Which 2 Turtles are closest?
 

Hope this topic hasn't been done too many times, but I don't think it gets old for a lot of us. Which two of the boys is closest--and understands each other best?

Most likely Leo and Raph, they like each other as much as they hate each other. Everyone else kinda seems 'there' to each other, each in their own thing.. Raph being a loner tough guy, Leo being all training and meditating, Mike being a skateboarding videogamer, Don in his room working on his next invention, and they mostly seem to come together when it's 'ninja time'. ( I know, I know, that was painful, LOL)

Y'know, this was actually really tough for me.

Leo's probably closest to Don, though, Don's usually off in his own world. I think Don and Leo have a good respect for each other, but I'm not sure I'd call them close.

Leo and Raph have developed a sort of mutual understanding and respect for each other, and their relationship is certainly unique among the turtles. I'm not sure I'd call them particularly close, though, either.

Raph and Mike seem to have the closest brotherly relationship, in my eyes. Raph looks out for Mike, and Mike seems to particularly enjoy annoying Raph more than anyone else. It might sound a little odd at first, but I really see those two as being the closest brothers for those reasons. So Raph and Mikey it is!

Yeah, I was wondering if it was Leo and Raph, too. But the people who've voted seem to more agree that it's Raph and Mike. I haven't made up my mind. Any thoughts, folks?

Yeah, I think there's a lot of mutual respect between Raph and Leo, but I don't think they're likely to just have a chat. I voted for Mike and Raph.

Voted for Mikey and Raph also. They mess with eachother a lot, but I think most of the time its in a pretty playful way.

Hm, only one person thinks Don and Mikey, though? In the movies and the new toon, they definitely have their moments.

I went Don and Mikey based on the first movie adaptation. They share multiple scenes where their chemistry clearly shines.

I'd honestly have to really think on this. Now I won't be able to concentrate at class. :P Because they are all close, to choose who is the closest would be hard.

Like, mutually close? Hmm... Say is one closer to the other, but the other isn't so much?

And the potential! I always thought that Leo and Don's relationship was put way too far in the backround (which I address in my fics. [/end] shameless pimping.) and I was thrilled that in the 2K3 series they kind of... made them SPEAK to each other more. Leo asking Don's advice and help and all that. How it really would be. His kinda 'go to' for some things (which was made abundantly clear in the Monster Don ep.)

I'll have to think on this, though, before I give my all important poll answer, yes.

Uhhh.... which version of the TMNT are we talking about??

In the Mirage series, its definitely Mike and Raph. Hell, even the Palladium RPG (based on the Mirage characters) flat out states the only reason Raph hasn't yet tried to kill himself or his other brothers is because of Mike.

In the new toon, I'm not so sure. I'm not going to count the Abomination That Is Fast Forward (:evilgrin: ), but I'd still have to give it to Mike and Raph again. They seem to spend the most time together and wrestle/spar a lot.

I see Don and Leo as being more reclusive than Mike and Raph, honestly.

I guess I meant which ones are mutually the closest, but we can definitely discuss the uneven relationships, too. For example, I sometimes think that Leo feels stronger about Don than Don feels about him. And sometimes I think that Mikey feels stronger about everyone than they feel about him, at least in the 2k3 toon. ;) I know I started this thread, but I still haven't voted. I'd say in the comics, it's definitely Mike and Raph ... and Leo and Don talk to each other more in the comics, too. I'm glad Leo and Don talk sometimes in the 2k3 series, although I still don't think it's really enough.

In the movies, it always seems to be that Don and Mike are closest. Raph didn't seem to like any of his brothers in the new movie. In the old toon it was Mike and Raph again, though, or Leo and Don. In 2k3 it seems to be Don and Mike or Raph and Mike.

Leo and Raph seem to be the most, passionate (platonically, obviously) about each other, though.

I didn't put that much thought into this, but I thought it was clearly Don and Mike. In the original movies, they were both the joker type, Raph wanted to be alone, and Leo was more close with splinter, and treated his brothers all equally. In the new movie, Leo isn't around, and Raph is very secluded. This leads to Mike and Don hanging out mostly.

Thanks for that mental picture.

Damn, I was trying to avoid giving people mental pictures. ;)

I meant they had the strongest feelings for each other. Maybe. Like, the most ambivalent. And lots of mutual respect (usually).

Don and Mikey I think, my two favs too.

I don't know. I always thought Leo and Raph were the closest. I mean, they always seem to be at eack others throats, but they're always there for each other in the end....
Wow, that was probably the sappiest thing I've ever written.

