Is Donatello too smart?

[sdp]

Donatello, someone who wasn't able to attain normal education is able to build sophisticated cutting edge devices from scrap and trash he may be able to acquire which he doesn't have much to choose from. Not only is he ahead of the rest of the world for the most part he does it all without any formal education or any resources. I guess you can blame the mutation but it didn't seem to affect the other turtles in that way. OT Don is especially guilty of this and even poked fun of in Turtles Forever but almost all universe's use Don's in-universe broken smarts to give a simple/cheap explanation of where the turtles get their stuff, this isn't something only OT Don is guilty of. Looking back I don't think most turtle verses would have even be able to survive without Don and in context he is the most valuable turtle to the team. Ironically enough he's probably the least liked turtle, Leo is the leader, Mikey the fun one, Raph the tough one and they all have plenty of fans for those reasons but especially kids they don't want to be the "smart" one (not most kids anyways). Plus the brown skin his toy had also had to have made him less appealing than the other greener looking turtles to kids. Maybe Don should be turned down a couple of notches for newer incarnations.

[Bauer536]

Donatello, someone who wasn't able to attain normal education is able to build sophisticated cutting edge devices from scrap and trash he may be able to acquire which he doesn't have much to choose from. Not only is he ahead of the rest of the world for the most part he does it all without any formal education or any resources. I guess you can blame the mutation but it didn't seem to affect the other turtles in that way. OT Don is especially guilty of this and even poked fun of in Turtles Forever but almost all universe's use Don's in-universe broken smarts to give a simple/cheap explanation of where the turtles get their stuff, this isn't something only OT Don is guilty of. Looking back I don't think most turtle verses would have even be able to survive without Don and in context he is the most valuable turtle to the team. Ironically enough he's probably the least liked turtle, Leo is the leader, Mikey the fun one, Raph the tough one and they all have plenty of fans for those reasons but especially kids they don't want to be the "smart" one (not most kids anyways). Plus the brown skin his toy had also had to have made him less appealing than the other greener looking turtles to kids. Maybe Don should be turned down a couple of notches for newer incarnations.

Well, it's like people would say: Donatello is the smart one, but that doesn't make his brothers stupid. If kids didn't want to like Don because he's smart and choose Leo instead, they would not be aware that they would be liking another smart one. Not liking Donatello because of his intelligence is ridiculous. My guess that it wasn't the mutation. Maybe when he was very young, he read on all of this material like science, mathematics and technology. He may not have the education, but he has learned faster than others. But it can't be just the mutation. It's gotta be because it was his interest.

[CyberCubed]

In the original cartoon, Donatello invented a time-stopping gun and a transdimensional portal. So yeah, he was TOO smart in the old series.

[Bauer536]

In the original cartoon, Donatello invented a time-stopping gun and a transdimensional portal. So yeah, he was TOO smart in the old series.

This could come from reading books, but I believe you.

[Koi]

Spongebob lives under water has campfires, eat and make hamburgers, there is water under the water aka Blue Lagoon. In other words, I think Donny is just fine being smarter then the average ninja turtle. Cartoons can be over the top any way they want in any way.

[Powder]

Spongebob lives under water has campfires, eat and make hamburgers, there is water under the water aka Blue Lagoon. In other words, I think Donny is just fine being smarter then the average ninja turtle. Cartoons can be over the top any way they want in any way.

This.

If Don were like that in the comics/films (aka the more "realistic" takes), then yes, he'd be too smart.

[triplexxx]

Well, the concept of this being in the cartoon world, that goes without saying so I won't delve into that. And yes, Donatello's smarts are depended on a lot for the turtles' survival as well as their access to all the comforts of a home, I won't deny that, but he does have his limitations, his brain can only do so much work before he needs to loosen up and relax, and the others have their strong points and have all greatly contributed to saving each other's, their friends', and innocents' lives as much as he has. How his resources he does have just happens to be enough, well that goes back to the first sentence; and as for lack of formalized education, well that's overrated anyway, school never made anyone smart, much less a genius.

