The Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles are a group of four anthropomorphic turtles, named after Renaissance Italian artists, who were trained by their anthropomorphic rat sensei in the art of ninjutsu. They were created by Kevin Eastman and Peter Laird and first appeared in an American comic book published by Mirage Studios in 1984. The Turtles wear colored bandanas to differentiate themselves and wield weapons such as swords, nunchaku, and other martial arts weapons. They fight against their arch-enemy, the evil Shredder, and his Foot Clan.