Why is Raph pretty much the main character in all the films? [Archive]

Leofan26

07-30-2013, 10:45 AM

Toby Barrett

07-30-2013, 10:54 AM

Donatello was more the main turtle for Secret of the Ooze, and Mikey for TMNT 3.

CyberCubed

07-30-2013, 10:54 AM

For the same reason that Wolverine is the main character of almost all the X-men films. They think movie goers like the tough, solo, badass, "sex symbol" over other characters.

Raphael and Wolverine's attitude and tough persona drive the story for casual movie goers, and I guess that's why they do it.

xChri5x

07-30-2013, 11:38 AM

TIL Raph is a "sex symbol"

http://i.imgur.com/UbN2H2g.png?1

pingclang

07-30-2013, 11:44 AM

Because, he's Raph.

Luckyday

07-30-2013, 11:58 AM

TIL Raph is a "sex symbol"

http://i.imgur.com/UbN2H2g.png?1

Don't ever do that again.
http://berrymii.files.wordpress.com/2010/11/threw-up-in-my-mouth.jpg

Leofan26

07-30-2013, 12:19 PM

Donatello was more the main turtle for Secret of the Ooze, and Mikey for TMNT 3.

??? Either way, Raph had a main story arc in that film too even though Mikey had a plot as well. It just would have been nice to seen him pushed in the background for the other two films, that's what I'm hoping they fix with these if they have more than one flick again.

Raph is not a sex symbol, if any thing woman in the fandom see Donnie more as one and he's not even my favorite, just going by the reactions :lol:

FYI that comment got me grossed out too :ohwell:

Don't even get me started on Wolverine, yah know how much the X-Men fandom hate him now :lol:

Zulithe

07-30-2013, 12:44 PM

Someone call a sex symbol?

http://i.imgur.com/nI9QitJl.jpg (http://imgur.com/nI9QitJ)

Jester

07-30-2013, 01:53 PM

Someone call a sex symbol?

http://i.imgur.com/nI9QitJl.jpg (http://imgur.com/nI9QitJ)

Don't ever do that again.
http://berrymii.files.wordpress.com/2010/11/threw-up-in-my-mouth.jpg
Seems about right....

ryukenden

07-30-2013, 02:01 PM

Perhaps the writers thought Raph was the most complex with his anger issues from Mirage. Which was a far cry from his more mellow OT persona which I'm sure left quite a lot of fans whom were kids at the time scratching their heads wondering why Raph is a beserker, myself included.

Powder

07-30-2013, 03:13 PM

Raph gets shine because he's arguably the most popular turtle, plain & simple. But like others have said, the first film was sort of a split between Raph & Leo (as was TMNT, IMO) and the second and third starred Donny & Mikey respectively. Seems this new film will focus on Raph, though, which I feel pretty meh about, personally. He's overrated. :trazz:

BabyTurtles

07-30-2013, 03:35 PM

Donatello was more the main turtle for Secret of the Ooze, and Mikey for TMNT 3.

wait! theres a 3rd TMNT movie!? 0_0....I thought there were only 2!?

(not including tmnt 2007)

so....i have to watch another movie!?

Welmanshire

07-30-2013, 04:26 PM

Donatello was more the main turtle for Secret of the Ooze, and Mikey for TMNT 3.

I would argue that Raph was the main Turtle in SOTO. He breaks away from the group to infiltrate the Foot with Keno, then he gets caught in he junkyard and the Turtles go I to rescue him. There wasn't any solo coverage of Donnie like that, although I will admit he gets more screen time (relatively) compared to the first film.

Raphaeline

07-30-2013, 05:00 PM

I think Raph is the kind of character who would be the most popular with the young public. Like a teenager, he's a kind of rebel, doesn't like orders, he is tough, badass...

The young public would not really identify itself (temper speaking) with the too-serious Leo, Donnie is maybe a bit too smart/geek and Mikey not tough enough.

He's my favorite turtle as well, so I don't complain.

(and yes I think fangirls can think he's hot. For a mutant turtle I mean :lol:) don't laugh, I see so many fangirls on tumblr drooling over the Raph from the Nick show, saying he's hot/sexy/awesome.

Eiko

07-30-2013, 06:10 PM

wait! theres a 3rd TMNT movie!? 0_0....I thought there were only 2!?

(not including tmnt 2007)

so....i have to watch another movie!?

Um yea Turtles 3 where they go to Japan would not rush to go see it you have not missed much.

chrisdude

07-30-2013, 06:30 PM

I think it just looks that way. When a team has a rebellious member, he's gonna get some solo screen time. Doesn't mean he's the star. Similar thing with 3, when Mickey's separated from the pack.

