The Kraang

The Kraang is a Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles minifigure released in 2013.The Kraang are brain-like aliens who inhabit robot humanoids in order to gain speed, the ability to hold things and a disguise. They appear in five sets.
== Description ==
One version of the Kraang is a new mould, while the other two are minifigure variations.
;From 79100
The Kraang from 79100 is made out of two parts. The first part is an unprinted, pink minifigure head that fits underneath the other one. The second part is a special mould made exclusively for this figure. It is pink and ridged with six tentacles coming out from it. The part also has two green eyes.
;Rockefeller Center Variation
The Rockefeller variation is of the Kraang in its robot body which, in turn, is in a human disguise. It has black, slicked over hair and a double sided head. The face printing features half of his face robotic with the other half light nougat with eyebrows, cheekbones and a mouth. The back has some robotic printing. The front of his torso features a ripped light blue suit with the pink Kraang peeking out from one of the rips. The back printing features a large, substantial rip with the back of the Kraang alien visible. His leg piece is baby blue and has his left leg of his pants, torn with metal parts showing. 
;From 79104
The variation from 79104 a head with printing on both sides. The front side features a purple and silver robotic face while the other side has purple and silver robotic printing. He wears a grey jetpack between his head and torso. This variation also has a double sided torso. The front features a robotic harness to hold the Kraang alien in, with robotic appendages going off into his arms and legs as a way to control them. The back of his torso shows the back of the harness holding the Kraang alien and the appendages. His leg piece features the continuation of the leg appendages and metallic toes.
== Background ==
The Kraang are a race of brain-shaped aliens from Dimension X that pilot robotic bodies who were responsible for bringing the mutagen that was responsible for the Turtle's mutations to Earth. Their history became intertwined with the Turtles when they caught Splinter spying on them and attacked him while he was holding the not-yet-mutated Turtles, causing them to mutate when one of the Kraang accidentally dropped a mutagen canister on them.
When the mutated turtles went to the surface world 15 years later in "Rise of the Turtles," they came face-to-face again with the Kraang when they were about to kidnap April O'Neil and her psychologist father, Kirby, with the help of their getaway driver, Snake. After a failed attempt due to a lack of chemistry, the Turtles invaded the Kraang base, mutated Snake into a regenerating mutant ivy weed-like creature dubbed "Snakeweed" by Michelangelo, and rescued April, but failed to save her father.
In "The Gauntlet," the Turtles learned from the still-imprisoned Kirby O'Neil that the Kraang have been abducting scientists so that they can help modify the mutagen's properties. Since the physical laws of Dimension X are different, the mutagen has different effects in this dimension.
In "The Alien Agenda," the Kraang established the World Wide Genome Project as a front to collect the DNA of every animal and plant species on Earth.
In "The Pulverizer," the Kraang reclaimed the power cell that Leatherhead stole from them.
In "TCRI," it is revealed that the Kraang have their headquarters in the higher parts of the TCRI building and that they can only survive in poisonous gas. While inside the TCRI building, the Turtles discover the Kraang's invasion plan: To mutate the whole planet so that their kind can live here, which will wipe out everyone else in the process. The Kraang even brought Traag from Dimension X to attack the Turtles until it was dragged back into Dimension X by Leatherhead. When the Turtles got away when their explosives were unable to destroy the Kraang's portal, Michelangelo managed to obtain a Kraang data storage device which revealed that since Kirby is a psychologist, his area of expertise had nothing to do with the mutagen's modification: the Kraang intended target was actually April.
In "Cockroach Terminator," the Kraang steal a special lens as part of a plot to use their laser drill to burrow to the Earth's core as part of the Kraang's invasion plan. This plot was thwarted by Raphael while he was overcoming his fear of cockroaches.
In "Enemy of My Enemy," two Kraang operatives piloted a spacecraft as a means of hunting the Turtles up to the point where they ended up crashing a weapons trade involving the Shredder. This spacecraft was eventually repelled by Leonardo and one of the pilots was captured by Shredder.
In "Karai's Vendetta," the captured Kraang was interrogated by Shredder on why they hunt the Turtles and told him on how they've been targeting April, who Shredder then sent Karai after in order to draw the Turtles out of hiding. Meanwhile, the rest of the Kraang had set up a base in the East River where they started a plot to turn Earth's water into Kraang water (which can dissolve a pizza yet not harm humans, or perhaps it just has no effect on April, hence the Kraang's interest in her) and brought a large unnamed sea monster from Dimension X to help guard it. The Turtles managed to destroy the base and escape from the sea monster. We do not know if it can harm humans or not as April is the one who the Kraang water splashed on and the Kraang want April for a special reason.
In "The Pulverizer Returns," the Foot Clan began to steal mutagen from TCRI as part of Shredder's plan to create a mutant army. The captured Kraang tried to warn Shredder about how dangerous the mutagen is, but Shredder wouldn't listen and tried to go through with his plan. When the turtles foiled it, Shredder and the captured Kraang agreed to say that they have a common enemy, foreshadowing a team-up between the villains.
In "Operation: Break Out," it was shown that Shredder and the Kraang were working together, and that they engineered Kirby O'Neil's "escape" with the aid of the Turtles. The Kraang were also shown to have created a mutant hunter known as the Newtralizer, who proved to be beyond their control when it savagely attacked them after escaping his cell in the same holding facility where Kirby was held prisoner in.
In "Booyaka-Showdown," it was revealed that they have planted a mind control device on Kirby, which they use to force him to capture April and deliver her to Shredder, who uses her as bait to lure out Splinter. Having accomplished this, Shredder turned April over to the Kraang, who proceeded to use their portal to Dimension X to bring the Technodrone to Earth, though the Turtles subsequently succeeded in destroying the TCRI building. The Kraang's leader, Kraang Prime, was eventually able to get the Technodrome out of the portal before then, starting the invasiion on New York, and needed April's help with the terraforming process through her unique mental energies. However, the Turtles interfered in this plan, and the Technodrone was subsequently brought down off the coast of New York City, though it was revealed to be intact and partially active.
