Ivan Steranko/Rocksteady

**Ivan Steranko**​ is a Russian arms dealer, antique collector and a supposed old friend of Shredder, with a diamond right eye. He is the 2012 series incarnation of **Rocksteady**.

## Appearance

### **As Human**

Ivan Steranko is a large, muscular, blond-haired yet balding Russian man with a thick accent, gold tooth, and several scars on his face. Steranko wears a black suit with shoulder pads that each have two gold spikes on it, a black dress shirt, a red tie, an Ushanka with a yellow star on it, and on his fists two golden knuckle dusters, with a hammer on one and a sickle on the other. His most distinguishing feature is that he seems to be missing his right eye, having replaced it with a diamond studded prosthetic.

### **As Mutant**

As Rocksteady, Steranko is a large humanoid mutant white rhinoceros with his shoulder pads (which assumed a different shape and sprouted a third spike) and the tops of his knuckle dusters melted onto his body. After this mutation, Rocksteady wears a tank top, brown bandoliers, and camouflage pants which somehow appeared on him after his mutation.

## Personality

He describes himself and the Shredder as "old friends." He seems to take great pride in his collection. Steranko is rude and humorless, but is willing to be reasonable and make deals when the opportunity presents itself.

As Rocksteady he is even more aggressive and develops more fighting skills to match his new form. He even likes the name Michelangelo gave him.

## Powers and abilities

* **Black rhinoceros physiology:** As a result of his mutation, Rocksteady gained the body an anthropomorphic black rhino. As such, he has the natural abilities of a black rhino.
	+ **Enhanced strength:** Rocksteady's strength has been enhanced to the point where he is able to lift someone up with just one arm.
	+ **Enhanced speed:** Rocksteady has claimed that his mutation increased his speed and he was able to catch up to Leonard, Michelangelo, and Raphael while they were on a roller coaster.
	+ **Enhanced endurance:** Rocksteady has the same level of endurance as a rhino. One such example of this is when he handled being blasted by a Kraang security blaster without showing any indication of being harmed.
	+ **Jagged horn:** Rocksteady's mutation caused him to have the jagged horn of a rhino, which he can use for offensively.
* **Marksmanship** Rocksteady is proficient in using energy blasters despite only having one eye.

## Collection

Ivan Steranko is known as a passionate collector of legendary historical weapons. Particular highlights of his collection include:

* Spear of Destiny
* Excalibur
* Armor of Alexander the Great
* Stuffed Polar Bear
* Stuffed White Rhinoceros

He has been trying to steadily expand his collection - even if the affected object is cursed or in the possessions of his "business partner."

* Kuro Kabuto - Steranko hired Anton Zeck to steal the Shredder's helmet.
* Mystic Dagger - The Purple Dragons wanted to sell him the dagger.

## Quotes

* (To Anton Zeck for failing to get the Kuro Kabuto) "I going to pop your head like blueberry!" The Legend of the Kuro Kabuto
* (Plea to the Shredder) "Let us become reasonable, I'm more useful to you as normal guy, not mutant!" Serpent Hunt
* "I don't feel so well (notices that he has transformed) Oh нет, look at me! Serpent Hunt
* "Нет, нет, not so good names" The Pig and The Rhino
* (to Anton Zeck) "Hold me close, comrade!" Annihilation Earth!, Part 2
* "Did no one tell Turtles they is too slow?" Broken Foot
* (in regards to Mikey's insult of his mother) "Hey! Mama *does* wear the combat boots!" Broken Foot
* "Hey, its not so bad, kinda like the Rocksteady." The Pig and The Rhino
* "Let us make like tree and run!"End Times

## TMNT X Pokemon

Throughout the game, Ivan was one of the bosses you will faced. But during Season 5, he and Bebop became allies of the Turtles and thus joining Crime Sorceire.

## Trivia

* Ivan Steranko went entirely unnamed in his debut episode, with the only indicator about his name being the end credits. Steranko's name was only mentioned in his second appearance.
* Steranko has a hammer and a sickle molded on his knuckle dusters, the hammer and sickle were the symbols of the Soviet Union, and represented the union between workers and peasants.
	+ He always holds his weapons in the opposite hands: the hammer in the hand with the sickle knuckle duster and the sickle in the hammer knuckle duster.
* Although the computer screen in Stockman-Fly's laboratory showed the silhouette of a white rhinoceros, Rocksteady's nose is shaped like a black rhinoceros since the white rhinoceros does not have a beak-shaped mouth. This could either be an animation error or the DNA placed in the mutagen was a mixture of both rhinoceros species.
* In "Serpent Hunt," it is revealed that he has a brother named Boltak.
* Steranko is the second person to like the name Mikey gives him, the first being Pizza Face.
* Much like his partner in crime, Steranko shares his last name with Jim Steranko, a famous comic book artist.
* While Ivan Steranko is from Russia and *Ivan*(Иван) is certainly a Russian name, the *surname* Steranko (Стеранко) is actually Ukrainian in origin. This is not necessarily a mistake, as Ukrainians are the third most numerous ethnicity in Russia (after Russians and Tatars), and Ukrainian surnames are common, though most ethnic Ukrainians in Russia have assimilated to speaking Russian for generations. Jim Steranko, the real person whose name inspired Ivan Steranko's name, is Ukrainian-American.