I think Leo and Raph drive the story in 2007. That's the only time I felt any turtles were underrepresented.

BabyTurtles

07-30-2013, 07:11 PM

Um yea Turtles 3 where they go to Japan would not rush to go see it you have not missed much.

I saw the first and second movie I am going to watch the third :x

snake

07-30-2013, 07:37 PM

I saw the first and second movie I am going to watch the third :x

Yeah, go watch the third movie.....I'm sure you'll love it :tangel:

Toby Barrett

07-30-2013, 08:26 PM

Some people, myself included, sincerely enjoy the third film.

CyberCubed

07-30-2013, 09:01 PM

I saw the first and second movie I am going to watch the third :x

You honestly never knew there was a third live action film?

BabyTurtles

07-30-2013, 09:23 PM

You honestly never knew there was a third live action film?

well...I didn't know there was a second movie.......XD

I thought there was only one TMNT live action movie at first

the first TMNT movie I watched was...2007 TMNT :3

so now...I gonna go watch the third one!! (I wanna watch them all before the new one comes out)

pingclang

07-31-2013, 08:38 AM

BabyTurtles

07-31-2013, 11:47 AM

It's nowhere near as good as the other 2 live action films but 3 is ok. It has a couple of laughs to it. Form your own opinion, don't let folks talk you into hating it before you've seen it or anything.

as long as it has Mikey I shall like it.

I kinda hope it's extremely goofy......I love goofy stuff.

miru

07-31-2013, 01:10 PM

TIL Raph is a "sex symbol"

http://i.imgur.com/UbN2H2g.png?1

Ninjara's iPhone lock screen.

Donatello19

07-31-2013, 01:29 PM

wait! theres a 3rd TMNT movie!? 0_0....I thought there were only 2!?

(not including tmnt 2007)

so....i have to watch another movie!?

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles 2: The Secret Of The Ooze
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles 3: Turtles In Time
TMNT
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (2014)

FlogginMcMurryZombiePizza

07-31-2013, 01:59 PM

I felt Leo and Raph led the first movie,
I could see Don "leading" SotO due to the science stuff... Maybe Don/Raph (since he left the group and the film followed him for awhile)
I never could sit through 3
and I felt TMNT was more Leo and Raph again, primarily Leo.

as long as it has Mikey I shall like it.

I kinda hope it's extremely goofy......I love goofy stuff.

You'll love it then.
It's mind-numbingly beyond silly.

Welmanshire

07-31-2013, 03:46 PM

I felt Leo and Raph led the first movie,
I could see Don "leading" SotO due to the science stuff... Maybe Don/Raph (since he left the group and the film followed him for awhile)
I never could sit through 3
and I felt TMNT was more Leo and Raph again, primarily Leo.

You'll love it then.
It's mind-numbingly beyond silly.

I still think SOTO was primarily revolving around Raph, just based on the amount of solo screen time. But as another user pointed out, it is in Raphs nature to go off on his own.

Tora

07-31-2013, 09:27 PM

Great Question. I looked back on all of the Toy figures I had from this line when I was little and strangely enough I had many versions of Raph and I never considered him my fav of the team but the Toys do not lie lol!

Raph was a bad ass in the films & the 2003 show he was also the funny one that stood out in the 87 show so that is my guess why so many of us embraced him. I think that is funny seeing how Mikey was vastly pushed harder on the fandom back in the 87 years.

FlogginMcMurryZombiePizza

08-01-2013, 02:00 AM

I think Mikey was only heavily featured in the cartoon because he's largely a one-note character. He does a joke, he appealed to kids because he's funny in a more corn-ball way. Even in the new Nick show, he's funny but he's not doing anything he didn't already do in the previous incarnations. He's not as "complicated" like the other brothers. He's usually just background. He had great moments in the movies, like showing up the Foot Soldier in the original and the skate sequence through the sewers in the 2007 movie. Other than that, he's never been built "strong enough" to be the lead like Raph or Leo usually are.

Although in 2003's 4kids show, I think they were trying to beef up Mikey by making him extremely powerful in that tournament (etc).
But hey, that's why we love him.

Powder

08-01-2013, 03:04 AM

None of that is true for Mirage/Image Mikey, thankfully.

pingclang

08-01-2013, 09:01 AM

as long as it has Mikey I shall like it.

I kinda hope it's extremely goofy......I love goofy stuff.

Then I think you'll like it. There's a lot of focus on him and it is very goofy. Try it out.

Shark_Blade

08-01-2013, 09:05 AM

Because people can't get enough of pissy PMS bitchy male leads in their films.

