Commander G'Throkka, also known as Sal Commander, He is an alien and friend of the Ninja Turtles. He appears in the 2012 animated series. season 4, and is also a member of the Salamandrian race.
History
The Moons of Thalos 3
The exact history of G'Throkka before his first encounter with the Turtles is unknown, but he distinguishes himself in the series as a highly seasoned veteran of numerous conflicts with the arch-enemy of his race, the Triceratons.
During an aerial sneak attack on the Triceraton homeworld Flagship Fleet with his aide Y'Gythgba their ship was accidentally clipped by the Ulixes, which had unintentionally flown into the middle of the conflict and been shot down, sending both ship into a nose dive towards a nearby ice moon. The ships crashed several miles away from each other but G'throkka was still able to observe the potentially hostile interlopers from the ledge they'd landed on with his helmet's in-built scanners.
Faced with freezing G'Throkka and Y'Gythgba's only hope was a pocket of refined irrilium metal they could use to repair their craft, the commander declared they had to capture the resource before the interlopers did. Y'Gythgba insisted on holding to Salamandrian principles and destroying their competition for robbing them of glorious battle. Despite this G'Throkka could not help but respect the Turtles and their allies for forging on together through the harsh conditions instead of succumbing to despair, for which Y'Gthgba chastised him.
The two groups came into contact again when they reached an ice peak containing the irrilium deposit. The Fugitiod attempted to negotiate, insisting the collision had been an accident, which G'Throkka was survival conscious enough to consider and would have been open to negotiation if the group had not been "outworlders." The Fugitiod wisely pointed out that none of them came from this world, but one of the group insisted on verbally sparring with Y'Gthgba. Another spoke of conciliation but dared to offer the Hand of Combat. In reality the Turtle had simply been attempting a handshake but the enraged Salamandrians would have their vengeance despite the ninjas skills and the Fugitoid's firepower. However G'Throkka was denied when a well placed explosive from Y'Gthgba's arsenal buried the enemy beneath tons of ice, leaving them free to dishonorably freeze to death. She countered his desire to dig them out and resume the battle by recommending they take advantage to situation to take the prize themselves.
The climb was slow going, allowing them to observe the enemy from a perch further up the peak. Impressed by the group's tenacity G'Throkka considered the possibility the accident had truly been just that but Y'Gthgba had convinced herself the Turtles were working for the Triceratons and, at the very least, dishonorable for attacking her commander four on one. Rather than waste time debating G'Throkka ordered they resume the climb.
Later as they contemplated the likely end of the mission and the enemy the same Turtle who had been previously so aggressive with Y'Gthgba (and was now developing feelings for her) somersaulted over their heads and in front of them, attempting to negotiate. Though he sensed a heroic heart within the stranger G'Throkka did not protest when Y'Gthgba opened fire on him,but did note with interest that she shot the ice he was standing on to remove him from their path instead of the direct approach. They were suddenly ambushed by Ice Dragons which managed to freeze G'Throkka, leaving him vulnerable and Y'Gthgba hopelessly outnumbered. Fortunately for both of them the Turtle had survived the impromptu fall and re-climbed the peak just in time to aid her. Their first act as an alliance was to rescue G'Throkka from his undignified frozen position using a low output from Y'Gthgba, or as the Turtle Raphael nicknamed her Mona Lisa's blaster gauntlet.
Eventually freed G'Throkka was able to join his two young allies in rescuing the rest of Raphael's brothers and friends from a herd of Ice Dragons, though he was less than impressed with the youngest's attempts to rename him. The name "Sal Commander" had a certain appeal however. Once their enemies were dealt with the Turtle's leader, having learned his lesson, offered simply his friendship without his hand. G'Throkka gladly accepted with the time honored Salamandrian ritual, which the lad capably managed. The group finally found the irrilum deposit, which turned out to be part of an un-detonated Triceraton mine. G'Throkka was part of the group that carried the device in a rapid retreat from an overwhelming number of Ice Dragons. The group managed to get the device, and themselves, down the peak intact although one by one the organic member's life support systems began to fail seconds away from the Ulixes, rendering them all, including G'Throkka, unconscious.
Miraculously the Fugitioid was able to restore the vessel's power and bring them all to the safety of it's life support systems. G'Throkka expressed gratitude, hoping that someday he and Y'Gthgba would be able to repay their allies kindness. He witnessed Raphael and Mona Lisa's expression of emotion with seeming approval though did feel obligated to cover young Michelangelo's eyes.
The War for Dimension X
Sal Commander and Mona Lisa encounter the Turtles again, but this time in Dimension X when the Turtles bust them out of Kraang Subprime's base after they were captured by the Kraang following a failed attempt to get the Kraang's allegiance to face the Triceratons together. With the help of Sal Commander and Mona Lisa, the Turtles are able to rescue the Utrom Queen and defeat Kraang Subprime and his forces, with the surviving Kraangdroids rounded up and captured by the Utromdroids.
