The story of Steranko, and under what circumstances came he in contact with the Shredder as a business partner, is largely unknown. In "Enemy of My Enemy", He first appears to be close to Shredder, given an offhanded mention that they're "old friends". He is first seen talking to Shredder, albeit left unnamed, about a weapons deal. Shredder does have the cargo searched just in case Steranko pulled any tricks. During the Turtles' fight with Shredder, he is presumably knocked unconscious by the weapon that was meant to incapacitate Shredder.
Steranko, an ancient artifacts collector, is shown to have Excalibur and the Spear of Destiny in his collections where he has the ability to tell the difference between a fake artifact and a real artifact. He was revealed to have some past with master thief Anton Zeck, who at that time he was helping him with a vaguely defined job (allegedly, accidentally), is the one who shot out Steranko's right eye. Steranko hires Zeck to steal Shredder's helmet the Kuro Kabuto from Shredder to add to his collection. When Zeck meets up with Steranko in his helicopter, they discover that Leo had swapped it out with dirty diapers. Upon discovering this, Steranko vows to hurt Zeck for it.
After the Kraang took over the city Steranko and Zeck have been stuck in Steranko's hideout for months with nothing left to eat but cockroaches and ketchup. They came up with a plan to get out of the city, they would find Shredder's daughter and trade her with him for a safe way out of the city, as the last thing they wanted was to be mutated by the Kraang like the other humans in the city. But the plan didn't work as intended, the turtles released Karai and Steranko and Zeck were brought to Shredder. After Anton Zeck was turned into a mutant warthog for the attempted theft of the Kuro Kabuto, Steranko tried to reason with Shredder that he would be more useful as a normal human. Although it appeared that Shredder was moved by the plea, Rahzar knocked him into the mutagen vat where Steranko loses his Ushanka in the process. Due to the mutagen being filled with rhinoceros DNA, Steranko mutates into a mutant rhinoceros. After the mutated Anton Zeck told the mutated Steranko that the Foot Clan turned them into "freaks," they both bellowed out in pain, confusion, and anger.
Current Version:
Rocksteady
Former Version:
Ivan Steranko