LittleBlueHero

08-01-2013, 09:28 AM

voltron80

08-01-2013, 09:38 AM

Look, I like the guy as much as the next person but that's one thing I always found annoying about the films. I felt they did things wrong and should have switched turtles each one goes by, for example I always thought movie 3 should have had Leo as the main character, it would have made more sense with the settings and swords don't yah think?

Outside the first movie that focus on Raph and little with Leo. Donnie was the focus in TMNT 2 and Mike was the focus in the second half in TMNT3. In TMNT(2007)focus on Leo's return to New York and Raph resenting him.

pingclang

08-01-2013, 10:23 AM

Because people can't get enough of pissy PMS bitchy male leads in their films.

Right, because a stick up his ass, emotionless drone makes for such a better, more identifiable lead.

Refractive Reflections

08-01-2013, 08:00 PM

Writers can make the other Turtles have a significant amount of screen time, but it's too easy and convenient for writers to solely have Raph be the "main character" since he has the most angst and is rebellious.

I'm not saying Raph isn't a good character to explore, but it's too short-sighted of writers to constantly use Raph's hot-headed personality as a way to create "drama" within the Turtles whenever the four of them aren't fighting their external enemies. It short-changes Raph's personality, in my opinion, when writers do that rather than exploring the depth of where this anger is coming from and trying to find a way to overcome it, or at least find a way for him to channel that anger into something productive/beneficial. It would substantially make Raphael's character grow and would give his character a more endearing quality that he's actually trying to change/improve himself, rather than just recklessly letting his blinding anger affect his closest family members and friends.

(and yes I think fangirls can think he's hot. For a mutant turtle I mean :lol:) don't laugh, I see so many fangirls on tumblr drooling over the Raph from the Nick show, saying he's hot/sexy/awesome.
...Hmm, I think it's because some of those girls think a hot-headed passionate guy (fits the "bad boy" image fantasy) would equal a red hot, passionate lover. :lol: ...which is not always the case, and if they can handle the explosive anger issues. LOL

Leo656

08-01-2013, 11:17 PM

I imagine Raphael the reality wouldn't quite live up to the fangirl fantasy of him. Having known a lot of guys like that, and occasionally accused of being one, they tend to treat chicks kinda crummy, generally speaking.

I agree, Raph gets the spotlight for the same reason the X-Men movies should be called "Wolverine and the Other Guys". Raph and Wolverine are the wish-fulfillment characters for the main two types of fans of this kind of enterainment: The uber-macho, cynical "tough guy" types who see themselves in that role, and the flip side, the more nerdier types who either *wish* they were that character, or delude themselves into *thinking* they are that type of character even if they're not.

Fun Fact: Ask 100 people why Raphael (or Wolverine, honestly) is their favorite character in their group, 60-80 of them will say "Because he's just like me!" even though about 40 of those same people will be wearing some type of T-shirt related to video games or cartoons, which kind of implies they're neither a master martial artist or have won many fights in general. :lol: J/K... sort of. Full disclosure: Kinda drunk. May be coming off more snarky than intended.

That's just an objective analysis, Raphael is probably my second-favorite character and in truth, I don't find him over-represented in the movies. I could do with a little more of this Turtle or that one, same as anyone else, but I think his screen time compared to the others was always fair. In 90 - 120 minutes you have to focus on who is most interesting, and frankly, I'd rather watch Raph do his thing than watch Donny fiddle with his computer or Mikey hide his bong.

Vivi

08-01-2013, 11:28 PM

Raph is simply the easiest turtle to exploit.

His dark and brooding nature offer a great starting point for drama in a film, as well as his nack for running off alone.

Its going to happen again too...

https://fbcdn-sphotos-h-a.akamaihd.net/hphotos-ak-ash3/p480x480/486813_596391583712614_1311521326_n.jpg

Notice how Raph is the only turtle not in chains? He will get plenty of solo time in the new film, AGAIN, I promise you. He fits Bays productions too well.

Off topic a little here - are the shells this big because they will have the ability to retract their limbs inside?

On topic: because it's easy and doesn't impede the story line too much if the toughest action hero of them all saves the day.

Welmanshire

08-01-2013, 11:40 PM

Off topic a little here - are the shells this big because they will have the ability to retract their limbs inside?

On topic: because it's easy and doesn't impede the story line too much if the toughest action hero of them all saves the day.

In the leaked script they retracted their limbs into their shells during action sequences to bounce off things and save themselves on impact. There was a scene where they used their shells to slide\coast\grind along the road in a car chase scene.
I will admit, the leaked script had some exciting action\chase scenes. Stuff we haven't seen the Turtles be able to physically pull off. Apart from that. Pretty puss.