The Evil of Dregg
Sal Commander and Mona Lisa are forced to obey Dregg to bring the Turtles to Sectoid 1 so that their homeworld of Salamandria is spared an invasion by Dregg's forces, but they are betrayed by Dregg. As a result, they rejoin the Turtles and are able to defeat Dregg, though not without Mona being wounded by the Scorpinoid and being taken to the Ulixes for medical attention, allowing her to recover, while Sal Commander apologizes to the Turtles for trusting Dregg and hopes they can forgive him and Mona for their actions.
When Worlds Collide
Sal Commander and Mona are with a Salamandrian fighter force when they receive word from their general of a rogue Salamandrian having been found. Sal Commander recognizes the rogue as the same one who cost him his left eye, and learns that he is on Earth, where Raphael and the Turtles live. Immediately after getting their orders, Sal Commander and Mona break formation from the fleet and head for Earth. Once in range, Mona contacts Raphael to let him know of their arrival, and he is waiting for them with April, Karai, and his brothers. Once they land and hide their ship from prying eyes, Sal Commander explains why they are there, and the Turtles recognize the rogue as being the Newtralizer, agreeing to aid their Salamandrian allies with finding him. Sal Commander goes with Mikey, Raph, and Mona, but then splits up further with Mikey to scout ahead, only to be attacked by the Earth Protection Force and Bishop. Once Raph and Mona catch up and Raphael explains everything to Bishop, the EPF commandos and Bishop lend their support with finding Newtralizer by using Bishop as bait to lure him in. Bishop is nearly eaten by Newtralizer before Leo, Donnie, April, and Karai arrive to help. Bishop then transports everyone to the Utrom High Council chambers to avoid a potentially lethal attack from Newtralizer, but is forced to summon another portal for Sal Commander to shove Newtralizer through to protect Queen, Rook, and Pawn from Newtralizer when he follows them via his own teleporting powers. Back in New York City, Sal Commander and the others bear witness as Newtralizer apparently disintegrates Mikey, and Raphael nearly kills him in revenge, before things take a turn for the worse when Lord Dregg arrives in his new command ship, having followed Sal Commander and Mona to Earth to exact his vengeance on them for the defeat during his invasion of their homeworld, and on the Turtles as well.
Sal Commander is captured with Leo early on and imprisoned in Dregg's ship on the bridge. They are soon joined by Karai and Donnie, but Mikey soon arrives to bust them out alongside Raphael, April, Bishop, and Mona. During the fight, Mikey and Sal Commander end up in the ship's power core, where they engage in battle with Newtralizer again. At one point, when Newtralizer has Mikey at his mercy and prepares to kill him, Sal Commander attains his revenge for the wounds Newtralizer inflicted on him when he uses the mace on his tail to knock Newtralizer into the core, where Newtralizer's powers begin to overload it and threaten to destroy the whole ship. Mikey keeps him from escaping while buying time for the others to evacuate. Once out, they watch as Dregg's ship explodes, presumably killing him and Newtralizer for good, before Mikey emerges unharmed. With Dregg and Newtralizer presumed dead with the destruction of Dregg's ship with them still aboard, Sal Commander and Mona prepare to return to Salamandria to report to their general on what's transpired. However, Mona asks to be transferred to Earth to protect it from future threats. Understanding his Lieutenant's reasons for staying, Sal Commander grants her request.
Personality
Unlike his lieutenant Y’Gythgba, G'Throkka isn't as hostile in his encounters. He respected the Turtles' courage despite their interference in his fight with the Triceratons, and he was more willing to co-operate with them rather than fight and assume they are enemies like Y’Gythgba. Though according to Y’Gythgba his actions may be contradictory to how Salamandrians are supposed to behave. He is concerned about his honor, as he was willing to dig the Turtles out of the ice for an honorable kill. He was grateful for the assistance of the Turtles and is willing to repay them in the future.
Relationships
Friends
Enemies
Appearance
Sal resembles a typical Salamandrian, but with an armored tail, a few prosthetic internal organs exposed, a bionic eye and scars spread through his body, indicating he has suffered numerous injuries from combat, making him a hardened veteran warrior for his race. He mentions in When Worlds Collide that he lost his left eye in battle against Newtralizer.
Quotes
"Booyakasha indeed, Michelangelo." - The War for Dimension X
Trivia
- Ciro Nieli, one of the shows producer, is a huge fan of the terror genre, specially when it comes to John Carpenter's work. He liked very much to be able to work with Sal's voice actor Keith David who appeared in two of Carpenter's films, "The Thing" (which inspired the episode "Buried Secrets") and "They Live!" (which inspired the design of Mrs. O'Neil's clone monster face in the same episode).
- The nickname Sal Commander, that Michelangelo give to G'Throkka, contains the abbreviation "Sal" for "Salamander".
- G.I. Newt, one of the nicknames that Michelangelo gave to G'Throkka is a reference to the G.I. Joe series.
- Sal Commander is one of the four characters in the 2012 series who have mentioned "the 10 dimensions", after the Newtralizer, Wyrm and Mozar.
Gallery
G’Throkka/Gallery