't understand the meaning of.

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Since we're talking about Galahad, it would be fair to talk about his arch-enemy or the thorn in his side, HEADHUNTER.

his debut was alongside Galahad in BIG BANG COMIC #10, in which the vigilante had traveled to New York to arrest him and perhaps take revenge on the assassin who killed his mentor and uncle Knight Watchma (a pretty cool name) but Galahad didn't expect that the Headhunter was actually a woman and he had gotten confused and gone after OROKU SAKI himself (congratulations Jerry Randall, congratulations for being unlucky and sly!) Shredder just sends the ninjas to catch them both and Galahad and Headhunter even form a small temporary alliance to get out of this alive, but Galahad gets beaten up badly and even gets arrows in the back!

The funniest thing is that Headhunter even scolds him for not breaking Shredder when he could and breaks the alliance, like she doesn't want his help anymore because he's stupid!

After Galahad recovers from his injuries with Splinter's help, he goes to a shoe store and there, besides finding seven unliving Foot Clan ninjas, he also encounters Shredder. The two have an argument. Galahad wants to arrest Headhunter, but Shredder says she's too dangerous and doesn't think a simple chain would stop her (besides, he had previously refused to hand her over). But then, perhaps fed up with the vigilante's insistence, Shredder gives in to Headhunter, and tells Galahad never to cross his path again, otherwise he wouldn't let him leave alive next time. A classic I DON'T WANT TO SEE YOUR FACE ANYMORE. Galahad finds Headhunter in an interrogation room, completely injured, EVEN WITH A SAI IN HER HAND! and he decides to take her to the prison hospital for treatment (he really wants to see her behind bars). But he ends up being knocked out by her, who, just for fun (because I think it's impossible for her to have done that seriously), kisses him and says that she hopes to meet him again when she recovers from her injuries, and escapes from there.

and this was the story of HEADHUNTER in this comic! eeeeeeh! but there was more.

In URBAN LEGENDS we are introduced to a character called Pimiko, and those who know her know that she is the Shredder's daughter, however Go Komodo (Pimiko's uncle) reveals that her mother's name was Kujikiri, which, amazingly, WAS THE HEADHUNTER! who after failing to finish off Oroku Saki (Shredder) got involved with him and this resulted in Pimiko, however Kujikiri didn't want her and left her for Go Komodo who saw an opportunity to expand the Komodo family's affairs.

So we can say that Kujikiri/Headhunter was Shredder's first partner. But after all, why didn't she want Pimiko and left it to Go Komodo to take care of it and not Shredder (who I think would love the fact of having a legitimate heir with his blood)?

CONCLUSION: I honestly loved the concept of the Headhunter, and that along with her comes Galahad (whose contribution to the turtles' bandanas is adorable) and later Pimiko, and I think she has a lot of potential, after all she is an Assassin who was putting Shredder at risk and he recognized the danger. This woman must be no small thing!