The Foot

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The Foot are a clan of ninja that operate extensively as contract enforcers for the Yakuza. The leader of the clan is a formidable warrior known as Shredder, a disgraced disciple of a lesser Kami of Shinto. They are very active in Japan and the west coast of the United States, and serve as frequent adversaries of the Ninja Turtles.

History

(Note, this section is a work in progress and may be slightly amended in the near future)

1345: A man named Tatsuo Takeshi was born in Japan in the territory of the shugo-daimyo Ashikaga Yuu, a particularly brutal provincial governor of the Muromachi period, who took ruthless advantage of his family ties to the Shogun to advance his personal interests. Takeshi was unmatched as a warrior, and Yuu found that the power of this warrior brought him unrivaled success in battle.

1371: Growing increasingly concerned on his reliance on Takeshi, Ashikaga Yuu decided to eliminate him and sent a large force of soldiers to ambush him upon the road. Tatsuo Takeshi was not ordinary. He defeated the entire force single-handedly, and though he was mortally wounded, he was victorious. His bleeding body was discovered by a fox spirit who needed just such a champion for her own purposes. She used her magic infused by a gift from a demon known as The Beast in order to bring him back from the brink of death and regrow his foot, which had been severed in battle. She allied herself with Takeshi, adopting the name of Kitsune and claiming herself to be the true original kitsune. She promised to serve him, but she planned to use him as a vessel for the resurrection of the Great Dragon, an ancient being who had been slain by The Beast. Kitsune had been serving the Beast, but quietly biding her time for betrayal against him.

1373: With Kitsune by his side, Takeshi gathered a following and killed Ashikaga Yuu, citing his oppression of the poor. The lower class rallied to his cause, and made him their hero. He chose not to have his followers known after his name, but gave them the name The Foot, in allegory to his foot that had been severed and regrown. Not wishing to see a popular uprising at a time of conflict with the Southern Court and secretly glad to see the back of his troublesome relative, the young Shogun Ashikaga Yoshimitsu promoted a more moderate shogu in Yuu's place. Receiving assurances that Takeshi's forces would support the Ashikaga Shogunate in their ongoing campaigns against the Southern Court, an uneasy balance of power was achieved. As time went on Takeshi's influence and power grew to rival the shugo-daimyo, and his name became one of the most feared in all of Japan.

1378: Kitsune's influence on Takeshi drew him to use the Foot for service to The Beast. His service was rewarded with the magical components needed for Kitsune to grant him immortality. This led to incredible brutality, and The Foot Clan became far more destructive than those they had opposed.

1470: The other leaders of the Foot Clan plot Takeshi's death, no longer able to stomach the horrors they have been forced to be part of by their semi-immortal jonin. Oroku Masato, another master of the clan, carries out the assassination. Kitsune, enraged by her vessel's slaughter, curses Masato so that Takeshi will be reborn as his own son and will take vengeance upon him.

1471: Oroku Saki is born to Masato. The Foot Clan avoids involvement in the Onin war, stepping back from their role in the politics of Japan to concentrate on defending the poor and helpless in their region.

1491: Hamato Yoshi and Oroku Saki become chunin for the Foot Clan. Saki is calm but arrogant, while Yoshi is hot-headed yet just. The two become best friends, balancing each other's weaknesses.

1492: Kitsune reveals herself to Saki, and reveals the nature of his birth and his father's treachery against his master. Saki plots the murder of the masters of the Foot Clan. He succeeds, though Yoshi does not know he was the murderer. Yoshi and he become jonin of the Foot together.

1509: Saki's leadership grew more ambitious as he sought to increase political influence. Yoshi implores him to stop, while Kitsune's influence over him grows as she secretly plots to use him as the Dragon's vessel to be resurrected. Yoshi chooses to openly oppose Saki. Saki executes Yoshi, his wife Shen, and their four sons. With Yoshi gone, Kitsune continues to manipulate Saki into being as bloodthirsty as he was in his previous life to gain the magical power needed to resurrect the Dragon.

1540: Kitsune and Saki betray The Beast, and Saki destroys the Beast's portal to visit this realm. Kitsune makes Oroku Saki immortal using power stolen from The Beast, but the cost is that he must first die and be resurrected with a spell requiring the blood of a family member. She entombs herself to sleep until the time is right. The other leaders of the Foot Clan squabble over power, and the Foot Clan's reign becomes fragmented. Battles break out across the land as each tries to take their place as ruler of the Foot Clan.

1594: The Hand forms, and The Beast uses the pact formed by the Inner Circle to create a clear and present danger to the Foot Clan leaders and their power. The clan leaders attempt to come back together, but are too late in realizing the threat, and forced into the shadows once again. Oroku Yoshi, the firstborn son of Saki, takes control of the clan and continues to secretly grow the clan's power. The Foot Clan became increasingly covert in its operations, re-emerging only in the late Edo period as a powerful yakuza syndicate.

Recent History

2015: A young Oroku Karai becomes fascinated by the historic documents surrounding the Foot Clan's history, and becomes obsessed with the mythos of resurrection for Oroku Saki. She conducts the ritual, and brings him back to life. Saki takes control of the Foot once again in short order, and when a member assassinates one of his descendents in an attempt to overthrow him, he chases that clan member to America. After executing the traitor, he discovers the centrality of activity in America, and establishes the Foot Clan's forward operating base in New York City.

2018: The Foot Clan's presence spreads to several dozen countries, taking inventory of the many heroes and villains that have come to populate the world, and the Foot Clan begins stealing research from Null Group to create their own mutant super soldiers.