#HELLO I AM SPLINTER AUTHORITY LISTEN TO MY SPLINTER TED TALK

[halogalopaghost]

Sorry guys, sorry, I'm just like. Having a moment about 03 Splinter.

You got a rat. Basic, Average Rat. He's been a pet to a few extraordinarily kind humans throughout his short rat life (which, sidebar: can we talk about how the average lifespan of a rat is 2-4 years, meaning everything from Shen discovering Splinter to Yoshi dying took place in less than four years? Holy shit) BUT. He's still A Rat.

And he gets turned suddenly, miraculously, into a sapient, roughly man-sized creature. He's a rat with a GRUDGE, guys! He clearly dislikes Hun and absolutely loathes The Shredder, he wants that man DEAD dead, feudal revenge-plot style.

But here's the thing: he wasn't mutated alone. There's four other creatures with him that have been miraculously Embiggened and granted higher thought, and they are, by all appearances, actually infants. They can barely walk and babble on their own, they're cold, they're hungry, and he knows the humans won't react kindly to him (no one ever reacted kindly to a regular rat, after all, besides Tang Shen). So what does he do? Does he go on his revenge rampage and get even with The Shredder for the death of his beloved master? His only family?

No. That bitch ass motherfucker takes his brand new sapient life and becomes a single dad of four instantaneously. Not only that, but he goes on to treat them as his sons and verbally remind them of this often, clearly treats them with love and respect, and teaches them everything he knows. Literally, he says "this is what I learned from my Master Yoshi, and now I will teach you."

The reason the 03 turtles call him Master and Sensei instead of Father is because that's what he first called Yoshi.