081 Splinter

Splinter started out as a second pirate, but he became an oceanographer.

His G1 figure was that of a peg-leg pirate, much like Woody (#27).

Whereas Woody was a pirate captain, Splinter was a pirate crewman.

He was redesigned in G3.  He became an oceanographer and was given the likeness of Steve Zissou from Wes Anderson's 2004 comedy-drama The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou.  The titular character was played by actor Bill Murray.  This character was already a parody of (or homage to) the real-life oceanographer Jacques Cousteau. 

Bill Murray has another dude tribute, that being Murry (#149). 
Wes Anderson also has another character parodied by the dudes, and that is Baumer (#128).

Anyway, back to Splinter.  He also has a zood named Klaus.  He is a dolphin with some sort of oceanographic equipment attached to his back. Klaus is the name of the engineer on Steve Zissou's boat.  He looks up to and imitates Steve.  While Steve sometimes wears an iconic red knit-cap, Klaus always wears one.

It would have been hilarious if Splinter's zood was a "jaguar shark" instead of a dolphin.  They still could have named it Klaus -- that's fine.  It's just that, in the movie, the search for this fabled fish is what drives the plot. They didn't have to make it a giant shark with three dorsal fins.  Just some little shark with spots.  Named Klaus.  Inside joke.  Nailed it.  

Man, what a missed opportunity.  Oh well.