Has Your Favorite Turtle Changed As You Got Older?

[RaphaelinSTL]

I couldn't really find a good or recent thread on this topic, but it's something that's been on my mind as of late. Does anyone else find their favorite Turtle changing as they get older?

As my username suggests, I was always a Raphael guy. I'm 36 now and in thinking back to how it started, it probably had to do with red being my favorite color (or did red become my favorite color because of Raph?), and when I would watch the 1990 movie growing up, I just loved Raph's voice and weapons a lot. Plus, to me as a kid, his quick wit was one of my favorite parts of the 1987 series.

As I got older and jumped more into reading Mirage, I liked Raphael's writing quite a bit and the 2003 show felt like another good extension of that.

But over the years, I feel more and more disconnected from Raph as a character and a lot of that has to do with Viacom over-emphasizing a lot of "HOW DO WE SHOW THAT RAPH HAS GOT AN ATTITUDE PROBLEM? WELL, HE'S REAL BUFF I TELL YOU WHAT AND HIS BANDANNA IS MORE TOUGH TOO." His character design as of late always ends up being my least favorite-looking Turtle and I don't like him being pictured as the brute or the jock of the group. I think a lot of that has to do with me being way more partial to the simplistic design of them, but for about 10 years now, any time there's a new Raphael look or version, he's always the one I like the least. He was fine in Mutant Mayhem, but again, was much larger than his brothers and that bandanna just doesn't work for me. Though I did like a little bit of that 1987 wit bleeding through in the character.

Which brings me to potentially my newest favorite in Leonardo. I think at 36 and experiencing life the way I have, I tend to be drawn more to the 'by the books' approach of Leo, and even in a show like Rise (which I truthfully didn't give much time to), he was more written with wit than a lot of the other guys. Leo also always tends to be the more classic look when it comes to a redesign as well.

What about you all?

[Prowler]

Oh definitely.

I must have been 7 or so when I first watched the 87 TMNT cartoon. Pretty sure my first favourite was Mikey.

Eventually my favourite became a tie between Don and Raph, mostly Raph. As I got older, I began to understand his smartass remarks better.

[Mad Dog McMutt]

Originally Posted by Prowler

Oh definitely.

I must have been 7 or so when I first watched the 87 TMNT cartoon. Pretty sure my first favourite was Mikey.

Eventually my favourite became a tie between Don and Raph, mostly Raph. As I got older, I began to understand his smartass remarks better.

That's funny because my favorite has always been a tie between Don and Raph as well. It has been that since I was a kid and I am 37 now. I just could never choose one over the other.

[IndigoErth]

Nah, always been a Leo girl. Guess I was one of those 'weird' kids that somehow liked the serious guy most. lol Sure, blue was and is my fave color, but always found him most appealing as a character. While I did put TMNT away in my mid teens (due to parental pressure and anti-Turtle "kids thing" stigma), after 2012 getting me back and checking out what I'd missed (largely 2003) in my absence, I quickly felt like I just wanted to hug the guy, like a dear old friend I hadn't seen in forever.

That's not to say I like everything that's been done with him -- I have no favorite in Rise due to their choices, and his attitude in 2007 rubs me the wrong way -- but my favoring of him is kinda taken as a whole, so one version effing up doesn't lose my love for him otherwise or make me switch.

At the same time, I don't dislike the other three, they've all got the 2nd place spot with me, no one comes in last. But Leo... a kindred spirit right there, more than any other fictional character.

[Mechapod]

A little, kinda. When I first read TMNT (First GNs) as kid, Leonardo was my favorite along with Donatello. As I've gotten older and have read a lot more stories, Donatello has become my favorite along with Leonardo as a tie, still for the same reasons. I like the seriousness and stoic qualities of Leonardo, but I also liked the technical aptitude of Donatello.

[Cowabung-Gal]

Well, Donnie’s now a stereotypical four-eyed geek.

Edit: he’s not my favorite turtle but he has changed

There’s also the slightly insane emo Mikey in the Last Ronin future

[shihe]

For the longest time it's been a tie between Leonardo and Michaelangelo.

But for the most part I've grown out of Michaelangelo a bit like:
87: I like Raph more.
2003: I like Leo more.

In the 90s movies he's still my favorite.

Maybe it's something to do with me being tired of humor in tmnt.

[Prowler]

Originally Posted by Mad Dog McMutt

That's funny because my favorite has always been a tie between Don and Raph as well. It has been that since I was a kid and I am 37 now. I just could never choose one over the other.

I'd say it's still more or less the same way for me, but then again, I stopped at the 2k3 series. Couldn't get into the Nick series and didn't see the appeal of the rest of Viacom's stuff, so I ignore their characterisations in the past 12 years or so.

Leo was my least favourite in the FW series because he just seemed so dull compared to the rest in a series that relied a lot on comedy. I began liking him a lot more in the 2k3 series. Mikey, sadly, hasn't been tolerable in a long time. Since he won the Battle Nexus tournament more or less... and that was 20 years ago or so already.

Anyway, I like the 4 as a collective at the end of the day.

[MikeandRaph87]

My username says it all. At age 2 I loved Michaelangelo the most and ot has not changed. By the time the 1987 cartoon was produced Michaelangelo had the least development thus the athletic fun-loving goof that is the heart of the team was highly innovative in laying out the character however Michaelangelo was given a raw deal because Peter Laird forced him to carry the humor alone. He to quote Tropic Thunder 'never go full-retard' and that is what happened. Nickelodeon took this misinterpretation and did something I thought impossible, took it to the next level! So Michaelangelo is and always will be my favorite but as portrayed in the 1987 cartoon.