[Luzmagica]

...........anyway, school never made anyone smart, much less a genius.

Im agree with this 100% ! :tgrin::tgrin::tgrin: :tthumbsu:

....the same way that Leonardo has natural leadership talent enhanced by his nature, same for Donatello being intelligent/smart.

[ssjup81]

Spongebob lives under water has campfires, eat and make hamburgers, there is water under the water aka Blue Lagoon. In other words, I think Donny is just fine being smarter then the average ninja turtle. Cartoons can be over the top any way they want in any way.:lol: There was one episode I saw a long time ago where they had a campfire going, and then Spongebob was like, "Wait, how can we have fire underwat---" and the campfire went out.

[Donnie]

for those reasons but especially kids they don't want to be the "smart" one (not most kids anyways).

Speak for yourself! Your post is full of assuming opinions.

I like Donatello's smarts in every incarnation. Of course, I'm biased. His level of technological ingenuity worked perfectly fine for the OT, considering there was a Technodrome, a human-gone-rat, etc.

[KROW]

If I remember right, in the OT, most of his inventions malfunctioned and/or backfired. In the books, it was more gradual. 4Kids, his smarts were boom, right there, but that took place in the modern world where technology is everywhere and he had more access. I don't think he's too smart at all.

[Master Splinter]

...kids they don't want to be the "smart" one (not most kids anyways). Plus the brown skin his toy had also had to have made him less appealing than the other greener looking turtles to kids. Maybe Don should be turned down a couple of notches for newer incarnations.

Don has always been my favorite. It wasn't because he was smart, it was because he was always taking apart or building something. That strikes an interest in a lot of kids who like to take things apart and see how they work. I remember getting in trouble for taking apart my Dad's CD player when he first got it so I can figure out how it worked... And back then they were expensive...

-ms

[Logan]

My explanation is that Don has always been inquisitive and Splinter chose to cultivate that by picking through garbage and finding books on various subjects. Science books just happened to be the ones that tickled Don's fancy. Though I certainly won't rule out the possibility that the mutation had affected their ability to grasp concepts more quickly. After all, they are teenage ninjas.

[sdp]

I think you guys are taking this the wrong way. First I'm not saying Don didn't have fans, but as a kid Don was easily the least liked turtle by all the people I'd meet and even as an adult the other three usually get mentioned first. I'm not saying there aren't Don fans but he's far from being a fan favorite, even though now as an adult I think he may be my favorite turtle.

Also yeah I realize they are fictional characters but you can't compare even the OT to Spongebob, I like that Don is smart but if you think about it he really is made to be in-iniverse brokenly smart and used a lot of times for cheap writing.

[gbhq]

I don't think that he was too smart depending on which information you go by, if you go by the mirage comics then no, but if you go by the Archie series or the original cartoons then yes he was way too smart.

[Leonardo87]

Hey; if Seth McFarlane mentioned Donatello in a speech at a Harvard graduation for being there, I am sure that answers our question :P. Anyways! Donnie is smart in the OT as many people mentioned; now every incarnation of him is being played off the smart one.

[Andrew NDB]

Donatello, someone who wasn't able to attain normal education is able to build sophisticated cutting edge devices from scrap and trash he may be able to acquire which he doesn't have much to choose from.

In the spinoff universes, sure. In the Mirage/Image universe the stuff he's fairly reasonably techy-within-the-means-that-he-could've-learned-on-the-fly.

Plus the brown skin his toy had also had to have made him less appealing

Yikes, we're lucky there's not a ton of African American fans around these forums. You sure you want to stick by that one, sdp?

[Powder]

I'd assume they meant that a turtle that wasn't green was likely unappealing to children.

[oldmanwinters]

I'd assume they meant that a turtle that wasn't green was likely unappealing to children.