I know the 2k3 toon seems to favor the Mikey and Raph bond, but the Don and Mikey bond from the movies seem more natural for me. So.

Mikey and Donny is my choice. I think it would be funner to hang around those two than any other pairing. Though Raph and Leo would be quite exhilerating, seeing you never know what kind of sh!t Raph will drag you and Leo into!:D

Bad Bunny!

BADBUNNYBADBUNNYBADBUNNYBADBUNNY

When I first read that I thought it said something about Turltes in the closet and my first thought was ... THE TURTLES ARE GAY!!!!

That's when I realized what it really said and started beating my head against the wall.

Good thing the walls are padded.

Raph and Mike.

Old Toon
take a look at Raph's reation to thinking Mike is dead at the end of A Thing About Rats
"If anything's happend to that little twerp I'll never forgive myself." (paraphrased)

New Toon
take a look at what Raph says when there think they are all going to die when the Mousers attack in Stockman's lab

Raph: So long guys it's been fun.
Mike: Even me Raph?
Raph: Even you Mikey, especially you.

As for Mirage Raph, see the sig below.

ALL the guys are close, but Raph is especially protective of his little brother. He only makes statement like those above about Mikey from what I've noticed. Attack one of Raph's bros and he'll put the smackdown on you, but attack Mike, he goes balistic.

I gotta stick up for my favorite pair.:)

If anyone wants more examples of the Raph/Mike bond I'd be happy to dig up some more.

Great examples, TimeMistress

Thanks Jeff. And Cassidy makes a good case for Leo & Raph. It's just so hard to choose. I want to see more brotherly bonding moments between ALL of them. Such moments make me go all squooshy inside.:goofygri: Especially like the four Cassidy mentioned above.

My first thought would have to be Don and Mikey. Especially in the old movies. Whenever Leo or Raph would pick on Mikey for saying something silly, Don would always be there to reassure him. But as for the new toon, I really like the big brother attitude Raph has towards his lil' bro, Mikey.

And I have to totally agree with Rooish with the whole platonic passion between Raph and Leo. Particularly in the new movie. :evilgrin:

I think Raph and Leo are just too alike for their own good, heh. They just express it in diferent ways.

I'll probably have to go for Raph/Mikey, though. I mean, I really think that Mike is what Raph would love to be, so carefree and all, no matter how annoyed he acts like he is, heh. I'm not giving a final vote yet, but that's my thinking thus far.

Hm, I considered making a separate thread for this, but I think the topic is small enough and similar enough to fit in here. In contrast, which two turtles do you think are most distant from each other? I think everyone will agree that we can narrow it down to these three pairings, so we'll leave the others out unless someone has good reason to add them:

Leo & Mike
Leo & Don
Raph & Don

I think Leo and Mike are closer to Don than Raph is, so that eliminates Leo & Don for me. Leo and Mike don't seem to interact much. They love each other and do stuff together, but more often than not Leo is just telling Mike not to goof around. Someone has said this before, but Raph and Don are about as opposite as you can get among the turtles. Raph is violent and rash, and Don is relatively peaceful and intelligent. They may not argue as much as Raph does with Leo, but they do argue and aren't as close as Raph is to Leo. It's not to say they have nothing in common or that they never get along, but I think Raph and Don are the most distant which is why I enjoy any interaction I can find between Raph and Don.

Hahahaha, Raph and Leo's "platonic passion." Let's pretend I didn't coin that, okay?

But the, um, intensity of their relationship (dammit, I can't find any platonic-sounding words!!! I know they're all bros, a'ight?) was what caused me to be uncertain of my opinion on whether Mike and Raph are the closest, or whether Leo and Raph are. I mean, the closest relationship is probably Raph and someone, because Raph is so emotional. Raph has these intense ambivalent relationships with all his brothers, and it seems especially strong with both Leo and Mike. He also is crazy protective of them both (and Don, for that matter), as you can see from many episodes in the 2k3 toon. I honestly can't tell who Raph prefers; his jealousy of Leo makes him despise Leo sometimes, but Mikey's immaturity also provokes Raph a lot. But at the same time, I think Raph wishes he was more like both of them. But I think on his better days, Raph has more fun and trusts Mikey most.

That being said, in the new movie, Raph didn't seem to like any of them. That kinda bugged me.

Mikey and Don obviously get along very well, too. I just don't see what they bond on, exactly. I think they sort of cheer each other up, but don't have much in common.