Rob Paulsen has always brought a sarcastic wit to his characters. Even if substituted for it seems that Raphael is written for Rob. I love Raphael as a sarcastic hothead, not a hothead. He is fun and it seems largely associated with the 1987 cartoon which is disappointing. This being said the 1987 version of Michaelangelo is my favorite while Raphael is my second favorite Turtle. Noting why I like them is associated with the way in which they are portrayed I found that the 2003 cartoon of Leonardo and Donatello are more appealing to me than my favorite and second favorite Turtles. As a person I am an unusual hearty mix of 1987 Michaelangelo and 2003 Leonardo. I appreciated the depth of characterization that Leonardo received and continue to relate to him and while I did not appreciate Leonardo beyond his kandanna blades as a kid as of my teenage years I appreciated Leonardo more as I could relate personality-wise to the character. So I guess overall I will never change the order of Michaelangelo, Raphael, Leonardo, then Donatello, but I relate to Leonardo more than Raphael and what I loved about Raphael is mostly confined to the 1987 cartoon.

[TheLabRat]

Raph is still my favorite so far, but the difference is I start to dislike his irrational anger issue and have to act like jerk because of the plot. IDW did give some interesting stuff like the angriest turtle secretly wants to be a farmer and stay away from all the fighting and then they just never followed up.

It always be interesting to see other three get more edgelord moments. Before I started read the Mirage comics, 2003 S4 Leo was probably the first time I liked this character because he finally got real serious. He point out how weak they are and no longer show mercy to some enemies. But soon his story potential was wasted bcause Splinter and other brothers don't like to see Leo become this.

[IndigoErth]

Originally Posted by TheLabRat

IDW did give some interesting stuff like the angriest turtle secretly wants to be a farmer and stay away from all the fighting and then they just never followed up.

Shame, it sounds like he aught to have been right there with Leo wanting to escape to the farmhouse for the time being. Enough land up there for Raph to play with if wanted to try his hand at it.

[Sumac]

Yep.
Went from Mike (because, he was my favorite in Manhattan Project), when I was a kid to Raph (because, teh lolz) to Don (because, I like scientist characters), when I was a teen.

[LeotheLateBloomer]

Been a Leo fan since childhood. Even though I don't like some versions like Rise for changing the character, it won't change my opinion of how I feel about him overall. He almost always is given the best character design out of the four of them (not a fan of the do-rag bandana of burly look for Raph, glasses and tech on Don, or small statured design for Mike) and the best voice. Though I'm more of a fan of the confident and stoic side of him like in 2003 as opposed to the unsure, growing boy side of 2012 and Mutant Mayhem.

[KROW]

Although Donatello is my favorite currently, it didn't start out that way. When I first got into the turtles (about age 7), I leaned more towards Raphael because he was funny. Then, about a year or two later, it was a tie between him and Don. Not long after that (maybe at about 11 or 12), I grew to like Donnie more due to his intelligence, usefulness, and more level-headed approach to situations. He's been my favorite since.

[Fenryr]

I was a Raphael kid. He was funny. He had a cool, pointy weapon that, for reasons that were never entirely clear, got you in less trouble than a sword. He wore red.

As an adult, I'm probably still a Raphael kid. Hot-tempered, prone to solitude, albeit with a strong sense of familial ties. But I strive to be more like Donatello. Analyze your situation. Think through potential repercussions. Try to make more from less.

Without Raphael, the TMNT lose a lot of passion. Without Donatello, the TMNT live in a cold, dark sewer without their scant modern luxuries (like bespoke vehicles and cellphones).

[Andrew NDB]

As a kid it was always Leonardo, since he was stoic and carried two big swords and could really f*** people up. As I've gotten older it's shifted into "No favorite" or "Sort of (Mirage) Mikey."

[The Inventive Donatello]

As a young boy my favourite was always Donatello. I am sporty but I have also always had a geeky and academic side, so I was in awe of his intellect and engineering skills. As I became older and life became more complicated I suffered from more anger issues and mental health problems, and then I naturally gravitated more toward Raphael. Bear in mind that because of his 1987 depiction, I didn't realise he was supposed to be an angry and troubled character until I found the Mirage comics circa 2006 (other than watching the 1990 film, I had also only watched the first season of 2003 at that point). Hence, at that point I had limited exposure to the true incarnation of Raphael (Mirage).

I experienced a bereavement in my immediate family for the first time in early 2006, so my problems and hatred of society were at an all-time high. Raphael just resonated with me around that time; his isolation and realisation that the turtles are alone and unique in their universe was something that appealed. When I watched TMNT 2007 in March of that year his fight with Leonardo was a particular highlight. Just something about standing up to someone he felt had gaslighted him and held him down all his life was something I could relate to in a sense (rightly or wrongly).

Nowadays I am mostly calmer and more level-headed, have more peace and happiness in my life, which I am thankful for. However, my appreciation for Raphael has remained. I love all four of the protagonists but I prefer Donatello and Raphael to Leonardo and Michelangelo.

[CyberCubed]

I am Raphael because he is a badass and so am I! And red is the color of blood which I carve out of my enemies like an edgy teenager still in middle school.

[Prowler]

Originally Posted by CyberCubed

I am Raphael because he is a badass and so am I! And red is the color of blood which I carve out of my enemies like an edgy teenager still in middle school.

You're trying to copy shredder oroku saki's gimmick now?

[Powder]

My favorite has always & will forever be Leonardo. That being said, Donnie has long been a close second, & over the years he has nearly inched into the #1 spot a few times.

At the same time, while Leo is my overall favorite, there are iterations where I am most drawn to another turtle in terms of their being entertaining or endearing in new ways. For example, Rise's Raph was just so damn loveable.