The Kraang continue to pose a threat throughout the second season, briefly maintaining an alliance with the Foot in which they provided them with robotic Foot ninja and attempt to provide them with mutagen so that they can create mutants to destroy the Turtles. However, their partnership was dissolved after a number of incidents, such as the Kraang setting up the Turtles to accidentally intercept a load of mutagen, which was subsequently scattered over the city, and programming their ultimate robot Foot ninja creation, Chrome Dome, to defy Karai's orders to kill April, as the Kraang still wished to capture her.
In "The Kraang Conspiacy," it was subsequently revealed by a private investigator, Jack Kurtzman, who had been investigating the disappearances of Kirby O'Neil and the other scientists who the Kraang had kidnapped, that this is because the Kraang have been preparing to terraform Earth for centuries, altering human DNA until they could create a perfect human-Kraang hybrid: April. In their efforts to utilize her, the Kraang created a number of clones of April, including a misshapen failure dubbed "April Derp" by Michelangelo; all these clones are subsequently destroyed.
In "Metalhead Rewired," the Kraang initiated a plot to capture the various mutants inhabiting New York and enslave them with special control devices. They succeeded in rounding up a number of mutants and imprisoning them in a facility in a pocket dimension, but the location was discovered by Metalhead and the Turtles. They briefly used Snakeweed and Spider Bytez against the Turtles, but Metalhead freed them and the other mutants, who escaped back to New York along with the Turtles.
In "The Manhattan Project," the Turtles were focused on a Kraang plot in which the Kraang brought giant worm creatures known as Kraathatrogons to New York from Dimension X. These creatures were revealed to be the source of the mutagen, which they secrete and can be milked of, and also served as mounts for the Kraang. When the Turtles attempted to thwart their plans, they and the Kraang end up battling beneath New York and in the Kraang's interdimensional portal network. In the end, the Turtles are able to send the Kraathatrogons back into the portal network, with one of them ending up in the universe of the 1987 Ninja Turtles cartoon. This mentioned Kraathatrogon was seen briefly seen in the 2012 universe swallowing Tiger Claw, a 6 and 1/2 ft. humanoid mutant Bengal tiger who, as a human child, was the subject of one of the Kraang's experiments in Japan uncounted years back and was recently trained into the Foot Clan as Shredder's new second-in command.
In "Into Dimension X," the Kraang were shown to have finally perfected the mutagen, but the Turtles were secretly warned about this success by Leatherhead through a Kraang Communication Orb. After finding their way into Dimension X and traveling to the Kraang's home fortress, which was being guarded by Traag and Granitor, the Turtles rescued Leatherhead and helped him stop the Kraang from dumping the perfected mutagen into Earth's dimension through multiple portals.
In "The Invasion," the Foot Clan finally made a full alliance with the Kraang (through Shredder's distraught over Karai's accidental mutation for discovering that her true family is the Turtles and Splinter) to draw out and destroy the Turtles in exchange in helping them invade the city, which the Kraang did through various spies; Irma Langenstein, April's close friend at school for two years, was unexpectedly revealed as the robotic housing of one such spy, named Kraang Sub-Prime, who was eventually defeated by Splinter. Having perfected the mutagen in a previous episode, they began using it to "Kraang-form" New York, turning humans and their environs into creatures and structures reminiscent of Dimension X. The Turtles, Leatherhead, Splinter, April, and Casey briefly attempted to fight them off, but despite the aid of the new Turtle-Mech created by Donatello they were forced to retreat after a battle with Kraang Prime. Kraang Prime also claimed that the Kraang were responsible for the existence of humanity, who supposedly developed after the Kraang exposed monkeys to mutagen. 
In "Buried Secrets," the Turtles, April and Casey discovered a Kraang ship beneath April's family farmhouse, where her great-grandfather supposedly discovered it and the Kraang inside, leading to generations of experimentation on the deceased relatives on April's mothers side of the O'Neil family until culminating in experiments they performed on her mother. They also discovered a clone of April's mother who was sealed within the ship due to being unstable, and managed to defeat her.
The Turtles eventually returned to New York and succeeded in liberating the city from the Kraang with the help of the Mighty Mutanimals, including Leatherhead, but it would not be the last that they heard of the Kraang. Future engagements would involve the even more dangerous enemies of the Kraang, the Triceratons, as well as a group known as the Utrom. All the Kraang were once Utrom, until the scientist Kraang mutated himself and enslaved much of their race, leaving only a small group of free survivors. 
== Gallery of Variants ==
== Appearances ==
* 79100 Kraang Lab Escape (Kraang)
* 79104 The Shellraiser Street Chase (Kraangdroid)
* The Kraang Rockefeller Center LEGO Store Promotional Set (Damaged Kraangdroid)
* 79121 Turtle Sub Undersea Chase (2014)
* 30270 Kraang's Turtle Target Practice (Kraangdroid)
* 79120 T-Rawket Sky Strike (Kraangdroid)
== Gallery ==
The Kraang back.jpg|Kraangdroid back
The Kraang promo back.JPG|Damaged Kraangdroid back
CGI Kraang.png|A CGI of three Kraangdroids
Kraangdroid_2014.png|CGI of the 2014 Kraangdroid
Kraangdroid.png|
kraang_walker.png|CGI of the Kraang Walker.
640189673 tp.jpg|Kraang
Kraang (2014)-2.JPG|2014 Variants back printing
 
Category:Minifigures introduced in 2013
Category:Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Minifigures
Category:Minifigures discontinued in 2014