If not Leo then who? (80's toon)
 

in the 80's toon Leo is so obviously the leader it's not even funny. It's in the damn theme song that he leads and that kind of it. In the 4KIDs toon it's never specifically stated that he's the leader but he assumes that role any way. I mean I don't think he was ever officially appointed "the leader" by Splinter in the current series he just sort of naturally fills that role, but he's never really given that title by any one. But in the 80's toon right off the bat we're told that he's the leader, I don't know why but I guess Splinter chose him as the best choise for what ever reason (I don't get why because 80's Leo comes off way too whiney to be real leader material IMO :roll:), but I was wondering , if not Leonardo which turtle would Splinter pick to act as leader in the 80's toon? I know alot of people would probably say Donatello but what about Raphael and Michelangelo?

Raphael, even Parters in crime said it :0

Donatello is the one saving the day in almost every ep of the old toon. The Turtles would have been completely lost without him.

To this day my favorite incarnation of Don was the original cartoon version.

Science fiction
 

That's because the science fiction plots, with Krang's alien technology. But in "Enter the Rat King" it's Irma who says the day when kicking the Rat King on his foot, causing his bomb to explode.

OT Leo may not always inspire confidence in his leadership ability but he was still clearly the most skilled fighter and Splinter's best student. If he could have maintained the confidence he had in season one, he would have been one tough turtle to tangle with.

OT Leo was definitely the most annoying turtle that's for sure. I never did like that version of Leo.

but I think Leo has always been quite the leader. Leo's always been the oldest and most responsible of the four. Taking it upon himself to protect everyone, and well Donny maybe good at making gadgets and vehicles but Leo definitely shows more strategy and battle tactics in his plans.

I think even the 2007 movie points out just how good of a Leader Leo truly is compared to his other brothers.

Just as a note about that last part, leaders or not, they all still do that.

Several occasions Splinter would point out that Leonardo's his most gifted student, which sucks because sure it comes naturally to him to be able to learn all of these techniques and so forth, while it really takes training for the others. I'm just glad Leo doesn't rub it in about how he can naturally pick it up over their absolute need to keep training.

In the movies and in the old cartoon Leo was a suck up to Splinter so he'd learn more and more, Raph could pick it up fast, just not AS fast. But I still find it awesome how they give each turtle their own personality instead of some cartoons where the entire family are monotone with the characteristics or personality.

Raphael seems to always be number two. Only problem is his anger problem, if that didn't affect him, he'd probably be the leader.
LOL, it's true.
Well, because he's gotta face off against the Technodrome and robotic foot soldiers.

Well Raph may have been a leaderish type in "Take Me to Your Leader," (hilarious episode by the way ... Mike getting distracted by a giant metal pizza on the ground, and Shredder yelling, "Set loose the vicious dogs!") but seeing as the character's personalities were kind of all over the place sometimes in the OT (inconsistent writing), I think a lot of the time Raph wouldn't be the main second; Don would have been (he gave a lot of orders, even to Leo! And he's doing it in the new toon too--the audacity!)

Michaelangelo ... well obviously he wasn't written as a leader type. He's too spacey.

The point is, Leo was the best for it because he had such a strong moral code and doesn't joke around or get distracted. And it is unfortunate that his voice went up an octave from the second season on. He sounded so self-assured at first!

mm, I not really a fan of Mike in general but I think that Mike in the OT could have taken up the role of leader if he really wanted, the old toon was pretty generous with all the turtles in posetive characteristics that I could easily see any of them take up leader if the situation called for it. In the "Take me to Your Leader" episode Mike lasted the longest as "leader" and actually showed inciative instead of spacing out. O.O

Yeah, Mike kept it together during that episode. Raph didn't even rip on him, and Mike seemed to enjoy leading. But then at the end he wanted to stick with what he did best ... sigh ... which was eating pizza ...

actually i dont think any turtle the old OT was a GREAT leader. Donatello was more of a leader in that series then any of them really where.

Yeah but it was the main reason Leo angsted during season 4 of the 2k3 toon. Everyone's expectations are on him. Leo's got more to live up too and has a lot more pressure put on him than his brothers.

Raphael wasn't much of a leader at all in the old toon. He was more of a comedian than Michaelangelo was even. Heck the episode "Raphael knocks 'em dead" is proof of that.

Well, that's not really true, that's just what Leonardo was thinking. They all have a lot to live up to, all have to work hard, because they all serve the same purpose with their lives and the family's safety depends on all four of their efforts, regardless of what each of their positions on the team are.

Well while you maybe right. The 2007 movie did show that while they all have responsibility and have a lot to live up too. It's Leonardo who's expected to keep everyone together. Splinter makes numerous mentions of this during the movie.

Yeah well I still believe it takes all four of their efforts to hold each other together, because they all have to be willing to pitch in, which they all do, and as Leonardo stated himself in Grudge Match, "If one of us goes down, we all go down" which surely implies the team would fall apart if any one of them was missing.

Raphael and Michaelangelo where definately capable of taking care of a situation on there own and leading. this is shown very clearly in the episode The Deminsion X Story. Michaelanglo showed he can take charge and bark out instuctions like Donatello and Leonardo can as could Raphael. The two sort of acted like a tag team in this episode trying to lead April and company as well as the neutrinos to safety and rescue them from Krang and Shredder.