Leo656

08-01-2013, 11:53 PM

I'm sorry, for some reason I simply can't visualize the Turtles fully retracting into their shells as looking like anything but the cheesiest thing ever. I'unno.

Raphaeline

08-02-2013, 09:51 AM

I'm sorry, for some reason I simply can't visualize the Turtles fully retracting into their shells as looking like anything but the cheesiest thing ever. I'unno.

I agree. I would hate to see that. I was already a bit shocked to see Mikey doing this in the Nick show, so seeing that with adult-sized turtles supposed to look more "serious" and "badass" would just look really, really strange. :ohwell:

And for Raph "in reality" who would be rude with women, we can't generalize. Of course fangirls don't imagine him being rude with women. He's a fictionnal character so you can imagine anything. (for example my father is the angry type, a bit like Raph, and he can be very tender with my mother. So angry men are not always the type to brutalize weaker people!) usually we see that it's more the weak-looking guys (who feel frustrated at work, or compared to the other men) who tend to beat their wife because they want to feel strong at least at home. Raph is already strong, he doesn't need to proove it in such a pathetic way.

Of course the fangirls think that as a lover he would be a real volcano, passionate, etc. We could see in the 2K3 series (with the cats, the blind grandma, his way to always care for his brothers) that when he is not fighting and not with his brothers, he has a very soft side. I think he would be the caring and overprotective type :lol:

Shark_Blade

08-05-2013, 12:17 AM

Right, because a stick up his ass, emotionless drone makes for such a better, more identifiable lead.None of the other turtles are 'emotionless drone' like you described. But then again, an emotionless drone might be a way better character than a pissy fit Raphael going on a cliche bitch rage all the time (4 movies now).

Luigiperps

08-05-2013, 12:54 AM

well...I didn't know there was a second movie.......XD

I thought there was only one TMNT live action movie at first

the first TMNT movie I watched was...2007 TMNT :3

so now...I gonna go watch the third one!! (I wanna watch them all before the new one comes out)

The first tmnt thing I ever saw was Turtles Forever. Then the first two live action movies. (I fell asleep during the third one because it was 2 in the morning) so my tmnt movie history is much more wonky than yours.

pingclang

08-05-2013, 07:19 AM

None of the other turtles are 'emotionless drone' like you described. But then again, an emotionless drone might be a way better character than a pissy fit Raphael going on a cliche bitch rage all the time (4 movies now).

It's easier to write a character with realistic, human flaws than one whose primary flaw is that he can't get his head far enough up his sensei`s ass. We can throw insults and arguments all day, but we can all identify with the flawed, imperfect guy who has realistic issues.

Sage Ninja

08-05-2013, 10:07 PM

It's easier to write a character with realistic, human flaws than one whose primary flaw is that he can't get his head far enough up his sensei`s ass.

Oh my God shut up, there is so much more to Leonardo than the goody two shoes, teachers pet, perfectionists fans others fans like to make him out to be. Those characteristics have really been flanderized in some mediums as being what he is and that so far from the truth. He has a lot more depth and flaws than that that are interesting without resorting to the cliché "angry loner rebel" stereotype. Go pick up the mirage comics and see for your self.

Leo656

08-05-2013, 11:06 PM

I'm shocked it took until Page 3 for it to end up here.

pingclang

08-06-2013, 07:09 AM

Oh my God shut up, there is so much more to Leonardo than the goody two shoes, teachers pet, perfectionists fans others fans like to make him out to be. Those characteristics have really been flanderized in some mediums as being what he is and that so far from the truth. He has a lot more depth and flaws than that that are interesting without resorting to the cliché "angry loner rebel" stereotype. Go pick up the mirage comics and see for your self.

I'm through arguing. I know there is some depth to Leonardo, that isn't the point I was trying to make. Any writer can latch on to a character with real, human flaws, which Raph has plenty of, that they can identify with and the viewer in turn, do the same. That's why he gets so much screen time and that's the point that I was trying to make.

allie300

08-06-2013, 07:48 AM

I don't identify with Raph..at all,I find the angry loner routine rather cliche
I can only hope this new movie isn't 'Raph and those other 3 dudes'

pingclang

08-06-2013, 09:42 AM

I don't identify with Raph..at all,I find the angry loner routine rather cliche
I can only hope this new movie isn't 'Raph and those other 3 dudes'

I guess I'm just weird then.:D But seriously, as much as I love Raph, I do hope all four get an equal share in the film. I fear it may be more April and those 4 turtles though.