Old Hob begins IDW’s Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles as an enemy of Splinter and his sons. He later becomes the founder and leader of the Mutanimals, a role that makes him both an occasional ally and a deeply dangerous antagonist.
Before his mutation, Hob is an ordinary house cat cared for by a young boy. The boy’s mother eventually throws him out after he causes trouble at home. His comfortable life disappears overnight, leaving him alone in the cold.
He learns to survive by scavenging through the city. Food is uncertain, danger is constant, and life on the street gradually becomes his new normal.
One day, he finds several small turtles in an alley, covered in a glowing green substance.
Hungry, he tries to eat one despite the mutagen burning his mouth. A rat attacks to protect the turtle and badly injures Hob’s eye. He loses consciousness and later awakens with a humanoid body, transformed by the same substance.
He overhears two men discussing a rat named Splinter and offers to help find it. The men, Baxter Stockman and an assistant, are astonished by him. They take him to the laboratory under the promise of protection, then subject him to experiments.
When Hob tires of confinement, he proposes searching outside for Splinter. Stockman agrees, provides resources, and makes clear that Hob is not free simply to disappear.
Hob distrusts him. Having learned that mutagen can create powerful humanoid animals, he expects the rat to be dangerous too. He recruits a human gang for support and discovers that he enjoys giving orders and feeling the strength of a group behind him.
The gang confronts Splinter and loses. The rat has four sons fighting beside him: Leonardo, Raphael, Michelangelo, and Donatello. Hob sees a mutant family where he has only hired human allies, and his anger is mixed with envy. The difference that hurts most is that they belong together and he is alone.
After the gang falls apart, Stockman decides Hob is no longer useful and shoots him. Hob survives, determined to take revenge on humans and build a mutant group of his own. Meeting the injured Slash gives him the partner he needs to begin the Mutanimals.
With mutagen stolen from Stockman and a sample of Splinter’s blood, he starts creating more mutants. His early attempt produces Pigeon Pete, whose limited intelligence falls short of Hob’s expectations.
He kidnaps scientist Lindsey Baker to help with the work. Mondo Gecko and the hermit-crab mutant Herman join the growing team. Slash also becomes more intelligent after receiving material derived from Splinter’s blood.
Old Hob belongs to IDW’s continuity, but he fits a longer TMNT tradition of mutant cats and morally complicated animal leaders. Those similarities are worth exploring without assuming that each earlier character is literally an earlier incarnation of him.
Archie’s Hallocat, formerly known as Pookey, appears with a group of mutant criminals in Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Adventures #27 in 1991.
The vintage toy line introduces another feline criminal, Scratch, wearing a prison uniform. He also appears as a boss in the Game Boy title Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles III: Radical Rescue.
Scratch’s later reputation as a scarce, expensive vintage figure comes from the collector market. Rarity and price depend on condition, accessories, and packaging; they do not establish a direct connection to Hob’s creation.
Another interesting comparison is Caesar from Palladium’s Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles & Other Strangeness role-playing game, first published in 1985.
Caesar leads Caesar’s Weasels and pursues mutant freedom through dark and unethical methods. Like Hob, he treats protecting mutants as a justification for actions that can hurt others. The parallel is thematic rather than proof of a confirmed design lineage.
That tension makes Hob compelling. His desire to protect his own kind can resemble Magneto’s conflicts in X-Men: understandable anger at mistreatment grows into a willingness to cross terrible lines. Hob’s choices repeatedly place him between the Turtles’ goals and their enemies’ methods.
During “City at War,” he crosses one of the biggest lines of all, detonating a mutagen bomb at a public gathering and transforming a crowd of people. The aftermath leads to the quarantined neighborhood of Mutant Town, changing countless lives without their consent.