Personally, I always thought the mix of purple on brown looked awesome! Not as good as a green turtle with a red bandana and pads, of course. But still an awesome color scheme. I found the Mikey toy to be the least appealing color scheme as a kid, so he was the last one I got.

[Powder]

I agree, I was just trying to clarify sdp's comment.

[Jester]

Ok, who's gonna start the "Is Raphael too angry?" thread?

[ssjup81]

I think you guys are taking this the wrong way. First I'm not saying Don didn't have fans, but as a kid Don was easily the least liked turtle by all the people I'd meet and even as an adult the other three usually get mentioned first. I'm not saying there aren't Don fans but he's far from being a fan favorite, even though now as an adult I think he may be my favorite turtle. Ironically, I wouldn't say that Donny was least liked. Seems that honor may go to Leonardo...and even then, I wouldn't say least liked, but maybe a least favorite, imo. I will admit that since I've gotten older though, I am starting to really really like Donatello's character in a general sense throughout all the mediums.

[sdp]

:lol: About the skin color I should definitely clarify that its because you know you picture turtles as green as a kid and not brown, I worded that sentence poorly. Leo also had a weird tone but it was still green.

[Donnie]

About the skin color I should definitely clarify that its because you know you picture turtles as green as a kid and not brown, I worded that sentence poorly. Leo also had a weird tone but it was still green.

Obviously, I chose Donatello as a kid and I think/thought his brownish skin looked awesome combined with purple.

I think we are taking what you're saying the wrong way because it simply wasn't worded correctly...your initial post contained many assumptions about why kids wouldn't like Don as a child (which is a false claim, myself and others are testament to it) which is just your opinion based upon your past experiences only.

I think this thread would have been better directed toward a specific medium of Don's smarts - you'd have a case if you specifically stated that OT Don may have been too smart. Still though, I think for the FW universe that featured a Technodrome, alternate dimensions, etc. Don's smarts aren't all that far-fetched.

[Powder]

You know what, if anything, Next Mutation Don was too smart.

[oldmanwinters]

You know what, if anything, Next Mutation Don was too smart.

The thing I like about OT Don is that despite how ridiculous his science was, his inventions always looked cobbled together from common house-hold and dumpster items (outside of the Turtle Van and Blimp). 2k3 Don's stuff was epic, cutting edge technology... but granted it was often built upon high tech vehicles that he... uh... borrowed from villains the TMNT defeated.

[Jester]

To quote Raph (talking to Leo who fells useless since he can't be more of a help to Donnie as he hunts for Splinter's data bits.) from the episode Web Wranglers: "You got an IQ of 637, bro? Me neither. Best we can do is stay out of Donnie's way and blow off some steam"

That's way to smart....judging by this chart. (Gah, I feel like Ross Perot.)

IQ Intelligence grade
over 140 excellent
120-139 very good
110-119 good
90-109 average, normal talent
80-89 low
70-79 very low
under 69 extremely low

[MoreCowbell5263]

Anybody who says "nobody wants to be the smart one" doesn't know what's what in the world. Take a look at the popular superheroes out there. Batman, Iron Man, Spider-Man are easily three of the top five out there, and all of them are geniuses.

Don was my favorite from the OT because he was always the one saving the world. A typical episode from the OT would be the other three fighting Foot Soldiers or mad scientist monster thug things while Donny was off disarming some doomsday device.

My favorite F4 member is The Thing (the tough one). My favorite X-Men are Colossus (the gentle giant), and Cyclops (the all-around leader). Superman's my favorite Justice Leaguer. I like the funny guy on one team...I think it's Teen Titans with Beast Boy. My point is, not everybody only likes one archetype of characters.

Sure Raph might be the Wolverine of the team, but that doesn't mean nobody wants to be Leonardo or Donatello. I'd actually go as far as say smart characters are more popular these days than ever before with aforementioned superheroes.