As far as which Turtles are the least close, The Shelf, I'd say it's Raph and Don. That being said, I think Raph and Don understand each other better than Mikey and Leo understand each other. But Mikey looks up to Leo and Leo looks after Mikey, so they're close in that way. Raph and Don just clash on too many levels. But I think they do "get" each other to some extent, and have mutual respect. Well, maybe Raph respects Don more, but I don't think he'd want to admit it. ;)

I think Leo and Don have a lot of mutual understanding and respect, too, but they're the more bottled up brothers, so I'm not sure exactly how close they are. They definitely don't clash over much.

And this is why girls like the TMNT, too. We can analyze all the relationships to death. :roll: ;)

I think Raph knows not to mess with Don.

Don would whoop on 'im, and he knows it. :evilgrin:

Heh, yeah. Also I don't think Don pushes Raph's buttons very much. He's a very gentle-natured turtle.

Ello Ello, what's all this then?

Don... Beat Raph...:lol:

Good analysis on Leo/Mike and Don/Raph Rooish.

The only major time Don and Raph came to blows, from TMNT #12 the story the H.A.T.E. ep is based on:

Raph: We'll nail these yahoos but good! Then Don can disarm the bomb and -

Don: Hey! Hang on there for a minute, Raphael! First, taking out these guys isn't going to be a walk in the park -- they're probably armed with automatic weapons! Second, I may or may not be able to disarm the bomb! And third, we're talking about a nuclear device for God's sake! Maybe we should be thinking about getting the heck out of here! If that think works and it goes off, we can kiss out butts goodbye! -- Along with every other living thing in a five mile radius! Maybe this time, discression is the better part of valor!

Raph: Wha--?! I don't believe it! What a wimp! Never thought I'd see you chicken out --

Don: Raphael, if you'd weren't so agressively stupid, you'd see that we're dealing with something more than a d@mn firecracker, you moron!

Raph: Them's fightin' words Stick Boy!

Don: Hey! Anytime, anywhere Bonehead!

Splinter then steps between them to break up the fight. Too bad we didn't get to see this part in the TV episode.

It's interesting. Leo and Raph fight all the time and even Don and Raph have almost come to blows as seen above. But have Mike and Raph every really fought? Sure they trade insults all the time and Raph did almost clobber Mike with that pipe in his rage, but I don't think they have ever come to blows especially from Mike's side of things, which is interesting for Raph. Also, it's curious to note that in Mirage at least, Mike is Raph's main sparing partner.

I need to buy that comic.

This has already been mentioned but I said Raph and Mikey simply because I think Raph would have left and done his own thing long ago if Mikey weren't in the group.

Also I think it is rather important because I think it is commonly thought that the age of the turtles from oldest to youngest is Leo, Don, Raph and Mikey. So I think Raph looks out for Mikey more because he thinks that what a big brother should do and that is the only person he is a big brother for.

Nice point, Nightwatcher.

And Jo, you do have to buy that comic. It was actually the first issue I ever bought of TMNT. It was also the first one Peter Laird did by himself. It's pretty Don-focused. It's Volume 1 #12.

Don and Mike have the best relationship. Maybe in the new toon it isn't stressed much but in the comics, the old movies, and the new movies you totally see this. They stick together and they play off one another alot.

I've actually always seen the Mike/Don relationship as a forced consequence of Raph and Leo always butting heads. Not that I think they're not close, but I would rate Raph & Leo higher than Mike & Don (with Mike & Raph still being the closest). Raph and Don do seem the most distant, which made me enjoy seeing them butt heads ever so briefly in the new movie.

Leo and Raph. Sure they've fought a bunch of times, but it's always brought them closer. Without Raph challenging him, Leo wouldn't be the leader he is today. And without Leo's lecturing, Raph would probably be consumed with his own anger. They both have helped each other along all their lives. They'vegot to be the closest out od the group.

That was me. ;)

And what I actually said (paraphrasing Palladium Books' TMNT RPG) was that the only reason Raphael hasn't yet killed himself or any of his brothers is because of Michelangelo. Straight from the horse's mouth:

A large part of why Raphael hasn't yet killed himself, or any of the other turtles, is due to his friendship with Michaelangelo. Michaelangelo is also Raphael's main sparring partner. It is Michaelangelo's great love of life and fun that acts as a balance for Raphael's anger and depressions.

At least, that's how they saw the characters in 1985. :P

Okay, this has been bugging me for a little while now....

Despite the dialogue used in the movie, there is no "big" brother or "little" brother among the turtles. They are all the same age. Realistically, even if they were different ages, they would have no way of even knowing that because they were were all exposed to the mutagen at the same time (which was their real "birth", for all intents and purposes).