Emperor Zanmoran is a supporting antagonist in the 2012 Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles series.
Though he is vastly different from the other incarnations of Zanramon, he is still an equally dishonorable leader of the Triceratron Empire and ordered the hunt for the fragments of the Blackhole Generator to destroy the Kraang's secret base.
He was voiced by Michael Ironside, who also voiced Darkseid in the DC Animated Universe, and also played Darryl Revok in the 1981 film Scanners, Overdog in the 1983 film Spacehunter: Adventures in the Forbidden Zone, Richter in the 1990 film Total Recall, General Katana in the 1991 film Highlander II: The Quickening, Colonel Dugan in the 1994 film The Next Karate Kid, Nolan Pierce in Walker, Texas Ranger, Emperor Zanramon in the 2012 Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles series, Lewis Snart in the CW TV series The Flash.
Biography[]
Zanmoran was the Emperor of the Triceraton Empire. He has ruled an empire with an iron fist and sought to subjugate more territories. So he planned to take over Dimension X. However, it's control has been usurped by a worse tyrant, Kraang Prime. In order to keep their territories, their armies fought each other for over a millennia. The Triceratons fought with brute strength and the Kraang fought with intelligence. According to Bishop, the Triceratons nearly won the war. That was until Kraang Prime has the Heart of Darkness his right-hand bought from Professor Zayton Honeycutt to destroy the Triceraton's planet, wiping out most of it's population. Only the Mothership, which contained Zanmoran, survived, and Zanmoran and his subjects were enraged and swore revenge. He ordered the hunt for the Heart of Darkness pieces to wipe out the Kraang's secret base, even if there were innocent beings also a victim of the Kraang's plans present and will be destroyed also. This caught Zeno's attention and he spoke against his plans for using the Heart of Darkness like any thoughtless Kraang would. Zanmoran then has Zeno imprisoned and forced to fight his other prisoners whom he selects out of all those who were ultimately executed soon enough, much to his amusement, even more that Zeno won every time.
Zanmoran was first mentioned in "Annihilation: Earth" when Mozar says that the Emperor has ordered Earth's destruction and it cannot be disobeyed. He is also mentioned again in "The Riddle of the Ancient Aeons" when Mozar gloats that finding the first piece of the Heart of Darkness (also called as the Blackhole Generator) will make him promoted to admiral by him. Mozar succeeds the impressed Emperor promoted him to an admiral.
Zanmoran makes his only appearance in the series in "Arena of Carnage". He interrupts the Turtle's execution by Mozar via hologram, claiming them to be good sport for the arena. Mozar obliges and has the Turtles placed in the cells. During their first battle, Zanmoran makes it clear they will be granted a chance to be set free through a glorious battle. They managed to defeat their first opponent, the Spasmosaur, much to Zanmoran's amusement which he expresses it to Mozar, to which he dismisses it as luck, who then leaves to deal with intruders. However, despite his words, he still has them imprisoned for another battle with Zeno. Before the battle with Zeno starts, Mozar brings Fugitoid to Zanmoran, which impressed him, and sadistically forces Fugitoid to watch the Turtle's future death in Zeno's hands. As the battle commences, to which the Turtles badly start losing, Zanmoran makes a sadistic deal in which in order to keep the Turtles alive, Fugitoid must help in them assemble the Blackhole Generator, to which he refuses. Zeno is now winning the battle, to which he has them at their mercy. Zanmoran encourages Zeno to kill them to earn their freedom, however, due to his harsh treatment on him and the lives he is willing to take to have his revenge on the Kraang, Zeno finally has the courage to stand up to the Emperor and throws his hammer at him. Zanmoran avoids the hammer as it strikes his throne instead, much to his anger. Zeno then calls Zanmoran out of his cowardice and not fighting with honor, to which he has them put to death. Zeno holds off the attackers and help the Turtles reach Zanmoran's throne and hold Zanmoran hostage after catching Mozar off-guard. They use him as leverage for Fugitoid's freedom, to which Mozar is forced to follow. He is then taken with them to the airlock they came in, Zanmoran warns him that they are making a grave enemy of his Empire before they collide with April and Casey who have the first piece of the Black Hole Generator, to which his crown is knocked off. With Zanmoran's presence, the Tirceratons chasing Casey and April are forced not to fire as they can harm their leader, to which Zanmoran orders them to do it anyway and forget about him, to which he and Mozar just orders them to wipe the Turtles out. However, they managed to escape the mothership and the armada itself.
As revealed in "Revenge of the Triceratons", Zanmoran was unimpressed by Mozar's performance that he had him demoted to captain. In "Earth's Last Stand", Zanmoran does not appear, but considering he couldn't be anywhere but the Triceraton Mothership, Zanmoran is finally killed for good when Fugitoid blew the entire Mothership up.
Personality[]
Despite Zanmoran not being as fleshed out as his other incarnations, he still retains a personality. Zanmoran is highly sadistic, taking pleasure in his prisoners forced to fight each other, even to the death, taking a high liking for the sport. He is an extremely power-hungry individual, wanting to conquer other places to satisfy his ambitions, which ultimately lead to his planet's downfall. He also is tyrannical, crushing all opposition by executing them or having them fight in the Arena. He also is in need of good competency from his soldiers, demoting Mozar when he failed to stop the Turtles, April, Casey and the Fugitoid. And he also has a major distaste for the Kraang due to being in a war with them and what they did to his planet. He is also highly dishonorable, choosing to have a weapon that destroyed his own planet to destroy the Kraang rather than having his army fight them with honour, and despite his speech, has the Turtles imprisoned to fight another round. Furthermore, he is hypocritical, as he was willing to destroy a planet filled with a race that has done nothing to him just to get rid of his enemies, despite getting mad at the Kraang for destroying his homeworld. Ultimately, despite Zanmoran's evil nature, he cares about his people. He has been saddened and enraged by his planet's destruction along with majority of his subjects, and no evidence suggests he abuses or just doesn't care about them all, even willing to invite them to watch the battles in the arena and reward good performances when he sees them, proving Zanmoran can be very honorable sometime. However, it is only if the Triceraton is loyal to him, if he is not, Zanmoran sheds the care and treats him like he treats other species.
Gallery[]
Trivia[]
- It has been debated on what is Zanramon's fate. However, considering Zanmoran cannot be anywhere but inside the Triceraton Mothership, it is enough proof to confirm Zanmoran indeed has died when Fugitoid blew up the mothership.
- Zanmoran's debut episode "Arena of Carnage" is similar to the 2003 series TMNT episode "Turtles in Space - Part 4: The Arena".
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 Villains (2012 Cartoon)
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Foot Clan The Kraang Purple Dragons Dream Beavers Triceraton Empire Italian Mafia Insectoids Savanti Romero's Monster Army Others | ||